PRESENTER: Presenter
Jeff Jewell, Economic and Community Development Director
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SUBJECT: Title
Presentation and discussion on the City’s Strategic Plan
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DEPARTMENT: Economic and Community Development
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The city completed its last strategic plan update in 2009. Since that time, the Executive Leadership Team and City Council have utilized a variety of resources for guiding policy decisions such as resource allocation, capital investments, performance measures and overall goals/objectives. City staff issued a Request for Proposal in late 2022 to find a partner to assist the City in the development of a new strategic plan. There were four agencies that submitted for consideration and ultimately Berry Dunn was selected as the best value for the City of New Braunfels.
The strategic plan considered existing data, comprehensive plans, City Council, and citizen and employee engagement. The Plan was developed in four phases:
• Project Planning and Management
• Environmental Scan and SWOT Analysis
• Strategic Plan Development
• Implementation Planning
The New Braunfels City Council approved the contract with Berry Dunn at its March 27, 2023 meeting. The strategic planning process began soon thereafter.
The final plan resulted in a new vision and mission statement for the City, an update of core values, and the identification and adoption of strategic priorities. One of the strategic priorities, Economic Mobility, is germane to the work of the Workforce Housing Advisory Committee.
Economic Mobility
Specifically, the City will strive to promote economic mobility by “create(ing) an economic ecosystem where all people have access to housing and meaningful work in order to live self-reliantly within the community.” More specifically, the plan states the city will:
• Support the development of additional workforce housing units, create an incentive policy to include variances for height restrictions, density limits, parking minimums, and other requirements as well as encouraging the use of Public Facility Corporations and Tax Increment Financing.
• Establish programs and opportunities that leverage private and public sector dollars for use as gap financing in the production and preservation of affordable workforce housing units.
• Continue to develop a series of policies and programs to encourage the construction of different housing types, such as accessory dwelling units, to increase the diversity of the housing supply, especially in areas of the community that are undergoing changes to current development patterns and where demand is outpacing supply.
A copy of the entire presentation is included in the agenda packet.
Staff will discuss the next steps to operationalize this section of the strategic plan and collect the WHAC’s feedback on the matter. The City’s Strategic Plan is slated to be approved by City Council in April 2024.