Nothing gets done in a vacuum, so the saying goes. It takes a lot of people in partnership to accomplish great things. And so it is with the city's Planning and Development Department. It's an active department, with many irons in the fire.

Development Director Vince Marion likes Alliance. He says it's "a great community with a lot of caring people working together." Vince was previously the Administrator of Plain Township in Stark County. He held that position for 4 years before coming to Alliance at the request of Mayor Middleton. Vince has a Master's Degree in International Relations and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Policy. He heads a department that covers a lot of territory.

The city's Planning and Development department was active in the mid '80's, then inactive for a few years, then started up again in the early '90's. Vince is the 4^th director in ten years. The department receives direct funding from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, commonly known as HUD. You see HUD's name all over the place since they have quite a few different programs nationwide. Here in Alliance, we receive between $800,000 and $900,000 a year from HUD. Those funds are called Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds.

Those funds are used exactly the way HUD tells us we can use them. Only a small amount can be used for staff. The rest has to go to public service programs, which account for about 15% of the funds. The public service programs are those like the Domestic Violence Shelter, the Homeless Shelter, etc. Those costs are referred to in the industry as "soft costs." The largest share of the money goes to "bricks and mortar" projects where there is an actual physical improvement made. An example would be a new roof at the YWCA or a new door at the YMCA, or the paving and new sidewalks on Freedom Avenue. The Owner Occupied Rehab program is also funded with CDBG funds. The key to spending the funds correctly is to make an improvement in low income areas where there may be "slum or blight", as HUD calls it.

The Development department has been busy lately doing just that…developing. Vince has been out and about recruiting new businesses to Alliance. You may have read in this newspaper about Winkle Industries or Ingenium Packaging coming to Alliance in the new industrial park. Part of the job of the Development department is to recruit new business and industry to the city. When asked how he finds the potential new business, Vince says he and the mayor follow up on leads they hear about in the community. He says they just try to keep in touch with what the city needs.

Over the past 2 years, the Planning and Development department has been working on a comprehensive land use plan for the city. It will be used as a blueprint for future development of business, industry and housing in the city. The plan will also address the zoning code, making updates to the forty-year-old plan in use now. A citizen's committee has been formed to act as an advisory panel to the consultants hired by the city to complete the new land use plan.  The end product will act as a map for future growth.  

A special council meeting has been scheduled for March 29, 2004 at 5:00 p.m. in Council Chambers located at 470 East Market Street.  A public hearing will also be conducted on the comprehensive land use plan and the public will be permitted to voice their comments and concerns.  

If you have questions about anything the Planning and Development Department does, you can call Vince at 330-829-2235.