John Fregonese, lead planner for the FuturEBR 30-year land use and development master plan, will be in town a week from today to help unveil the full plan. A 60-page summary of the plan was released in February. An open house with the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council and Planning Commission will is slated for 4 p.m. June 21, at the Governmental Building on St. Louis Street, Fregonese says. A second open house will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Baton Rouge Coca-Cola Bottling Company headquarters on Plank Road. A press conference will be held earlier in the day.
Fregonese says all library branches will have copies of the plan available for public review, as will the Planning Commission. Public comments will be gathered online at futurebr.com, as well as at a series of workshops that will take place throughout the parish in July and August. “Along with the plan there is a land use map,” Fregonese says. “We have used current zoning to create it, so I don’t think there will be any big surprises. People will probably be able to do more with their property than they can now.”
An estimated 3,300 residents participated in FuturEBR surveys in 2010; and seven workshops were also held to get public input on land use, urban design, housing, economic development, open space and transportation issues. Fregonese’s Portland, Ore.-based firm has been working on the plan since January 2010. —Steve Sanoski
