Our Plan Community Engagement

Theme Development

• Purpose:
  Icebreaker to help group members get to know each other, and become familiar with how they view and understand their group's Core Value
• Outcome:
  Themes and key topics for later discussions

S.O.A.R.

Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results

• Purpose:
  Strategic thinking to identify key ideas and opportunities for each Core Value
• Outcome:
  A visionary plan for each Core Value

Research

• Subject matter experts invited to group sessions
• Review of other Town adopted plans and the current Comprehensive Plan

Education Series

The education series was intended to help Work Group participants learn more about different topics relevant to Our Plan. Each topic area had a panel of experts and the presentations were open to the public. Topics included:

• Economic Development
• Natural Resources
• Infrastructure and Technology
• Solid Waste-Recycling-Energy
• Arts and Culture

Start Goal Development

With research and education completed, the Work Groups started to draft goals for their Core Value.

Staff coordinators facilitated discussion to refine goals and develop strategies and tactics.

Our Plan Definitions

• Goal: an aspiration; a desired outcome
• Strategy: a plan of action
• Tactic: a tool or action item

• All Our Plan meetings with Work Groups and the Development Team were open to the public and public comment was taken at each meeting
• Every step of the way, the Work Groups presented their findings and information to the Our Plan Development Team
• Seven Public Open Houses were held at key intervals to engage the public with similar activities the Work group participants were doing
• Town staff attended festivals and hosted pop up activities
• Staff attended local organizations as guest speakers about Our Plan
• Partner organizations hosted pop up activities
• The Town hosted an Our Plan Facebook page for posting events, Work Group meeting schedules, and updates about project progress
• Work Group participants received weekly emails with project updates, schedule, and announcements
• The Town sent out press releases with project updates and information about public meetings
• The Town's website hosting a project landing page with information about the project and how to participate

The Town's Vision for Parks and Recreation: Hilton Head Island is recognized for best-in-class parks and recreation by building diversity of recreational, arts, and quality of life offerings for all residents and visitors.

• A concurrent effort overlapped with Our Plan to update the Recreation Element and former 1995 Recreation and Open Space Plan
• Incorporated working with a consultant, Parks and Recreation Task Group and community engagement through focus groups, online survey, interviews, and public open house events
• Resulted in a Budget, Staffing, Maintenance, Needs Assessment, and Gap Analysis adopted by Town Council October 6, 2020
• Key findings and recommendations were incorporated into a Parks and Recreation section in Our Plan

Parks + Recreation Master Plan

Maintaining outreach and communication with the Island community is important as we continue engagement efforts to solicit input about the recommendations that are in Our Plan for parks and recreation.

The community has played a role in prioritizing the programming for three key park development projects and the recommendations for other improvements and park projects. The results from numerous engagement activities this past fall were approved by the Parks and Recreation Commission in January 2021.

• Three virtual Town Hall Meetings were held in October 2020
• Two Open Park Days in November 2020
• Online survey from mid October to late November
• Newsletter updates weekly and continuing monthly in 2021

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