Ozark issues requests for proposal on long-term plan

City Planner Steve Childers is asking firms to submit their qualifications and ideas to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission by Aug. 31. Applicants will be narrowed to three in September. Interviews will take place, and a selection should be made by mid-October.

The city has seen a lot of change since its current long-term plan was created in 1993, Childers said, and its potential has diversified. An ideal 20-year plan would look at growth patterns, the direction of growth, transportation, infrastructure and green space, among a “laundry list of needs” the city has, Childers said.

“We need to evaluate who we are, create whatever identity that the city of Ozark wants to hold onto,” he said. “We (need to) to put in place good planning goals to reach that identity.”

The ultimate objective of the plan, Childers said, is to build a vision that reunites the community. More than a decade of outspread growth has created a “disconnected” feeling that a comprehensive plan could fix, he said.

Childers said the consulting fee could range between $50,000 and $100,000, depending on the scope of work.

Meanwhile, the redevelopment of 47 blighted acres between Ozark’s downtown and the Finley River is moving along. The plan for the area, formulated by Springfield firm Hagerman New Urbanism, was approved July 31 by the Ozark Board of Aldermen.

Now that the area’s concept has the green light, Childers said the tough work begins in implementing the project’s individual phases.

This story originally appeared in SBJ’s Aug. 3 free e-news Daily Update. Click here to register.