The draft of the new Clarion County comprehensive plan should be completed before Christmas.
That’s the word from Laura Ludwig, a community planner with the Herbert, Rowland and Grubic firm of Cranberry Township in Butler County.
The current plan was completed in 2004 and is out of date as the plan should be updated every 10 years.
The total cost of the plan is $62,700 and the county’s share will be in-kind services.
Ludwig said the plan is a working tool to guide the future of Clarion County by addressing today’s needs.
It is important for municipalities to have their plans included so they can access funding sources, according to Ludwig.
The Clarion County Park near Shippenville was the result of the 2004 comprehensive plan.
The HRG firm conducted a public meeting Tuesday at the Clarion County YMCA. Ludwig worked with about a dozen people to try and fine tune suggestions from the first public meeting in July.
She noted that 30 percent of the people attending the July meeting were from Clarion Borough and Clarion Township. Some municipalities such as Callensburg and East Brady had no representation at all.
One of the goals identified at the July meeting was to improve access to both rivers. Other goals were to improve the housing stock, cultivate development along major transportation routes, market recreational opportunities and integrate broadband opportunities.
Ludwig noted that Clarion County has already taken steps toward the development of a broadband network.
She said anyone who wound like to comment on the plan may do so by contacting the county planning office.
The plan will be reviewed by the county’s planning office before it is adopted by county commissioners.