Town of Horizon City
- planning
- Horizon City, Texas
Project Scope
Community of less than 250,000 people
Project Components
Comprehensive planning, economic development, community engagement, sub-area planning, TOD planning, infrastructure planning and land-use planning
Several planning initiatives in the last 10 years have recognized the Town of Horizon City’s growth. The previous comprehensive plan for the Town of Horizon City was adopted in June 2011. Since that time the city has added approximately 2,000 residents. The city's population growth is predicted to continue to increase exponentially, so the need for an updated comprehensive plan is evident.
Parkhill has been working with Town of Horizon City on an update to the city's comprehensive plan, which establishes a vision and set of goals until the year 2030. Services for this process included a demographic analysis of population and housing growth, peer benchmarking and a needs assessment. The data-driven approach utilizes predictive analytics and land-use scenario modeling software to measure the impacts of proposed development patterns. The plan also includes a heavy emphasis on inclusive planning that stimulates the public voice and creates a community-led vision for future development.
Elements of the Horizon City Comprehensive Plan include:
- a community profile
- vision, goals and objectives
- land use
- design concepts and a town center
- transportation and mobility
- community services and facilities
- parks and open spaces
- economic development
- community engagement
- implementation plan
Parkhill's involvement for updating the comprehensive plan can be broken down into three main elements - envisioning the future of the community, developing the community as a Town Center Concept Design and involving the community through workshops and, at this time, COVID-friendly engagement.
Envisioning the Future of a Community:
- The Comprehensive Plan for Horizon City process incorporates a future land use map to guide future development and organization of job centers, commercial corridors, residential districts, open/green space, industrial parks, etc. Parkhill's Planning Team has projected density scenarios based on demographic and economic growth in the region.
Town Center Concept Design:
- Parkhill's team of Planners and Urban Designers envisions the heart of Horizon City as a Transit Oriented Development (TOD). The future of this community is hoping to revolve around this concept as a catalyst for the town.
Community Workshops and COVID-Friendly Engagement:
- Incorporating feedback from key stakeholders of a community helps shape the vision of a community. In the Horizon City Comp Plan process, Parkhill's Planners lead a series of workshops that helped the community to express their needs, issues, concerns and preferences for the town’s future. The team is equipped with internet-based and real-time input generating tools that informs and shapes the entire process. COVID-19 has made evident the need to provide virtual participation tools to avoid agglomeration of large groups.
Specific actions to affect the strategic goals will frequently address more than one of the strategic focus areas and require multiple years to develop and implement. It is anticipated that the implementation timeline, specific steps, and performance indicators will be identified or refined during annual budgeting processes and adjusted based on changing conditions.
Project Leadership
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