Long Beach hopes its 377-page comprehensive plan will steer the city of 35,000 into the future
Since Long Beach issued its last comprehensive plan in 2007, the city and its residents have experienced a recession, Superstorm Sandy and a pandemic. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
Long Beach officials and residents have crafted a 377-page comprehensive plan they hope will guide the city’s future.
The document, which was last completed in 2007, provides a snapshot of the Long Beach today and identifies strategies and goals for the city’s evolution. A team of consultants, residents and officials worked on the comprehensive plan for 18 months and released a draft in May. The city council will hold a public hearing on the draft on Tuesday and will later vote on its adoption.
The plan does not alter city code or regulations. Changes to city laws require additional approval from Long Beach officials. The comprehensive plan serves only as a blueprint for the city’s growth and management strategy.
“It sets the stage,” said Patti Bourne, the city’s economic development and planning director. “It’s aspirational. It tells us generally where we want to go.”
Bourne was involved in creating the comprehensive plan, which she said was kick-started by “a strong push to evaluate the needs for the future” by city leadership. The city attempted to update its comprehensive plan in 2018, but it didn’t pass city council scrutiny.
The latest effort to update the comprehensive plan comes in a time much different from 2007. Since then, a recession, Superstorm Sandy and a pandemic have affected the city and its residents.
Issues have changed, but “the bones of the city” have remained, said resident Damian Sciano, the planning advisory board chair, adding that the city's 35,000 residents still love Long Beach and the life it affords them. A survey issued during the engagement process showed about 90% of residents said the beach, boardwalk and waterfront were why they live in the city.
Sciano, who was the planning advisory board chair in 2007, added that parking remained a challenge in 2023 as it did 16 years ago. City spokesman John McNally, who helped develop the plan, said gentrification and affordability were current concerns, especially in the North Park neighborhood.
The team met with more than 30 community leaders to identify key issues and established the 11-member planning advisory board to engage the public. They also held community meetings and workshops.
Five goals emerged after collecting resident feedback: livable neighborhoods and sustained quality of life; a thriving economy; access to mobility; enhanced environment and climate resistance; and sustainable growth. Residents identified a desire for roadway improvement, affordable housing, increased parking in the West End and improved bike and pedestrian safety, among other goals.
The plan breaks down the five goals with steps needed to achieve the objectives, such as reviewing and revising the city’s zoning code, pursuing grant funding, creating a business improvement district and improving bike lanes.
“It’s almost by definition written to be general enough that it’s captured the flavor of what people have asked for,” Sciano said. “It’s open enough that it provides guidance without restraints or handcuffs.”
Brinley Hineman covers the Town of Hempstead and the City of Long Beach for Newsday. She previously was a reporter in Nashville, Tennessee, and is a West Virginia native.
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