By HEATHER CATHLEEN COX
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
The City of San Benito has enlisted Kending Keast Collaborative of Sugarland, Texas to recommend a comprehensive master plan for the City, which will include upgrading and improving areas within the community as well as the City at-large.
Monday, Aug. 11 will officially mark the kickoff of a series of meetings to be held over the next 15 months, said Planning Director Rodrigo Davila. He added, “This is the initial meeting, to let people know what (the City) is doing. Everything is very preliminary right now.”
“We want to touch every aspect of this city but in an efficient way,” said Davila. The first topics to be addressed at the Aug. 11 meeting include real estate, churches and businesses. Kending Keast will make their recommendations via listening sessions which are open to the public. Additionally, they will bring findings to San Benito officials and department heads.
The planning department is not ready to make their recommendations just yet. “We are in the discovery phase of the comprehensive plan,” said Davila. “We cannot have everybody come in at once. We first want to get input and direction from the commission. (Then), we will come back at a later time with recommendations.”
In the future, all aspects of city life and businesses will be discussed, including: parks, open spaces, daycares, downtown businesses and more. Improvements will be city-wide, Davila said, and city officials want to open a platform with which they can listen to San Benitians’ concerns.
A website is being established, where residents will be able to login and provide input which will be seen by officials. Additionally, fliers will be distributed in both English and Spanish to keep citizens abreast of new developments and future listening sessions.
“Throughout the process,” said Davila, “we want to keep the general public as informed as possible so they can have input and let us know what changes they would like to see. We want (residents) to know that we are doing everything we can to accommodate all citizens.”
Business owners, city officials and residents of San Benito are invited to attend the first comprehensive plan listening session at 1 p.m. on Aug. 11. This meeting will be held at the City of San Benito Municipal Building.
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