31 Jan 2013
Staff Writer
Ben Peyton / Senior Staff Writer
The City of Denton held a community forum at the Life Science Building on Jan. 30 to discuss updates to the Denton Plan 2030, a long-range guidebook to the community’s development.
The city of Denton’s comprehensive plan was adopted in 1999 and serves as the vision of city growth. The plan has 10 elements that include areas like public involvement, infrastructure and the environment.
Planning supervisor Ron Menguita said the plan was updated for the first time in 10 years.
“ If you can imagine going ten years and not updating your plan, you don’t know what the current trends are, so we’re overdue,” Menguita said.
In August, a hired consultant team started the 18-month process of updating the plan, which is expected to be completed in spring 2014, Menguita said.
The plan will address over 9,000 acres that were re-zoned for development between 2006 and 2009 by discussing housing needs and promoting businesses located in Denton.
Growth in Denton is also heading west due to geographic factors such as Lake Lewisville and already developed areas. No zoning or district boundaries will be changed, said associate planner Mike Bell.
The city of Denton wants to work together with UNT to have some of the same goals when the UNT master plan is updated.
“Universities have been the biggest assets and we want to make sure we work with these campuses,” Menguita said.
City Council member Kevin Roden also said he is visiting classes around UNT to gain student input for the update.
UNT employs about 3,600 people full time and is projected to grow from an enrollment population of about 36,000-40,000 in the next few years.
The population of Denton is about 113,000 and is projected to grow between 1-2 percent in the next few years. The city is projected to reach a population of 200,000 by 2030, according the 2010 census.
The next community forum will be held on Ferb. 7 from 6-8:30 p.m. at the Advanced Technology Complex.
More information can be found at Dentonplan2030.com
The City Council wants to work closely with the Denton Plan 2030 members to ensure that sustainability is not compromised during growth, Roden said.
