Vision and Goals

A series of community visioning meetings were held in the City of Ridgeland during the week of February 26 through March 2, 2007. The meetings allowed residents and business owners an opportunity to offer their thoughts about issues under consideration in the Ridgeland Area Master Plan (RAMP). Open meetings were held on Tuesday night, Thursday morning and Thursday night. Additional meetings were also held with the Ridgeland High School Ambassadors, and two roundtable meetings were held with area bankers and area developers to hear their thoughts and to solicit their financial and civic support for the planning process. Input data was also retrieved from the rampupridgeland Website.

The data was collected and analyzed by RAMP's planning consultant, the Moore Planning Group, LLC (MPG), and presented to RAMP's citizen advisory Steering Committee for review and comment on Thursday, March 29, 2007. The following is a summary of significant findings and recommendations regarding the Ridgeland Area Master Plan.

DATA
The data collected was from the following sources:

1. Community Visioning Sessions - Approximately 300 participants
2. Ridgeland High School Ambassadors - 13 participants
3. Website - 90 participants
4. Roundtable meetings with area developers and bankers - 22 participants

MPG presented the data to the Steering Committee that revealed the following:

Adequacy
When asked to rate the City's effectiveness in providing the four elements of infrastructure, education, economic development and livability, citizens returned a very favorable conclusion:

• 75% thought the City is doing an adequate or excellent job
• Only 8% think the City is doing an inadequate or poor job

Investment
When asked to choose how they would invest a symbolic $100 of City resources in each of the four elements the results were as follows:

• Livability received the most investment totaling $10,305.00, followed by
• Infrastructure - $10,270.00
• Education - $10,190.00
• Economic Development - $10,160.00

The top 10 investments in individual components of the elements were as follows (in order):

1. Roads
2. Public Schools
3. Business Environment
4. Libraries
5. Image
6. Public Safety
7. Affordable Housing
8. Drainage
9. Environment
10. Entrepreneurship Opportunities

It was noted in the review with the Steering Committee that the City and County have currently made substantial investments in roads and educational facilities and that lack of general awareness of these investments might explain the perceived need for high investments in these areas.

Vision and Goals Questions
Responses to the Vision and Goals questions, when grouped by expressed importance to the citizens, reveal a high degree of consensus around the following issues:

1. Atmosphere: They appreciate the wooded areas, wildlife, parks and open spaces, and small-town, family-oriented character of Ridgeland, but worry that undisciplined development may threaten these qualities and reduce the City's ability to continue attracting quality residents and investment.
2. Quality Development: They appreciate the high quality of both residential and commercial development that exists in most of Ridgeland and their contribution to the City's healthy economy. However, they worry that some areas are being allowed to decline and threaten the continued health and vitality of the community.
3. Convenience: They appreciate the convenience of location and easy access to area and regional assets but are concerned that lack of connectivity and continued growth will increase traffic congestion and thus diminish their ease of access.
4. Identity/Image: This issue was expressed as a strong need which, while imbedded in the first three issues, deserves special attention in order to maintain Ridgeland's excellence. It includes renovation of existing neighborhoods and commercial corridors, branding, town center, cultural facilities, and recognition of historic roots.

It is also noted in the analysis that citizens acknowledge the importance of Public Safety, Quality Public Schools and Good Leadership as key factors responsible for Ridgeland's advantageous position today.

MASTER PLAN GOALS

Assessment and analysis of the data led to the committee's recommendation that the following be adopted as goals for use in RAMP:

1. To improve the relaxed, small-town atmosphere of Ridgeland with an emphasis on conservation, and expansion of parks, trails and open space.
2. To insist only on high-quality residential and commercial development reinforced by stringent code enforcement, and redevelopment initiatives for declining areas.
3. To preserve, improve and take advantage of Ridgeland's convenient access to the jobs, markets, and cultural and entertainment offerings of surrounding communities while improving internal connectivity and ease of movement.
4. To preserve, improve and take advantage of our historical heritage and develop a strong cultural component to complement and balance Ridgeland's commercial strength.
5. To establish a strong identity for Ridgeland through the development and implementation of a city-center complex and an identifiable, positive image that communicates the true character of our city.

The adoption of these goals will allow MPG to begin developing planning concepts which will take advantage of Ridgeland's existing assets and provide direction for meeting its most critical needs. Using these goals along with other sound planning principles (Smart Growth), the Master Plan will recommend a variety of projects and policies that increase quality of life and long-term sustainability.

ADOPTION
On Thursday, April 5, 2007, the RAMP Steering Committee, represented by Co-Chairperson Ms. Susan Haltom, presented the data analysis, summary and recommended goals to the Ridgeland Mayor and Board of Aldermen for review.

Acknowledging that these goals represent the views of the citizens of Ridgeland and will help direct the planning process to capitalize upon Ridgeland's strengths while improving overall quality of life, the goals were adopted unanimously at the Board's regular meeting on Friday, April 6, 2007.

NEXT STEPS
In the following weeks the Moore Planning Group, LLC will be developing alternative recommendations and draft a land use plan of the study area, reflecting the goals and master plan priority issues, for review and discussion.