West Feliciana Parish, LA Parish-Wide Comprehensive Plan

Center for Planning Excellence

Selected Consultant Team will be asked to review the existing "Feliciana Vision 2005" vision document and evaluate the Land Use and Growth Management Plan document which resulted from that vision. These documents should be used as a starting point (but not an item of constraint) that will be refined, added to, improved upon and/or revamped through an inclusive and participatory planning process. The final Comprehensive Plan should include a phased and prioritized Implementation Strategy.

The Plan must reflect Smart Growth best practices (http://smartgrowthamerica.org/sghowto.html) and support the Louisiana Speaks Regional Vision that will be available on the website in May 2007 (www.louisianaspeaks.org). To the highest degree possible, Consultants will be asked to aid early on in establishing intergovernmental cooperation with the Town of St. Francisville in order for the Comprehensive Plan to coordinate with and compliment any Town plans and/or ordinances.

Along with the creation of a Comprehensive Plan, West Feliciana Parish is seeking a team that can evaluate existing subdivision and zoning ordinances and make recommendations for immediate regulatory protections to manage current growth pressures. However, adoption of the long-term Comprehensive Plan and its future implementation shall replace, as necessary, whatever protections are adopted in the immediate and while the planning process is underway.

The Consultants will interact with a Support Committee that will be representative of a cross-section of parish residents, key stakeholder and/or professional groups, parish staff members, the Planning and Zoning Commission, Town of St. Francisville Council members, and the Police Jury (the parish governing body). CPEX will assist the Police Jury in coordinating the representative Support Committee and facilitating the inclusive planning process.

Parish Background
Located approximately 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and approximately 60 miles south of Natchez, Mississippi, West Feliciana Parish is a community of 15,318 residents according to the state's January 2007official estimate (of these, 5,000 are inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola). Historic St. Francisville, with a population of approximately 1628, is the parish's only incorporated municipality.