You can tell Patricia Southerland is new. The walls in the recently hired city planner”s office are bare. The furniture is sparse.
Yet Southerland, who began in September, is tasked with helping steer Columbus” future as the pilot of its forthcoming comprehensive plan.
State law mandates cities develop a new plan every 20-30 years to guide maintenance and progress for infrastructure, land use, zoning, annexation, transportation, community facilities and myriad additional factors.
Southerland”s job is to talk to all stakeholders — elected officials, business people and average citizens — and discern the necessary and the desirable. Then she has to determine what can realistically be accomplished from what”s out of Columbus” reach at this point.
And that”s not all. In addition to quarterbacking the comprehensive plan, the city planner is also in charge of building inspections, federal programs and code enforcement.
Southerland has a lot on her plate, so she”s spent her first few weeks on the job familiarizing herself with Columbus” six wards, getting a grip on the state of her new city.
Once she has a comprehensive understanding, then begins the comprehensive planning.
What are the duties of a city planner?
A city planner has to know a lot of different things. We look at the environment, the ecological systems, economics and so on. What you do in one place will effect what you do in another. They overlap. So a planner works with a lot of people: architects, developers, public officials and the public.
Since you”re Columbus” lone planner, is it safe to say the comprehensive plan is your project?
(The city) had talked to some planning companies before and they had a charrette here, so I”m looking at some different studies from those. We”ll have to start over with the public meetings because it”s been a little while. But I would say this is probably going to be my ongoing project for a year or two.
Where do you start on a project that immense?
First you find a consulting company that you feel comfortable with to fulfill the needs of the citizens, because it”s a very public process. It”s what the people want.
Every city is unique. Columbus is not Chicago or even Tupelo. So you have to gear it toward that place and try to find a sense of the place and the quality of living.
Will you plan around the new Highway 45 corridor or will it be planned around the comprehensive plan?
Neel-Schaffer engineers already started that plan. We”ll come in and see how that affects the area it goes through and what will be built around it. Because any time you build a road it”s like ”Build it and they will come.”
You want to look at traffic patterns. You want to offset congestion if you can be proactive.
Is it possible to look 20 years in the future and say ”This area is definitely better suited for industry?” Is the plan constantly evolving to react to changes?
It is. When we look at all the factors that will come out in a 20-year period, you break it down. What do we want to do in the next five years. Then five-10 years. Then 10-20 years. If an area is changing you can tweak the plan and change accordingly. Hopefully though that plan is guiding what”s going on.
Since you”ve only been here a little while, we”ll stick with the first five years of the plan. What are Columbus” most pressing needs?
Coming from Chattanooga, Tenn., and the river, I think the river (here) is very underutilized and I do like the Riverwalk. They are looking at some things to do over there but there”s so much that can be done to enhance it.
You”ve worked in Atlanta, Miami and most recently in Chattanooga. Did you have any experience with Columbus before coming here?
I”m originally from Houston, Miss., and we used to come to Columbus to shop.
I”ve always loved the historical aspect of it. It”s just a beautiful southern town.
Besides the river and history, what are Columbus” strengths? And what are its weaknesses?
We”re sitting here with The W. We”re near MSU. And we have a strong Main Street program and the Link. A lot of different organizations can work together. The weakness is that they”re all fragmented.
How long will it take before we see some changes from the comprehensive plan?
This will not be an overnight thing. It”s going to take a while.
I keep telling elected officials we don”t have to reinvent the wheel. It”s been done out there. Just look at these cities that have done things, the progressive cities. See what they did and use that.
So one of your jobs is to steal the best ideas?
Exactly. The ones that cost the least.
On a more personal note, you have a daughter who lives in Greece. What does she do?
She majored in foreign language and she”s working with the government on the island of Crete. And if this job doesn”t work out, that”s where I”m going (laughs).
You studied interior design but ended up designing much bigger projects. Do you still do any small-scale work?
I partially restored an old house recently, sold it and bought another one. I bought a bungalow that was built in 1940.
The bungalow has wonderful details with a center fireplace. I had bookcases built in and refinished the wood floors. I like all-natural materials like wood and stone. I”m pretty much and environmentalist.
I laid the granite countertops myself. I laid the bathroom tile myself and now I”m on the pretty part, doing window treatments I make myself.
It was like a five-month project for this small house. I”ve come to the realization people don”t need as much space as they use up.
Do you have your eye on anything in Columbus to restore?
I”m getting too old to do that. But I love that old restaurant building (on Main Street). Was it the railroad depot or something?
That was done all the time in Chattanooga. If it was in Chattanooga a developer would have grabbed it up by now.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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