Allen County representatives came together Thursday evening for a public discussion on the county’s “All-In Allen” comprehensive plan. The original 2007 document is in the process of being revised to reflect Allen County’s contemporary needs.
The plan serves as a blueprint to guide land use, housing, transportation, parks and more for Fort Wayne and the surrounding communities of Allen County.
Much of 2020 was going to be dedicated to in-person workshops with the public to help revise the plan, but they were forced to change course in the spring after the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of the country. Online surveys and video forums hosted by the county were offered in place of the workshops.
Brandon Nolin was one of the speakers during Thursday’s video chat, and noted that they’re in the middle of the process -- only a few months behind the initial, pre-COVID timeline that set the project’s completion for fall 2021.
This means that the “research” portion is completed, and identifies the key to maintaining growth in Allen County lies in the areas of housing diversity, workforce attraction and retention, and capitalizing on location in relation to other major cities.
Nolin noted that in just about all of the conversations he’s had to this point, addressing inequities between Fort Wayne’s southeast side and the remainder of the city has been mentioned.
“It was also viewed as an economic development issue as well, and there’s definitely correlations between lack of investment in isolated parts of the community and having that have a broader impact, so the business community saw that as a need to address not just for residents but for businesses across the board,” Nolin said.
Work on the project will continue into 2021, with attention shifting to how to best address these issues before moving on to any implementation plans.
