By Madi Sutter

The City of Mableton’s August 14 city council meeting featured a presentation on the status of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan by a representative from the Grice Consulting Group. Project Leader John Funny and assistant project leader Allison Stewart-Harris, with TSW, provided an overview of the plan, anticipated timeline, community engagement plan, and next steps. 

The project team is made up of two subteams: the consultant team and city staff. Led by Funny of Grice and Stewart-Harris of TSW, the consultant team is composed of specialists in market analysis studies, mobility and transportation planning, land use and logistics. Nick Johnson (TSW), Contente Terry (Contente Consulting), Todd Long (Atlas), Todd Noell (Noell Consulting) and Selia Edwards (Cordial Endeavors) are on the consulting team, which is working with the following city staff members: William B. Tanks, Allison Benson, Susan Hiott and Lily Smith.

Funny began by recapping the purpose of a comprehensive plan — to set long-term community goals related to all elements a city is responsible for, including land use, transportation, economic development and housing. Funny described the comprehensive plan as a “40,000 foot view” of the city’s plans and future, as it is an advisory rather than a regulatory document. 

In addition to the high-level approach, Funny outlined the five areas the comprehensive plan will focus on as part of the special area studies: Veterans Memorial Highway Corridor, City Center, Historic Main Street, Riverside Parkway, and Six Flags District. These specific area examples serve as an opportunity to test the vision and policies outlined in the Comprehensive Plan. 

Funny also outlined the timeline for the Comprehensive Plan development and adoption process. Analysis of the existing conditions, background data research and goal setting has begun and will continue through October followed by strategy identification and special area study development informed by key stakeholder interviews to be held through June 2025. The work program development and plan adoption will take place from July through October 2025. 

A central pillar of the Comprehensive Plan is community engagement. “[The Plan] Brings community together to give input into the vision that is being created for the city,” Funny said.

“Being that this is a new city, this is your opportunity to create the footprint of what you would like this city to be, look, touch and feel 20 years out.” 

The engagement program consists of three parts: active promotion and outreach, featuring a website, email and social media updates, and newsletter articles; context settings and strategic guidance, consisting of stakeholder interviews and Steering Committee meetings; and ongoing collaboration with the public with two meeting series. 

Beginning with the website, which is scheduled to go live in September, the public will be able to access the complete plan timeline, including upcoming public meetings and opportunities for input. The city council chooses the stakeholders to be interviewed. 

The next steps in planning are to finalize the community engagement plan, extend invitations to the Steering Committee, begin stakeholder interviews, and launch the website. 

During the council Q&A session, District 6 Councilwoman Debora Herndon asked how Cobb County’s comprehensive planning will impact Mableton’s plans. Funny said that while this plan will work with the broader county vision, Mableton 2045 will take a more granular approach to specialize it to Mableton’s community members’ concerns and needs. 

The Georgia Department of Community Affairs requires cities to create and implement comprehensive plans to be eligible for state and federal funding. 

The next city council meeting will be on Wednesday, August 28th at 6:30 PM. 

Madi Sutter has been reporting on city events from local council meetings to K-12 education for over four years. As a graduate of Emory University, she developed a love for Georgia politics and communities. She received her Masters degree in Journalism in 2022 from the University of Missouri at Columbia and currently resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. When she’s not covering Cobb County events, you can find her with a book in one hand and a coffee in the other on her porch.