Fredericksburg’s future is one that makes the most of its historic past, the natural beauty of the Texas Hill Country, and its most valuable resource: its people. This community is experiencing rapid growth and increasing tourism. Although these trends have economic benefits, they also threaten to alter the small town character that makes Fredericksburg so charming.

The desire in Fredericksburg is to continue to welcome tourism and new residents, but not to the detriment of local residents. People in Fredericksburg want to retain the small town charm, not just for tourists, but also for local residents. The sense of place created through the preservation of Fredericksburg’s historic buildings makes the city a good place to live as well as visit.

This Comprehensive Plan 1996, completed in Fredericksburg’s 150th year, focuses on managed growth that creates new neighborhoods consistent with the amenities of a small town. This plan also strives to take advantage of the benefits of growth, such as a more diverse economy and more self-sufficiency. Growth consistent with the policies in this plan will bring new amenities and improved educational, cultural, employment, and housing opportunities. The Fredericksburg of the future will be a reflection of its historic beginnings but will not be stuck in the 19th century.

This Comprehensive Plan 1996 can be viewed as having three components:

1. Analysis of basic data;

2. Policies toward growth, development, and the provision of public facilities and services; and

3. Specific recommendations and strategies for actions to achieve the goals and objectives in this plan.

This plan has been prepared to foster communication among local citizens, elected and appointed officials, and city staff by placing the City's intentions on display. It emphasizes planning as a process that guides political decision-making and the implementation of the plan by City officials, private developers, and active residents of the city of Fredericksburg. Community leaders have provided a statement of their vision for the future. Consistent with that guiding vision, the plan includes goals and objectives derived from citizen input and professional analysis. The implementation strategies herein are designed to recommend specific actions to achieve the goals and objectives in this plan. The policies related to land use are represented graphically in the future land use map.

Most importantly, this Comprehensive Plan 1996 is a tool for the people of Fredericksburg. It is their plan. While the base studies and goals of a long-range plan may remain valid and useful for the duration of the projected scope of the plan, circumstances within the time frame of the plan may require new objectives and policies to achieve the desired goals. This document and the accompanying maps reflect working policies that are to be evaluated periodically to keep up with urban change.

Major updates should be undertaken about every five to ten years, depending on the observed changes in the community. Special circumstances, such as the location of a major industry in town, may require more frequent updates.

The proposed urban form model is a neotraditional town planning model that specifies that the largest and most important buildings are massed around a central place, usually a town square or Main Street. Other intensive land uses occur in clusters at the intersection of and along thoroughfares. The concept is neotraditional in that it takes the grid street pattern already present in Fredericksburg and relates it to a functional hierarchy of collector and arterial streets. The model is presented in the Guidelines for Growth Element of this plan.

This publication of the Fredericksburg Comprehensive Plan 1996 includes elements addressing the following functional areas:

• Demographics and Base Studies

• Growth Policies

• Land Use

• Transportation, Parking, and Pedestrian Circulation

• Parks, Recreation, and Open Space

• Other plan elements and related documents that will or should be added to this plan include the following:

Central Business District

Economic Development

Community Facilities and Services

Water System

Wastewater System

Storm Drainage

As implied above, the intent of comprehensive planning is to guide both public and private investment decisions in locating and supporting new development. Neither the vision for Fredericksburg nor the goals and objectives of this plan will be achieved without the individual efforts of local citizens acting together to implement the plan's policies.

The primary tools for implementing the comprehensive plan are the zoning and subdivision ordinances and the capital improvements program (CIP). Zoning and subdivision ordinances guide private development and coordinate private investment with public infrastructure. The CIP guides public investment in those roadways, storm drainage, water, wastewater, and other public facilities both in response to the private development market and in anticipation of growth in certain areas. These tools should be updated consistent with the comprehensive plan and should be made integral parts of routine decision-making by administrators and public officials. Financial implications of the plan should become part of the budget process as well.

The zoning ordinance gives more detail to the general land use designations on the future land use map and the plan policies. The site development requirements assure the quality of land use through the compatibility with adjacent land uses.

The subdivision ordinance implements the comprehensive plan by requiring the inclusion of major facilities, such as roadways and parks, in subdivisions, as appropriate and in accordance with the future land use map and the plan policies.

The capital improvements program (CIP) coordinates the city's capital projects from all departments into one multi-year program. Most CIPs run five years with the first year becoming part of the annual budget. The CIP should base its utility and other capital facilities extension plans on the data and adopted policies of the comprehensive plan. The Planning Department is the ideal entity in city government to provide the coordination and information necessary to make the CIP an effective plan implementation tool.

A city with effective and ongoing comprehensive planning and capital improvements programming processes is better positioned to capture state and federal grants to build new infrastructure and to support public/private partnerships.