A national architecture and community design firm has been selected to craft a long-range plan to guide how Lafayette Parish grows and develops in the coming decades.
A city-parish government advisory committee on Thursday recommended contracting with the firm of Wallace Roberts & Todd, of Pennsylvania, after hearing presentations from four groups interested in the project.
The actual contract with Wallace Roberts & Todd is contingent on negotiations with city-parish government on the cost estimated at around $1 million and approval from the City-Parish Council.
City-Parish President Joey Durel said work on the so-called "comprehensive plan should begin this year if there are no unexpected problems.
The plan would address a wide range of issues, including strategies for deciding where and how to encourage quality development, how to improve areas that have already been developed and how to plan for transportation needs.
Wallace Roberts & Todd has helped create similar plans across the country.
Their portfolio includes work for Austin, Texas; Biloxi, Miss.; and Albany, N.Y.
The firm also has recruited locals for the project the Lafayette public relations and planning firm of SIDES & Associates and former Lafayette City-Parish Councilman Jerry Trumps, with the engineering firm Neel-Schaffer.
City-parish government launched its own internal planning process several years ago called "Lafayette In a Century, but many of the ideas to emerge from scores of community meetings have yet to be implemented. Some of those ideas might be considered politically difficult because of recommendations for new regulations on development.
Durel said inaction on the LINC plans could be in part due to the wariness of the City-Parish Council, which he believes will be more open to ideas developed by an outside firm.
"They are going to bring some ideas from success in other areas, Durel said.
He also said the goals and plans developed through LINC lay a solid foundation for the new comprehensive plan.
"This plan will take a lot of work that a lot of people have done and pull it together, Durel said.
The other firms that had made the short list with Wallace Roberts & Todd for the planning job were Dover, Kohl & Partners; Fregonese Associates; and Goody Clancy.
