Last night the City Council of Anna, Texas approved a contract for a consultant team to work with them on three important plans — an update to the Comprehensive Plan, a Downtown Master Plan, and a Park, Trails and Open Space Master Plan. The lead consulting firm on the team is Kimley-Horn, Inc. Strategic Community Solutions LLC is one of the subconsultants for the project, providing assistance with stakeholder engagement and strategic direction.

It should be an exciting and challenging project! Anna is a small but rapidly-growing community in Collin County, in the northeastern part of the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Developing all three plans together will add some logistical challenges but it should mean that the important policies and the overall direction will be consistent and coordinated for all of them. Implementation priorities will thus address not only the city as a whole but the specific opportunities in its downtown and the valuable contributions that parks, trails and open spaces make to many strategic goals.