Andy Close
WARREN, Pa. – The City of Warren Planning Commission received an update on the city’s comprehensive plan during its Wednesday meeting, and the wheels are in motion to start putting the plan into action soon.
Denny Puko of Mackin Engineering, the consultant working through the process, outlined the results of a survey conducted for residents and local businesses, as well as the plan going forward.
“We’re going to start preparing the actual document, putting pen to paper, fingertips to keyboard,” Puko said. “The target is to have a draft to you in either August or September.”
The end results won’t be a laundry list of items, but rather key areas of focus for the future.
“This isn’t just what we think, it’s what business people think, it’s what people that have been at these workshops think,” Puko said. “I keep coming back to that. Finding ways to sustain what is valuable to Warren, add to it, and market it.”
There were a pair of work sessions held, as well as a public meeting and an online survey. Several issues kept coming to the forefront, according to Puko.
“The thing that people keep coming back to is entrepreneurship is the way to go,” Puko said. “To have an idea, take that idea and make a profitable business out of it. Also, if you have an idea, turn that into a way to upgrade your own home, something as simple as that.
“Helping people get the resources they need to turn their idea into something that will contribute value to the city is a priority. We kept coming back to these things in the work session.”
He also emphasized that utilizing Warren’s assets is a must.
“Warren is a community with enviable assets. It’s a hub of a region with outstanding assets,” Puko said. “We go through a list of what the assets are. Off the bat, it’s natural outdoor recreation. Treasure small-town quality of life, people keep talking about that. It’s a real downtown that offers business opportunities and rich experiences.”
Planning committee member Mike Suppa agreed, citing the importance of continuing to develop those assets.
“The development brings people in here,” Suppa said while pointing to outdoor recreation options on the Allegheny River. “By putting 100s of people down the river, people are going to go to the restaurants, to Tops, to the hardware store there going to stop and get gas,” he said.
“There must be reinvestment and positive action,” Puko agreed, while also noting the positive feedback they got from local businesses. “I’m a little bit surprised the business community has responded the way it has. The quality and assets are what are important to them. They’ll often say there’s no help with financing or the rules are too hard for us. But no, they say we need to keep attracting people to this community. That’s integral to our success. I thought that was really interesting.”
Now, it’s time to start putting all the planning into action.
“We have a rough outline of what a planned document would look like,” Puko said. “Want to set the stage. This isn’t going to be a laborious presentation of statistics, but rather calling attention to data areas that are significant.”
