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“Visioning.” It is an
awkward, made-up word. Alternatives might be “dreaming”
or “planning.” Each of those words, however, suggest
something different. To dream might be thought to be disconnected
from reality. Planning, on the other hand, is concrete and very
specific. “Visioning” fits somewhere between, allowing
the freedom of imagination and “what if,” while
suggesting an effort to attain the orderliness of planning. Most
importantly, the word implies that at the heart of things, there is
a “vision” of the future. That is exactly what Safety
Harbor needs and why the City Commission plans to conduct,
“visioning” sessions.
These “visioning” sessions
are scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 8 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and
Wednesday, Sept. 12 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the Safety Harbor
Community Center on Seventh Street South. City residents are
invited to address two specific questions: “What is the ideal
future for Safety Harbor?” and “What should Downtown
Safety Harbor look like in five years?” The city has
contracted with Collaborative Labs to conduct the sessions.
Uniquely designed to spur interaction and creativity, Collaborative
Labs is a project of St. Petersburg College and is housed at the
college’s Epicenter, 13805 58th St. N., Largo. It has been
lauded as a one-of-a-kind idea incubator, designed to accelerate
brainstorming and turn it into actionable planning.
Hiring professionals to assist in
brainstorming might seem frivolous in a time of budget cutbacks and
criticisms of government spending. It could be a wise investment
for Safety Harbor’s leadership, however. The city has
experienced political turmoil for years, sometimes aggravated by
outside influences, such as recent pressures that brought about the
resignation of City Manager Billy Beckett. One of the causes of the
turmoil has been disagreement about the nature of the city’s
future. For example, how does the city increase its residential
population sufficiently to support a vibrant downtown retail
district without allowing high-density residential development near
downtown?
Safety Harbor will change. That is a
given. City officials are opening the doors to a specific way in
which local residents can influence, even determine, that change.
Do residents want a stop sign on every corner? Should every
low-income resident be forced to move somewhere else? Should
neighbors be able to tell neighbors how or when to remodel their
homes? Are there specific businesses that should be encouraged,
even offered incentives, to locate in downtown? Are there
businesses that should be discouraged or even banished? Are there
trees that are more important than buildings? Each of those
questions is a possibility.
City commissioners have said they will
take the results of these sessions very seriously and incorporate
the results in formal planning, which in turn determines zoning and
other regulations that control and direct growth. This is a rare
opportunity for residents to offer their opinions before decisions
are made; before it is too late. Get out and participate.
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