Master Plan Workshop Held This Week

On Thursday, there was a Master Plan workshop held at the Central Fire Station. The design group for the master plan was represented, as well as the mayor, council members, and several of the candidates for the March 27 election. Interested Central citizens also came to view the presentation. This meeting was not a public forum or town hall meeting. A public presentation with inout from the community will come as more details are worked out in the plan.

It was mentioned at the meeting that Baton Rouge has also begun to rework their plan for the city. At this point, Baker, Zachary, and Central are being left off of the Baton Rouge plan, as they are currently working on just the city of Baton Rouge rather than the whole parish. However, representatives for Central are keeping in contact with the city of Baton Rouge to be sure that Central’s plan and Baton Rouge’s plan do not directly conflict with each other.

Representatives from the Master Plan design team recently attended a conference in Seattle where they presented our Master Plan progress to people from around the country. Central’s plans and progress were met with enthusiasm and very positive feedback. We were told that the level of public input that our citizens are encouraged to give is impressive, and people also remarked on the “doability” of our Master Plan.

The four most important items to our community have become the goals of the Master Plan. Now, every time another item is added to the plan, they consider how well that item helps to fulfill all four of these goals:

1) Livability- to retain the sanctuary feeling of Central (This was the item that the most Central residents emphasized when asked about the development of our city.)

2) Education- to expand and improve our schools

3) Economics- to increase shopping and business opportunities

4) Infrastructure- to improve drainage and connectivity within the city

Many other specifics were discussed, such as connectivity of neighborhoods, natural zones within the city, and the widening of some roads while maintaining attractive landscapes. A draft of the land use map that was discussed at the meeting is now on the Central government website. Go directly to it by clicking HERE.

Central residents are encouraged to continue to take an active interest in the development of our community. We all have many great opportunities to share our thoughts and opinions at public meetings affecting all areas of our city. We will continue to update you as more meetings and updates are planned.