Over the past two decades, the City of Auburn has spent a lot of time planning for its future. In the early 1980s, the City developed the Auburn 2000 plan that involved hundreds of Auburn residents in a consensus-building exercise to envision the future of the community. In the late 1990s, the City government began the Auburn 2020 process with the goal of duplicating the success of Auburn 2000 for the next twenty years. In addition, the City has periodically commissioned major infrastructure studies to examine future needs in areas such as wastewater treatment, storm drainage, bikeways, sidewalks, and streets. The City Council and the City’s management have relied extensively on Auburn 2000, Auburn 2020, and the infrastructure planning studies to develop policy, make program decisions, and select major projects for funding.

The City government has taken a goal-oriented approach to management beginning with vision and mission statements that have been adopted by the City Council (see Table 1). From the Auburn 2020 process, 22 Goals for 2020 were developed and adopted by the City Council to guide the major initiatives envisioned by the hundreds of citizens involved in that effort. In addition, the City Council adopts a five- year Capital Improvement Program each year, as well as five-year and annual goals. This goal-oriented approach has allowed the City government to view the community in a comprehensive way, not overlooking any areas or needs such as utilities, streets, parks and recreation facilities, and housing.

During this past year, Auburn has been designated as a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) by the United States government. There are several benefits to the community in receiving this designation. First, the City becomes eligible for federal grants, such as entitlement status for the Community Development Block Grant program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that Auburn will receive over $800,000 per year in funding for low and moderate income programs as a result of being named a MSA. Second, other organizations and agencies in Lee County also have become eligible for funding or increased reimbursement from federal programs. The City of Opelika and the East Alabama Medical Center are two examples. Third, the Auburn area is more attractive to national businesses as a location because of its status as a MSA.

Over the past decade, Auburn’s steady growth has continued, as evidenced by MSA status. In 1990, the Census Bureau placed Auburn’s population at 33,830 while the 2000 estimate is in excess of 40,000. There has been significant growth in all segments of the community during the 1990s. Five hundred forty-eight new subdivisions have been built with 2003 new single family homes. Hundreds of new businesses have opened during this decade, including many national chains, such as Applebee’s, Chili’s, Red Lobster, and the Gap. Almost all of the banks have built new facilities or expanded existing ones and several new banks have opened offices in Auburn. Industrial growth has been particularly noticeable with numerous internationally known firms, such as Briggs & Stratton, Donaldson, and Hoerbiger, building plants in the Auburn Technology Park or one of our older industrial parks.

We believe that there is no question that Auburn’s growth will continue over the next twenty years. The question for the City government is the following, "Is the City of Auburn going to play a role in the quality and form of the growth that takes place?" It is an important question because most MSAs have done a very poor job of planning and now face uncontrolled and unplanned urban sprawl. Auburn is an infant among MSAs and has an opportunity to avoid many of the mistakes made by older, more mature MSAs. For example, in Huntsville, the City has no planning jurisdiction outside the City limits so the Huntsville MSA is experiencing urban growth built at rural standards. Birmingham is another example. Thirty-two municipalities that provide separate services with little coordination among them surround that city.

Some seeds of uncontrolled sprawl are already planted in the Auburn MSA. There are several rural water authorities and fire districts that operate in the areas immediately adjacent to the City limits. Since there is no sewage treatment outside the City limits, there are thousands of septic tanks permitted, some within sensitive environmental areas, such as the Lake Ogletree watershed. If the City does not grow into these areas, we can expect to experience unplanned growth through the provision of services by other sources, including special districts and other municipalities. Many of these services will be competitive with Auburn City services and may very well have a negative impact on our quality of life.

• Figure 1 - I-85 Corridor

• Figure 2 - Population Growth in Auburn

• Figure 3 - Growth Boundary Area

• Figure 4 - Future Wastewater System Improvements

• Figure 5 - Future Water System Improvements

• Figure 6 - Master Street Plan

• Figure 7 - Industrial Property/Jobs and Capital Investments

• Figure 8 - City of Auburn Workforce 1997

• Figure 9 - City of Auburn Workforce 2020

• Figure 10 - Timber Company Holdings

• Figure 11 - Future Land Use

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