New Albany’s new Comprehensive Plan to be happily midwifed by precisely the same old suspects.

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I don’t enjoy being the deliverer of Halloween nightmares.

Wait a minute — yes I do.

New Albany drafting new city plan, by Madeleine Winer (Courier-Journal)

New Albany is asking for input on what its next 20 years of development will look like.

The city has started drafting a new comprehensive plan, which plots what improvements in transportation, housing, infrastructure and overall quality of life it would like to make over the next two decades. So far, the city worked with an engineering and development firm to create a rough draft of the plan and has hosted stakeholder and focus group meetings, said city spokesman Mike Hall.

“The comprehensive plan is a guiding tool and reference that we can use to help move New Albany forward for years to come,” said Mayor Jeff Gahan in a statement. “By working together, we can ensure that we make New Albany the best city it can be for all of us, and we can work towards making our shared vision a reality.”

Leading the plan’s formation is a 13-person steering committee, consisting mainly of city officials, developers and redevelopment representatives. Engineering firms Bean Longest and Neff and HWC Engineers, both based out of Indianapolis, were hired to draft the plan. Both firms have also been hired to work on other city projects including converting some its one-way streets to two-way roads and the Mt. Tabor road restoration project.

Maybe this part will help you feel better.

Wendy Dant Chessler, steering committee member and president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, said her role on the committee is to think about what businesses’ needs will be in the future and what development areas the city can help with. One Southern Indiana is the Chamber of Commerce for Clark and Floyd Counties with a good portion of its members with businesses in New Albany, she said.

“It gives us a clearer picture of what the community wants,” she said, “and we figure out from there who to market it to to get those types of companies.”

She said a big part of the plan is its zoning, which will determine what types of development can be built in certain areas of the city.

Apart from One Southern Indiana’s familiar role as hen house fox with open palms, there’s a familiar scorecard to update.

HWC Engineering: Gutted the Speck two-way plan … remains the employer of the economic development director’s wife … now charged with writing a new comprehensive plan derived from the boilerplate input of the same old suspects.

And you think I’m kidding when I refer to this asylum as New Gahania?

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