BRENTWOOD 2020 PLAN UPDATE

Updated 2020 Plan PDF (11/2006)
2020 Plan Appendix PDF (11/2006)

In 2005, the City of Brentwood began an initiative to update its 2020 Comprehensive Plan.  The last update of the City’s plan had been completed in 1999, and a number of conditions in the community had changed since then. The update was undertaken with the objective of amending the plan in strategic areas, rather than undertaking a completely new Comprehensive Plan. Accordingly, this document is to be viewed as an amendment to the 1999 version of the plan.

The 2020 plan is built around seven major goals adopted by the City Council, arrived at through a highly participatory process involving hundreds of citizens.  The seven goals relate to:   

1.      Environmental Conservation, Recreation & Scenic Protection

2.      Retirement Provisions

3.      Commercial Provisions

4.      Mobility Provisions

5.      Residential & Service Institutional Provisions

6.      Community Identity Provisions

7.      Growth Management Provisions

The 2020 Plan had been adopted in 1999 with intent of periodic 5-year updates, along with status reports on implementation and identification of priority areas for focus and activity during the next five years. That is the objective of this 2006 update:  assess progress and accomplishments in addressing the goals, identify changing conditions that might make a particular goal area or program activity more or less relevant to current community needs, and identify new areas for attention.

One of the key tasks has been to solicit citizen opinions regarding issues facing the City, and to gauge levels of citizen satisfaction/dissatisfaction with various components of life in Brentwood.  In March of 2006 a questionnaire was distributed to all households and business owners in Brentwood, to collect opinions on the goals of the 2020 Comprehensive Plan as well as other pertinent City issues.  Two initial surveys were sent:  one to residents, and a similar survey to Brentwood businesses.  The response rate to the questionnaires was high, with almost 4,000 respondents returning the survey.  Their responses and comments were complied in two reports, one evaluating quantitative responses to the questions and the other compiling individual comments.

A follow-up, second questionnaire was mailed to residents in June of 2006, based upon responses to the first questionnaire and focusing on implementation mechanisms that would address concerns and priorities that were identified in the first questionnaire.  

Concurrently, an evaluation of progress in implementing the 2020 Plan was prepared, assessing the status of each of 129 recommended Action Steps in the 2020 Plan.  For each, accomplishments were noted, along with work in progress, and observations offered regarding whether or not the goal statement still adequately fits with Brentwood’s current priorities.

Accordingly, this 2020 Comprehensive Plan Update assumes that the basic framework of the 2020 Plan remains intact, that the seven goal areas continue to be the organizing structure for discussion, and that the Plan continues to aim at the year 2020 to define the planning period.  This Update contains the following sections:

1.      This Overview

2.      Changed Conditions Since Adoption of 2020 Plan

3.      Community Values and Opinions (from 2006 Survey)

4.      Recommended Revisions to 2020 Plan Goals Objectives, and Action Steps

It is clear that the City has been aggressive over the last five years in implementing the 2020 Plan.  This Update documents the progress and the accomplishments.  It is clear that new challenges have emerged that need attention, and this Update addresses those.  Substantive recommendations are offered in each goal area. 

In terms of procedural recommendations, two key suggestions are offered: 

1)     That an annual report be prepared in January of each new year, describing progress on implementation of the Plan and reporting on key statistical indicators of community well-being. (A format for the annual report and a suggested list of indicators are included here.)

2)     Substantial community buildout is anticipated by 2016.  A major comprehensive plan rewrite should be scheduled for 2012, and the focus of the plan should be on a city that is reaching its maximum level of development.

Brentwood citizens report high levels of satisfaction with the quality of life in this community, and optimism about the future.  Attention to these planning and growth management issues can be an important part of achieving that future.