In general, planning represents good stewardship. Overland Park has a well-deserved reputation as a good place to live, do business, attract visitors and have fun. The Overland Park we enjoy today is the result of deliberate planning and commitment to following through on those plans. Progress is always happening and we must periodically pause to assess our current status and look to the future to ensure that we are pursuing a path of success for today and the future.

The vision plan will be:

A targeted long-term plan

that sets the direction for Overland Park considering all aspects of community life. All of the city’s other plans should be aligned with the vision plan. Some of the vision plan’s goals may be assigned to other organizations and groups throughout the community for accomplishment as appropriate.

Driven by the Overland Park community’s insight and aspirations.

Community engagement is an essential and relevant aspect of the vision plan process, and the final plan is a product around which the community can identify and unify.

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Who was involved?

Steering Committee

Process and outreach

A 26-member citizen steering committee helped to guide the public process and the plan’s recommendations. The group is representative of the city’s many diverse interests. The planning consulting team facilitated the steering committee’s work, convened public workshops, conducted technical work and drafted the plan.

Community Connectors

Outreach

Over 100 “community connectors” helped to spread the word about Forward OP and invited people to get involved in the process.

Public

Input and feedback

Widespread public involvement is vital to Forward OP’s success. A number of in-person workshops and online tools offered a variety of ways for the community to give input throughout the 14-month process.

Project Management

Coordination

The City of Overland Park, The Chamber of Commerce and Visit OP have come together to fund and oversee this planning effort. City staff along with staff from each organization supported and helped to coordinate the work and  also provided local knowledge and expertise to each element of the plan.

Elected Officials

Adoption

The final plan will be formally adopted by City Council who will have a central role in its implementation.

Consultants

Process, leadership, expertise

Planning NEXT worked closely with the Steering Committee and Leadership Team to facilitate the process and shared experience from other successful communities nationwide.