City of Denison Comprehensive Plan

• Location: Denison, Texas
• Client: City of Denison
• Project date: April 2017 - December 2018
• Project URL: CityofDenison.com

The City Planning department from the City of Denison hired my team to update their 2002 Comprehensive Plan. This involved an analysis of existing conditions, several meetings with a volunteer task force and the public, developing a set of vision and goals, identifying action items and projects for the City to implement in the short- and long-term, a Future Land Use Map, and a Future Thoroughfare Plan.

City of Denison, located one hour north of Dallas and at the Texas-Oklahoma border, has around 20,000 residents. Our kick-off meetings with the task force and the public revealed that the majority of residents enjoyed the small-town community feel of the city and highly valued their history, as the birthplace of Eisenhower and a key connection for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Rail. Residents also indicated their largest concerns for the city included an inadequate variety of housing options, especially for seniors, and lack of tourism and entertainment options.

Over the next several meetings, our team drafted and redrafted a set of goals, which also helped develop a broader vision. I organized and helped conduct meetings for public feedback, and then translated these goals into a high level moves diagram for the city, including preserving its natural character and identifying major thoroughfares and future development. I eventually developed this big moves diagram into a finer grain Future Land Use Plan and Future Thoroughfare Masterplan that were in line with the residents’ desires for their city.