Republic’s SOAR 2040 long-term plan announced

Outline calls for new, updated roads around Amazon, Brookline area
 
The city of Republic has a new comprehensive plan. The Republic City Council adopted the Strategic Opportunities Advancing Republic 2040 (SOAR 2040) Comprehensive Plan during their meeting on Tuesday, May 18. SOAR 2040 replaces the city’s comprehensive plan from 1988.
According to its page on the city of Republic website, SOAR 2040 is a 54-page document that was developed to help the city “identify and seize … opportunities” for growth through the year 2040 Implementation.
SOAR 2040 was built by the Comprehensive Plan Committee and developed through the use of a variety of resources, including land use and housing inventories, citizen needs
surveys and various studies.

Starting from scratch
Jennafer Mayfield, interim communications officer for the city of Republic, said SOAR 2040 is largely a departure from the city’s last comprehensive plan.
“The newly adopted comprehensive plan is an entirely original document, rather than an update of the previous plan from more than 30 years ago,” she said. “The city’s SOAR 2040 Comprehensive Plan is intended to be used as a guide for decision-making and the development of future policies.”
The plan was developed over nine months, using a large variety of resources.
“The city of Republic worked with a third-party consultant, Southwest Missouri Council of Governments (SMCOG), to complete the SOAR 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the Land Use Plan,” Mayfield said. “SMCOG also conducted an Industrial Market Study, and internal staff conducted two market studies: a Residential Market Study and a Commercial Retail Market Study. The plan also includes population projections through 2040, buildout projections for zoning districts, suitability modeling of parcels in and around the city, surveying of subdivisions, and land use inventory of all parcels within the city limits.”
At a time when Republic is experiencing unprecedented growth, SOAR 2040 will help the city live up to its full growth potential, Mayfield said.
“The city is currently experiencing a phase of tremendous growth,” she said. “New subdivisions are building out, new businesses are opening, and infrastructure is continually being replaced and added throughout the city. The guidance presented in the SOAR 2040 Comprehensive Plan will help us channel this momentum in the right direction through data-driven decision making.”
Plan starts now
At present, SOAR 2040 is being implemented in Republic. Mayfield said the comprehensive plan will provide guidance to city leaders as Republic moves forward.
“Implementation of the SOAR 2040 Plan in ongoing,” she said. “BUILDS Department staff, for example, have already begun utilizing the Land Use portion of the plan to make recommendations to the Planning and Zoning Commission. The document will be used to assist in planning for the future of the city, and will be continually reviewed and updated as needed.”
The SOAR 2040 plan can be viewed and downloaded from it’s page on the city website, www.soar2040.com.