MOUNT VERNON — The final draft of the updated Knox County Comprehensive Plan, known as Together Knox, is now ready for public comment and approval.
Jeff Gottke of the Area Development Foundation, Mount Vernon Mayor Matt Starr, and Regional Planning Commission Secretary Darrel Severns met with the Knox County commissioners on Thursday to review the process for adopting the updated plan.
The three-month timeline incorporates Ohio Revised Code requirements and time for public input through hearings and public meetings.
The draft is on the Together Knox website, and residents can submit comments online. All comments will be incorporated into an appendix and included in the final draft plan.
“We want to make sure that everybody understands that it’s available and can read it and provide feedback both electronically or in person at those public meetings,” Gottke said.
The process starts with the Regional Planning Commission. The RPC Land Use Committee will review the plan at its Jan. 14 meeting and refer it to the full commission meeting on Jan. 16.
“It’s a fairly extensive document as you know and takes a while to get through and digest everything,” Severns said. “We’ll probably just introduce it and then have our two public hearings.
“The next full planning commission meeting is when the planning commission would vote on whether to pass it on to the commissioners.”
If the commission adopts the plan at its Feb. 20 meeting, it will forward the plan to the commissioners and municipalities.
Townships and the comprehensive plan
Gottke will send a printed copy of the plan to the townships in the next few days.
“The townships have no statutory role in approval, but we want to give them the ability to review and comment on it. We’ll deliver them the printed draft and then give them a full 30 days so that if they have already met, they’ll still have time for another meeting,” Gottke said. “They can create whatever process they want for review and comment.”
Township voting on whether to recommend the plan is through the planning commission.
The commissioners will not hold their final approval session until after the 30 days are complete.
Starr said Mount Vernon City Council plans to give the draft plan three readings.
“We want to make sure we time things up so that if the county has any changes, we wouldn’t approve anything until the county has suggested those changes,” he said.
If the proposed timeline holds, the first time the draft plan will reach the council is Feb. 24. Subsequent meetings would be March 10 and March 24.
Only the RPC, city, and commissioners are required to approve the comprehensive plan. Gottke recommended taking the plan to community, business, and agricultural organizations as well as local governments and schools for their endorsement.
