By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News
On Thursday night, members of the Prattville Planning and Zoning Committee met in the in the city hall chambers to discuss the final draft for the “Prattville 2040 Plan.”
The plan, which has been through a multitude of drafts, is heavily influenced by what the people of Prattville have said they would like to see. Questionnaires, polls and other forms of surveys were available online for well over the past year – asking Prattville citizens how they envision the city over the next 20 years.
“Our job is to help create a vision for this city. The people of Prattville’s input is extremely important when you’re writing something as intricate as this,” said City Planner Scott Stephens.
Part of the survey for the 2040 plan asked citizens what their biggest concern for the next 20 years was. Answers varied but were not surprising.
Sixty-seven percent of people said that the school system was the biggest issue. Many of the tax dollars that come from the east side of town where shopping centers are located do not go to Prattville Schools.
The planning commission noted that they would “love” to see a city or city/county hybrid school system take shape over the next 20 years to help more money flow into education.
At 32.5 percent, business development was also important when people thought about the future.
“There’s always room for growth and the people of Prattville see that. One of the biggest things that we would like to see over the next 20 years is a full High Point shopping center. Coincidentally, that was repeatedly addressed by citizens in our surveys,” Stephens said.
More attractions are something that could bring growth to the area. A possible civic center, museum, and additional parks were all something that people suggested to the city.
But there were also suggestions to keep many of the old, outdated buildings and renovate them for more comfortable use.
“We had a lot of suggestions to renovate Stanley-Jensen Stadium, specifically the restroom area on the site,” Stephens said.
Other suggestions included a larger library and renovations to the Doster Community Center.
More residential homes were also important to the people of Prattville, and luckily for them, land surveys show that there’s plenty of room for growth.
“We have a market potential for 1,100 – 1,500 new housing units over the next five years,” Stephens said.
Ultimately, the people of Prattville want a growing and prosperous, but quaint city. When polled between a “historic and lush” look over the next 20 years, or a more urbanized city, citizens chose the first option almost every time. Traffic, and endless buildings and restaurants were not something that were viewed positively.
As of now, this plan is simply that – a plan.
Nothing is set in stone, but these are some of the challenges that the City of Prattville would like to take on over the next 20 years.
Next Thursday, the Prattville 2040 Plan will be put up for adoption at the Planning Commission Meeting.
