Major updates of the Comprehensive Plan will occur every five years. The update requires an analysis of the current conditions in the city and parish. Background information, demographic data and economic analyses and assumptions should be updated and revised as needed. Similarly, land-use data should be updated to identify new development activity, as well as changing patterns of use. In addition, the original methodologies used in preparing the Plan Elements should be evaluated and revised as necessary.
The process of updating should be complemented by an ongoing data collection process that continuously monitors factors such as land-use changes, Plan Amendments and the accomplishment of plan objectives. The information gathered to analyze current conditions will provide the new basis for developing a description of conditions affecting the city and parish, including unanticipated problems and opportunities that have occurred since the date of plan adoption. The impact of these problems and opportunities upon the growth and development of the city and parish, both positive and negative, and the social, economic and environmental effects of these influences also should be addressed.
An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the Comprehensive Plan as a whole and of each of its elements should be conducted. This analysis should consider the adequacy of the Plan Elements relative to the needs of the city and parish.
The success or failure of the City-Parish Government to implement individual objectives of the Plan should be evaluated, including an assessment of the validity of objectives and the need to add, delete or revise objectives, policies and implementation actions. This evaluation also should consider whether implementation is hampered by the level of specificity of the objectives. Instances where the plan has not been followed also should be identified.
The information and analysis developed in the updating process will furnish the basis for recommending changes to the plan elements or other portions of the plan. The form of the proposed changes may include a revised plan, or reformulated objectives, policies and actions, as appropriate. Since action on these recommendations by the City-Parish Council will constitute a Plan Amendment, the proposed changes should be in a form that facilitates incorporation into the plan.
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