Planning for Coppell: Previous and current visioning initiatives

The City of Coppell knows that it is essential to plan for the future, and, luckily, the residents of Coppell are well aware of the importance of future thinking. The City has a long history of planning for the future, and the Vision 2040 initiative will build on the work that was done in the past. As we embark on the Coppell Vision 2040 strategic planning process, it is useful to revisit the previous planning initiative – Coppell Vision 2030 – which took place in 2009.

Coppell Vision 2030 was a major, resident-driven plan adopted in 2009. The plan included considerable resident and City Council input.

The participatory process that the City underwent in the 12-18 months prior to the Vision 2030 plan’s adoption included more than 120 residents. This highly-engaged group met regularly in various focus groups throughout the year in a facilitated process to discuss ideas, values, and the strategic vision for over-arching areas, including Sense of Community, Creating a Special Place to Live, Commitment to Community Wellness and Enrichment, Continued Business Prosperity, and Sustainable City Government.

The vision was developed to ensure that the high standard of living present in Coppell would be maintained in the ever-changing world of the future. This unique plan provided strategies to take advantage of future opportunities – and address future challenges – for Coppell over a twenty year period.

Coppell 2030 – Our Vision

Coppell is a family community for a lifetime.

Coppell residents choose to make Coppell their hometown because of our small town feel, our inviting community gathering places, our active, healthy lifestyle for all, our top quality schools, and our diverse faith-based values.

Coppell is our Special Place to Live because of our beautiful green city, our great livable neighborhoods, our viable community commercial centers, our prosperous business center and our convenient access and effective mobility.

We have a passion for Coppell.

The process concluded with the Vision 2030 Strategy and Goals. Each of the following strategies were broken down further into Objectives, Value to Residents, Critical Factors for Success (both short and long term).

Sense of Community
Goal 1: Residents and businesses engaged and contributing to the Coppell community
Goal 2: Successful community events and festivals
Goal 3: New residents welcomed and involved
Goal 4: Effective community relationship
Goal 5: Future civic and community leadership development

Special Place to Live
Goal 1: Quality housing for family generations
Goal 2: Beautiful green city
Goal 3: Revitalizing neighborhoods
Goal 4: Effective mobility within Coppell
Goal 5: Easy access to Dallas-Fort Worth region

Community Wellness and Enrichment
Goal 1: Community gathering places
Goal 2: Recreation programs and services for all generations
Goal 3: Expand cultural arts amenities and opportunities
Goal 4: Residents’ wellness and longevity
Goal 5: Community education programs and support of top quality schools
Goal 6: Multi-use trail system connecting the city

Business Prosperity
Goal 1: Retention and attraction of businesses that generate revenue for the city
Goal 2: Major retail and top quality business office park along I-635 and State Highway 121
Goal 3: Old Coppell as a small town village
Goal 4: Community commercial centers
Goal 5: Home offices and home-based businesses

Sustainable City Government
Goal 1: Excellent city services with high level of customer satisfaction
Goal 2: ‘Green’ city operations and facilities
Goal 3: Excellent and well-maintained city infrastructure and facilities
Goal 4: Top quality work force
Goal 5: Financial resources to support city services

In the intervening years, Coppell has experienced tremendous success implementing major elements of the Vision 2030 plan, and City Council and City staff have used the plan continuously to prioritize projects. The plan continues to be not only a reference document, but a starting point for major city projects, iniatives and investments. Projects such as the revedelopment of the Cozby Library and Community Commons, the Andrew Brown Park System, Life Safety Park, important street and utility infrastructure improvements, sidewalks and trails, public safety equipment and upgrades, Old Town redevelopment, and the upcoming Arts Center resulted from this plan.

To read the plan in detail, visit https://en.calameo.com/read/003114634ab293d18df8a

To a large degree, the successes enjoyed today in Coppell are the result of the work that took place through Coppell Vision 2030 process and the deployment of that plan by dedicated residents, leaders, and city staff.

Since 2009, the City of Coppell has undergone many changes that have altered the environment. The city is rapidly approaching build-out and will be facing challenges associated with the redevelopment of existing spaces to accommodate future growth. Community demographics are changing in ways that are both typical of other communities and unique to Coppell. Like many communities, residents are aging and looking for ways to stay engaged within the community. The City is heavily investing in succession planning and leadership development to ensure that the next generation of leaders can build upon the foundation of the existing culture of service and excellence.

It is against this backdrop that the planning for the future of Coppell is now taking place with Coppell Vision 2040.

The Coppell Vision 2040 Plan initiative is a large-scale community visioning initiative that will ultimately create the Vision 2040 Strategic Plan. The initiative is community-driven, data-driven, and future oriented to enable stakeholders and community members to come together to plan for the future of Coppell. This will lead to the clarification of priorities and actions that will define a clear road map for the Strategic Plan.

Central to the initiative is in-depth community engagement, including scenario planning in the form of the Future of Coppell Think Tank, extensive community engagement workshops, reconvening of the Think Tank and focus group sessions. There is a strong emphasis on transparency, diversity and inclusivity.

This is also a data driven process, with all community engagement backed up by the data produced through all of the sessions. This will be displayed on the portal dedicated to Coppell Vision 2040 in the form of a data visualization platform.
The initiative aims to provide a response to the following questions:

• What should the City of Coppell become?
• How will community preferences fit into this vision?
• How does the City of Coppell ensure that planning for the future will incorporate values and quality of life issues for all community members served?
• How should public funds be invested and leveraged to improve the City?

The initiative is enabling stakeholders and community members to come together to plan for the future of Coppell.

The Vision 2040 portal has been set up in order to provide the residents of Coppell with the ongoing progress of the initiative through to the end of 2018. Residents can access the portal at https://lab.future-iq.com/coppell-vision-2040/.