| | Published February 18th, 2008
| Open Invitation to Downtown Strategy Community Workshop
| | By Cathy Tyson | | |
Curious residents who would like to provide input on the Downtown Strategy and Specific Plan, or just want to take a closer look, should plan on attending the final Community Workshop scheduled for Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. in the Veterans Memorial Building. For those who can't make it, comments are welcome at amerideth@lovelafayette.org.
The process started back in February of 2007. There have been 17, count 'em, public Advisory Committee meetings, two Community Workshops, stakeholder interviews and a survey of 11,000 residences and business according to Ann Merideth, Community Development Director. "The result is a Draft Strategy and Specific Plan that maintains Lafayette's unique character while recognizing that we need to plan a sustainable downtown that meets the community's future needs," she said.
This vision for downtown Lafayette was prepared with the help of urban consultants Wallace, Roberts and Todd to provide a framework for future growth along with design guidance. All of their recommendations are based upon input gathered from the surveys, workshops and interviews along with the specific recommendations of the Advisory Committee. One of the biggest challenges has been creating a community vision; what a young family might like to see is not the same as what a single older empty nester might like to see.
Key recommendations include: a series of downtown districts, a strong downtown core, parks and creek greenways, improved streetscapes and parking, and, finally, recommendations on private development, "to encourage market-feasible mixed use and residential infill but preserve the sense of place and small town charm that is so important to Lafayette's identity," according to the Executive Summary posted on the city website.
To view the complete plan, go to www.lovelafayette.org
The Board of the Lafayette Homeowners Council strongly encourages participation, and in a recent open letter described the plan as, "A document that will have critical impacts upon our city for decades to come. Members have found aspects of this plan that they like and others that they do not."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA