Title
Briefing on Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Alliance (ONNA) Sub-area A Plan
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation
Receive the information. Briefing only; no action requested.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive a briefing on the status of the Sub-area A Plan, which is being developed by the Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Alliance (ONNA).
Staff Contact:
Linda Bentley, Senior Planner, Community, Planning & Development, 360.753.8046
Presenter:
Linda Bentley, Senior Planner, CP&D, 360.753.8046
Mike Dexel, Sub-area A (ONNA) Chair
Background and Analysis:
The City of Olympia 2014 Comprehensive Plan allows for and encourages a grassroots process whereby local residents, businesses, and community organizations work together in partnership with the City to help shape how neighborhoods grow and develop. This process, known as Sub-area planning, gives neighborhoods the chance to collaborate with the city to help shape their future development in alignment with neighborhood priorities while remaining consistent with the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
Sub-area A
Sub-area A is comprised of five recognized neighborhood associations in northeast Olympia - Bigelow Neighborhood Association (BNA), Bigelow Highlands Neighborhood Association (BHNA), East Bay Drive Neighborhood Association (EBDNA), Northeast Neighborhood Association (NENA), and the Upper Eastside Neighborhood Association (UENA). Representatives from these associations met regularly in 2014 to discuss how Sub-area planning could be an effective tool to shape their community. Subsequently, the Olympia Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (CNA) chose the Sub-area A planning team to pilot the first Sub-area plan.
In February 2015 the sub-area planning team requested City Council’s recognition of the team’s “intent to proceed.” In July 2015 City Council sent a response letter recognizing the Sub-area A planning effort and setting forth expectations for the completed plan and ways in which the planning effort should be a collaboration between the sub-area citizens and the city.
Progress and Outreach
Each of the five neighborhood associations in Sub-area A has communicated the concept of sub-area planning to its members. The Sub-area A planning team, in conjunction with city staff, has also:
• started writing their draft Sub-area A plan and developed preliminary goals and action steps (preliminary draft attached);
• changed their name to Olympia Northeast Neighborhood Alliance (ONNA);
• developed their own website (hyperlink attached);
• created an area demographic profile;
• designed a survey (attached) and a notification post card (attached) that went to all residents and owners in the sub-area; and
• collated and analyzed the survey results (attached).
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
The level of response to the survey indicates that the residents are interested in their neighborhood and have some agreement for the most important issues. Also, the CNA is interested in the process and results of this pilot Sub-area A plan as it will inform future sub-area planning.
Options:
None. Briefing only.
Financial Impact:
Staff support and expenses for this project are included in Community, Planning & Development’s 2016 budget.
Attachments:
ONNA website
Survey
Notification post card
Survey results summary
Preliminary draft plan