BACKGROUND

The City of Worthington is seeking proposals from qualified and professional planning consultants who have the capacity and expertise to assist the City on the completion of an action-oriented and implementable update to the City's Comprehensive Plan.

The City is proposing a targeted update to the Comprehensive Plan which balances the previously established goals, objectives, and policies that maintain relevancy with any significant present-day — or newly developed — goals, objectives, and policies.

The City of Worthington's current Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2005. The City has proactively planned for the future since that time through the completion of multiple supplemental plans and studies and now desires to pursue a full update to the Comprehensive Plan.

The City of Worthington has a population of approximately 15,000, is located in the northern quadrant of Franklin County, on the I-270 outer belt encompassing 6.2 square miles and has a daytime population of approximately 35,000. Worthington was founded in 1803 and is a first-ring suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The heart of Worthington is its historic district with a traditional village green, a small, but vibrant downtown central business district and many well-maintained historical homes. The City's commercial and industrial corridors are home to many important businesses that comprise most of the City's tax base. Worthington's location in the region and easy access to great transportation options make it an easy option for those wanting to locate in the region. The City has highly desirable residential neighborhoods, excellent schools, an award-winning library, and is characterized by strong civic partnerships. The City's departments include Police, Fire & EMS, Planning & Building, Economic Development, City Administration, Service & Engineering, Parks & Recreation, Law and Finance. More information on the City's history and services can be found at www.worthington.org.

Worthington is a fully developed land locked community with few options for new development, thus economic growth and residential development typically occurs through redevelopment. While predominately a residential community, the City possesses a healthy mix of industrial and commercial enterprises. Most of the geographic area of the City is fully developed, with approximately 64% of the land being residential, 11.8% industrial, and only 7.9% office, the primary generator of income tax revenue for the City. With limited sites for new development and a dependency on income tax revenues to support vital City services, Worthington has a heavy focus on redevelopment opportunities that include office space, while also prioritizing the retention and growth of the existing employment base.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

After thorough public engagement efforts, the City of Worthington adopted vision statements representing the City's desired future in 2021. These adopted statements reflect seven desired characteristics of the community and should be reflected in the update to the City's Comprehensive Plan. The complete vision statements and additional information can be found at www.worthington.org/visioning. In short, these statements reflect the following characteristics:

• Worthington offers a High Quality of Life
• Worthington is a Diverse and Equitable Community
• Worthington is dedicated to the Vibrancy of its Downtown
• Worthington's Economy is Balanced and Resilient
• Worthington is a model for Environmental Stewardship
• Worthington's Leadership is Open, Forward-Thinking and Collaborative Leadership
• Worthington is Connected

To promote the understanding and communicability of the City's Comprehensive Plan, the update must be approachable and easily communicated to the general public. With community engagement and understanding at the heart of the Comprehensive Plan Update, the following elements are anticipated to be included, with policies of each summarized at the conclusion of each respective section:

• Community Context
• Community Vision
• Land Use and Development
• Economic Development
• Housing
• Multimodal Transportation
• Parks and Open Space
• Public Services / Infrastructure
• Resiliency
• Sustainability Strategies

PROJECT PURPOSE

Public engagement efforts by the City of Worthington resulted in the development of seven key vision areas to identify the type of future the community desires. The purpose of this Comprehensive Plan Update is to formalize and incorporate each Vision area's recommendations into the Comprehensive Plan elements as central components of the City's growth and development efforts.

The Comprehensive Plan Update is also intended to make the Plan more practical from both a contextual and an implementation standpoint. The Update should reflect the community's desires, as well as provide action items that City Staff may be able to implement. An Implementation Plan should also be tied to a timetable so that Staff may be able to plan a course of action for implementation.

Additionally, the Comprehensive Plan Update needs to consider a fiscal analysis that determines potential impacts related to development. A separate fiscal analysis is being conducted outside this scope of services; however, it will need to be incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan.

The full RFP document can be found on MORPC's website: Worthington_ComprehensivePlanUpdateRFP_FINAL_20240409.pdf (morpc.org)