A considerable number of
people in our society are fairly
cynical about government, and
suspicious of what is being
done while others complain
that they feel powerless to
have a voice in what govem-
ment is doing.
On the other hand, local
government officials complain
that they go to a great deal of
trouble to tell people what
they are doing and to try to
find out what the majority of
people think of their ideas and
the usual reaction is a polite
yawn from the voters.
In Provo, where advance
planners are working on a new
master plan for the city which
is designed to chart the
directions and the type of
growth that should occur in
the next 20 years, both groups
have an excellent chance to
change the traditional
infomation gap that exists
between the voters and their
electorate.
City Planner Jerry Howell is
pleading for the public to take
an interest in the city’s new
over – all plan. He said he feels
like an architect who has been
asked to design a house for a
family who will not tell him
what kind of house they want
and how they want to live.
Thus far, the city’s
neighborhood chairmen have
shown an interest in the
project and they have com-
mitted themselves to spend a
considerable number of hours
studying land use,
transportation, community
and govemmental facilities,
parks and open spaces,
housing and other
neighborhood needs.
They are to be commended
for their effort to represent
the variety of neighborhood
interests, but no one expects
them to be able to know about
every need, or that they have
the wisdom to be able to
outline proposals that will
solve every problem.
It is not very often that the
citizens of a community are
invited to make an overall
plan for the clty’s future, and
it is to be hoped that the many
talented people of Provo will
not sit back and leave it to the
other fellow to set out what the
city should be like 20 years
from now.
Mr. Howell explained that
Provo’s general plan needs
periodic updating and it is
generally in a continual state
of revision, but at the same
time he said it is a document
that has a great impact on
development of every type
that is proposed for the city.
All businesses and industry
must obtain a variety of city
permits as does every
developer of property before
he can build. Before these
permits are issued, the city
checks the general plan to see
that the project harmonizes
with the objectives for the
neighborhood involved.
So year in and year out,
thousands of decisions are
influenced by the city’s
general plan. A plan with
maximum input will have the
best chance of being
implemented in the city
because the city fathers will
have confidence in the goals
set for the city.
We are all interested in how
the city should grow, and we
are all especially interested in
what our neighborhoods should
be like so let’s support the
neighborhood committees by
calling the city’s planning
department to ask how we can
get involved.