The City of Xenia will hold a public meeting tonight to discuss the city's new community plan.
The meeting will be held from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. in the Greene County Media Room on Ledbetter Road. Residents of Xenia are encouraged to attend and participate. The meeting will discuss strategies to include in the plan. Residents will also help map out zoning areas for future development.
The new plan, NeXtPlan, will replace the old community Comprehensive Plan, X-Plan. X-Plan was adopted in 2013, and within the last ten years, many of the focuses of X-plan have been implemented in the community.
Brian Forschner, the city planner for the city of Xenia, says the plan will inform development in Xenia for the next ten years.
“It is primarily a guide to city decision making and city grant seeing efforts. But, it also guides activities by residents, developers, and partnerships as well.”
NeXtPlan will include recommendations for housing, economic development, transportation, infrastructure, parks, and other community facilities. A set of surveys of Xenia residents showed that Xenians had a lot of interest in bringing in new restaurants, businesses, and entertainment to the downtown area.
Crime, homelessness, and addiction rates were also a major concern for residents. The results from the community surveys can be found at nextplan.xeniacity.com
Housing is also a growing concern for the City of Xenia. Forschner expects the city to experience a lot of growth following the establishment of the Honda LG plant in Lafayette County and the growth of the Wright-Patterson Air Force base. There are currently 1,300 to 1,400 residential units that are in the process of being planned.
“There is quite a lot of housing planned, of various types, that is going to help meet the workforce demand,” Forschner said.
There are three phases to the development of neXtPlan.
- Xplore: The city conducted a community survey. This data was analyzed to determine what the communities needs and interests are.
- Xchange: Xenia’s residents can attend workshops and meetings to develop the goals of the plan.
- Xecute: NeXtPlan is built. Strategies to accomplish the goals of the plan are developed and the plan is adopted. Then, the city, residents, and developers can begin to work on the goals of the plan.
The city is currently in the Xecute phase.
The plan is being developed mainly in-house by city staff. The city is also contracted with McBride Dale Clarion for $45,000. They are consulting on the plan. A grant from the Dayton Foundation’s Del Mar Healthcare Fund is also helping to develop the plan. The grant is to make Xenia accommodating to an older population. The rest of the plan will be paid for out of the city’s general fund.