Hilton Head hires consultant to help jumpstart mayor's 'vision' process
Hilton Head Island Mayor David Bennett wants to involve every citizen on the island in a "visioning process" this year to create a plan for the future of the island.
The all-encompassing plan will dictate how the island is developed, what kind of new residential building it will encourage, plans to improve traffic, what businesses it should attract and how to sustain its tourism success.
In essence, it will update the island's identity for a new generation of residents, Bennett promised.
But first, town leaders must pick over their shelves and dust off the island's existing set of plans and review what past leaders set out to accomplish.
Next month Oregon-based consultant Steven Ames will work with town leaders to comb through these existing plans and help create a strategy for soliciting input on Bennett's suggested updates.
Over three and a half days, Ames is expected to meet with town staff, Town Council and the Planning Commission, Bennett said.
Together they will inventory the town's previous plans, particularly the 2010 Comprehensive Plan and the Mayor's Task Force for the Island's Future, initiated by former Mayor Tom Peeples in 2009, said town manager Steve Riley.
"We'll assess the value of that overall information and determine what steps we need to take to really put into place a vision for our community that has what I would call broad-based public support and input, and make sure that it's rooted in the assets and the values of our community," Bennett added.
Ames has worked on long-range plans for the city of Portland, Oregon as well as other communities throughout the Pacific Northwest and even abroad in New Zealand and Australia, according to his website. His consulting on the island is expected to cost about $7,150, said Tom Fultz, town director of administrative services.
Starting the process with a proper assessment of what already exists will be as important as the feedback town leaders will solicit later, Councilman Tom Lennox said.
"We're not starting from scratch," he said.
This "visioning process" is the top priority for Bennett's sophomore year in office, he said. He and close advisor David Ames, of no relation to the consultant, have pushed the idea since Bennett served on the town's Planning Commission.
That's not easy, but it is sorely needed, said David Ames, who led the former task force in 2009.
"I think that over the years our form of government has held back our community's ability to look forward in a more visionary way," he said last month. "We have done a good job solving tactical problems. We don't have a context for making big decisions and big investments that are important to this community's future."
For example, David Ames advocated the town buy the Mall at Shelter Cove when it languished during the economic downtown to revive it as a town-designed civic center. Instead, it was developed privately as a commercial center, closing the door on an opportunity for better planning, he has said.
After the retreat next month, Bennett wants the council to consider investing in a consultant for a complete community forum process over months to garner island-wide support.
"I'd like to get it started quickly," Bennett said. "In my mind this is the single most important thing we can do from a long-term strategic planning standpoint in our community."
Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.
Related content:
- Hilton Head Island Mayor David Bennett still adjusting as he finishes his first year in office, Dec. 19, 2015
- How we grade Mayor Bennett, Dec. 19, 2015
- Video: Mayor David Bennett looks back, Dec. 19, 2015
This story was originally published January 9, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "Hilton Head hires consultant to help jumpstart mayor's 'vision' process."