Springfield City Council approves Forward SGF plan | News | #citycouncil


Springfield City Council approved Forward SGF, a comprehensive plan for the city of Springfield until 2040, at the council’s Nov. 14 meeting. 

According to the plan’s website, Forward SGF will create a blueprint for Springfield’s future that will guide the city for the next 20 years. The blueprint is a community vision made by residents, business owners and workers. 

In Council Bill 2022-269, the planning and development department, headed by Principal Planner Randall Whitman, reached out to 10,000 individuals for their input on the project. 

Whitman said their efforts did not go unnoticed, as they were recognized for their outstanding outreach by the Missouri chapter of the American Planning Association. 

Whitman said there are 15 chapters of the project. The first part of the project covers where Springfield currently stands in development, and the second part covers what kind of city the community wants to be in 20 years. 

The plan is multifaceted and focuses on many areas, such as economic development, housing, arts, and historic preservation and natural resources. 

The Missouri Sierra Club White River Group attended the meeting to voice their support of the plan. Louise Wienckowski, chair of the chapter, said they are willing to assist with the plan. 

“We are especially pleased to see the preferences of building a green, sustainable infrastructure,” Wienckowski said. “Forward SGF devotes a lot of space to acknowledging the invaluable wealth of natural resources that the city of the Ozarks possess.”

Wienckowski said connecting to nature is a theme throughout the plan for its physical and mental health benefits. 

Other speakers voiced their appreciation for the plan, including former Springfield councilman Thomas Prater. 

Prater, who served as a chair on one of three advisory committees, was appointed by Springfield Mayor Ken McClure. 

Prater said the support of the public will take the project to the next level, and while it “may take some heavy lifting,” the committees came to a common vision about Springfield’s future. 

“I’ll leave you with a thought that the former mayor of Oklahoma City gave us — ‘great cities are intentional,’” Prater said. “And when you think of it, that’s exactly what we’re doing here.” 

Forward SGF was unanimously approved by members of the council, and many felt as though the plan covered the entirety of Springfield. 

“This process was a huge undertaking,” Monica Horton, Zone One councilwoman, said. “I really feel as though Zone One has been included in this plan in such major ways.”

Matthew Simpson, Zone Four councilman, said the plan will have positive effects for generations to come.

The final vote was left up to McClure, who thought the creation of the plan was thorough, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“We’ve spent a lot of time on this, and I want to thank a lot of people,” McClure said. “It’s time now to look at the next 20 years.”

To learn more about Forward SGF, visit the website at forwardsgf.com

 

Follow Makayla Malachowski on Twitter, @MMal2024.

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