By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Those who live, work and travel in Alabaster will have a chance to share their thoughts on the city’s future during an upcoming meeting at Alabaster City Hall.

Alabaster has partnered with the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham to update the city’s comprehensive plan over the next several months.

Once completed, the project will update Alabaster’s 2005 master plan, and will detail design plans for the old Siluria community and the city’s new Medical Mile district. The plan will also identify ways to improve transportation throughout the city.

The first public meeting in the process will be on March 10 at 6:30 p.m. at Alabaster City Hall at 1953 Municipal Way, and will focus on the vision for the city and its assets, needs and opportunities.

“The open house is an opportunity for city residents and businesses, as well as individuals who work in and travel through the city, to share their thoughts and opinions, and to ask questions about the city of Alabaster’s comprehensive plan development process,” read a Regional Planning Commission press release. “Information obtained at the Open House will be used to help update the city’s comprehensive plan, and develop a citywide transportation plan.”

For more information on the planning process, visit Cityofalabaster.com and click on the “Comprehensive Plan” icon on the bottom of the page. Information is also available on Alabasterforward.com, or by calling Regional Planning Commission senior planner Lindsay Puckett at 264-8421.

Those who can not attend the open house can provide input in the “vision survey” included on the Alabasterforward.com website.

The March 10 meeting is the first of several public forums planned in the city’s comprehensive planning process.

A design charrette will be held over multiple days from April 27 through May 1 at Shelby Baptist Medical Center and Alabaster City Hall, and will focus on the future of the city’s Medical Mile and the Siluria area.

The third meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on May 12 and the fourth meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on June 9, both at a to-be-determined city school. The last two meetings will focus on alternative future plans and reviewing the draft comprehensive plan.