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BY: Brandon Ussery

On Thursday, May 22, citizens gathered at the Lafayette Planning Commission meeting to hear plans for city improvement. The East Alabama Regional Development Commission also sought feedback to establish shared values within the community. The purpose of the Commission is to serve as a 10-county agency that focuses on planning and economic development. 

Eric Wright, Director of Planning, emphasized the importance of community involvement when actively planning changes to the Lafayette area. Wright started the meeting by having residents help develop a value statement. He encouraged those in attendance to provide one-word answers to questions about what the community values are or is known for in order to create a vision statement that best suits them. This vision statement would not only reflect the Lafayette community’s core values, but also serve as the building blocks for the improvements the citizens of Lafayette wish to see. 

“Planning is not very glamorous sometimes,” Wright added in a statement regarding efforts in the planning stages of city development.  He was referring to navigating existing hurdles that come with city planning efforts. 

 “It really is the foundation to make sure change is going to happen, whether influenced or not, you can acknowledge that change is happening and how you can, as a community, impact it and shape it and point it in the right direction,” Wright added. 

Those from the commission brought visual aids to facilitate the collection of feedback, including worksheets, spider diagrams and a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis. 

These tools provided the commission with valuable insight into the direction the people of Lafayette want to take with improvements in their city. The submitted materials will assist in synthesizing a comprehensive plan for approval. 

Those in attendance were well-received by the efforts of the commission. However, another pressing matter weighs on the community, bringing into question how the consolidation of school districts will affect the town’s progress. Wright acknowledged that this issue will be a significant obstacle’ but remained focused on the primary goal of improving the city. 

Some Lafayette residents believe that the issues surrounding school consolidation will undermine the planning commission’s efforts and may set back growth initiatives. Residents in attendance also feel that the surrounding areas of Lanett and Valley benefit from resources not shared with Lafayette, referring to interstate access, local industries and dedicated school systems. 

The next scheduled meeting will take place on July 8, 2025, where a potential plan will be unveiled to assess the strength of the commission’s development plan. Wright is confident that the feedback he received from this and previous meetings will be sufficient to draft a vision statement for presentation at the next meeting.