From left, Carolyn Prudhomme, of the Greenway Collaborative; Novi resident Sri Komaragiri, a former city employee who now works at civil engineering company Giffels Webster; and Janet Bloom, the president of the Novi Chamber of Commerce, take part in one of the city’s open houses dealing with its master plan and active mobility plan.

From left, Carolyn Prudhomme, of the Greenway Collaborative; Novi resident Sri Komaragiri, a former city employee who now works at civil engineering company Giffels Webster; and Janet Bloom, the president of the Novi Chamber of Commerce, take part in one of the city’s open houses dealing with its master plan and active mobility plan.

Photo by Charity Meier

Novi holds community open house sessions

By: Charity Meier | Novi Note | Published March 9, 2023

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NOVI — The city of Novi held open houses Feb. 25 and March 2 to get the community’s input on the city’s update to its master plan for land use, as well as to discuss updating the active mobility plan.

“Just trying to get some community input,” said Ben Peacock, of the city’s Planning Division within the Community Development Department. “Right now we’re just at a preliminary information stage throwing out what our ideas, thoughts might be, trying to get some input to see if the people think we are really far off or kind of closer to what they want, or maybe it’s exactly what they want. We’re just trying to figure out people’s thoughts on the future of the city and what direction we’re heading in.”

Jeff Wainwright, a Novi resident and the owner of Paradise Park, said that Novi is a well planned and progressive community. Wainwright said the administration is thoughtful when investigating what it can do to keep the city growing. He mentioned the Grand River Avenue corridor as an area to give attention.

“What can we do to stimulate growth there? How can we get those properties that are not developed there to be developed, and that’s the interest for me,” said Wainwright.

Wainwright said the city has started looking at the zoning and considering how it can zone the lots so that they are developer-friendly. He said planners want to determine what will make it more friendly to people who want to come in and build multi-use facilities.

“I’m here because I’m so fascinated in what they are doing and offering to help,” said Wainwright.

The city is also in the beginning stages of updating its active mobility plan, for which it is working with the Ann Arbor-based Greenway Collaborative. The Greenway Collaborative is in the process of surveying residents as to their mobility needs. The survey is open to all who live in and or frequently go to the city. More information is online at walkbike.info/Novi.

According to Carolyn Prudhomme, a transportation planner with the Greenway Collaborative, there is a desire to put sidewalks along major roads. Connections to and from the ITC Trail, connections to some of the regional trails and to parks outside the city would be improvements for the community.

“People like to walk around and see the city, and they have to have ways to get around,” said Prudhomme.

“I think Novi has a great parks and rec department. Anything that we do in regards to sidewalks and pathways that can emphasize what they are doing, that will be more bang for the buck,” said Sri Komaragiri, a Novi resident and former city Planning Division employee.

On the master plan update, Novi is consulting with another Ann Arbor firm, Beckett & Raeder Inc. More information can be found at cityofnovi.org/masterplan.

“We’re looking forward to when the consultant gets back to us,” said interim City Manager Victor Cardenas.   

Cardenas said the city is expecting to hear back from Beckett & Raeder for the next meeting of the master plan for land use steering committee on March 29 at City Hall. The Greenway Collaborative was scheduled to meet with the city March 7, after press time, to discuss its efforts.

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