MORPC looks to shape the future of Franklin County.

(by Sean Lehosit, Staff Writer - December 09, 2010)

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) addressed the Westside
community during the Greater Hilltop Area Commission meeting on Dec. 7,
concerning their new Shaping Our Future project.

The project plans to create a set of objectives and identify important
issues for 12 counties within Central Ohio.

According to Associate Planner Amelia Costanzo, these plans are not meant to
impose rules upon the communities, but instead are meant to set a baseline
for development and success each county is recommended to aim towards.

Costanzo emphasized that this is not a land use plan.

"The way we¹re going to set this baseline is by coming up with objectives,"
Costanzo said.

She added that these objectives will enable community members to track the
development of their region by examining the success rates of each goal ­
examples of such goals might be stating that by 2030 all houses will be
energy efficient, or that every neighborhood should have a whole foods store
within a certain radius.

Shaping Our Future, which began earlier this year, is still in its infancy.
They are currently working with area commissions to come up with potential
goals, discuss how change can be measured, and what objectives could
logistically blanket each region.

According to Costanzo, MORPC will be returning in a few months with about 20
objectives they recommend for Franklin County, in which the commissioners
may vote to choose and support.

MORPC¹s timeline sets 2012 to be the beginning of implementation.

"Central Ohio is so diverse," GHAC Chairman Chuck Patterson said, "I¹ll be
interested to see the list of objectives that applies to all."

Costanzo answered, while the objectives and goals are regional, it will be
the work of the smaller communities during implementation that will make
regional success possible.

"We hope that most people will see the overall good in this," Costanzo said.

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