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COMMUNITY GOALS

The role and function of local government is the improvement and maintenance of the community for an orderly, safe, productive and enhanced living and working environment for the individual. While this basic goal encompasses social, economic and physical concerns, the City of North Liberty is basically limited to addressing and influencing the quality of life through the physical environment. As a result, the Comprehensive Plan is physically oriented. Within this context of the City's capabilities, the following are a list of basic fundamental goals which North Liberty is organized to achieve.

• Encourage continued but orderly growth in North Liberty.

Explanation: In order to maintain a strong economic and social base for North Liberty, growth is viewed as positive. A need exists to balance and diversify development and related opportunities. This growth and diversification, however, needs to be accomplished in an orderly, organized and coordinated fashion.

• Preserve and enhance North Liberty's "small city" character.

Explanation: Continuing reference has been made to the value of North Liberty having a "small city" character. Acknowledged is the fact that the actual size of the City will increase with time. The features and amenities of a small city were stated, however, as primary attributes which should be maintained due to the positive image they express to the region. The City should address this desire, and identify ways in which the small city character can be preserved, while accommodating additional development.


• Enhance and improve North Liberty's sense of community and self-identity.

Explanation: Factors such as sporadic development, physical barriers, and North Liberty's bedroom community function all serve to detract from the sense of community and cohesiveness. As a result, community identity is lacking within the City. A very strong opinion is found to exist that North Liberty needs to re-establish a physical community focus and related identity. Accomplishing such an objective is seen as benefitting the community's self image as well as the image perceived at a metropolitan and regional scale.


• Establish and maintain a desirable community image within the Johnson County region.

Explanation: North Liberty's reputation within the region is one of modest development. There is concern that existing conditions within some portions of the community may not reflect the high quality image desired. Image enhancement activities, such as improved development quality, stronger performance standards, and public improvements, should be explored to improve the image of the community.


• Provide diversity of land use opportunities within the City, to ensure a wide range of employment and consumer options, as well as housing choices.

Explanation: The predominant urban land use type within the City is single family residential, and this predominance will continue into the next decade. Support services, such as retail and employment opportunities, have only developed on a limited basis. As residential development increases, demand for consumer and employment opportunities will also increase. Furthermore, a significant amount of the residential development consists of starter-type housing. Alternative housing levels and styles, including low and high valued homes, are needed to provide a diversity of homeowners, varying in household size, age and financial means.


• Maintain and enhance desirable activities and community character by ensuring that the community is well managed and a framework for controlled, directed change is established.

Explanation: North Liberty is a diverse community, with a blend of agricultural and urban activities. Each element of the City must be recognized and respectively enhanced. Moreover, change is inevitable. As a consequence, it needs to be properly managed so that the results are positive and anticipated. To accomplish this end, a framework guiding change is required and it must be enforced.


• Maintain desirable community character, public health and safety, and economic vitality by ensuring that development which takes place in North Liberty is of premium quality and blends well with the natural, rural, and urban atmosphere of the community.


Explanation: In developing its Comprehensive Plan, North Liberty should pay special attention to a variety of development types and relationships, and base its plans for supportive systems and services upon those uses which attain optimal land use and harmony. The related ordinance controls should reflect and enforce the characteristics of development as specified in the plan.


• Maintain and improve a safe, viable, orderly, productive and enhanced environment for all residents of the community.

Explanation: The community should provide for the development and maintenance of functional land use and structural patterns, and an orderly and functional transportation system to serve and connect, but not disrupt, various use concentrations. Moreover, the community should provide and properly maintain those resources, facilities and services essential for the protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the individual and community (water, sewer, police and fire protection) and necessary for improvement of the individual (schools, parks).


• Ensure that the Comprehensive Plan, including long term and interim policies, promotes a responsible fiscal balance (revenue versus service costs) on an ongoing basis.

Explanation: As stated in the Introduction of this section, the Policy Plan is intended to outline the community's desires and set forth guidelines as to how these desires are to be achieved. These desires must be continually assessed in terms of value compared to costs incurred by the City for implementation. Indicators of value shall include, but not be limited to, potential revenue, image enhancement, and common good of the community.


General community goals have been factored a step further in order to establish a framework for North Liberty's strategic planning goals for specific topic areas, in the sections which follow.

 

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