Downtown plan details upcoming
Published 3:00 am Saturday, August 27, 2016
Troy residents will have the opportunity to review the Vision 2026 plan for Downtown Troy in September.
The full draft of the Downtown Plan will be available for public review and feedback beginning Thursday before being presented to the Troy Planning Commission on September 22. There will be one week for residents to submit questions and comments regarding the plan.
Tracy Delaney of the South Central Alabama Development Commission presented the layout and highlights of the plan at Thursday’s planning commission meeting.
The plan will be divided into four sections: introduction, planning context, downtown opportunities, and downtown strategies.
The introduction will detail the purpose of the plan as well as the planning process, and will also describe the location, its setting and its history.
The planning context section will detail existing conditions, including demographics, downtown properties, existing plans, economic outlook and case studies.
The downtown opportunities section will list existing opportunities, which were discussed with residents over the course of three downtown planning meetings earlier this year.
The downtown strategies section will provide recommendations for improvements and actions necessary to implement the plan.
A handout provided by Delaney gave the highlights of the plan, including a list of opportunities. The list includes infill development, façade improvements, public spaces, wayfinding elements and gateways, streetscaping, parking and multimodal transportation.
An illustrative plan was included in the handout that maps out where some of those opportunities exist. Concept art and examples were also provided visually explain the described opportunities.
The handout also briefly detailed strategies for improvement. The strategies were broken up into five categories: promotion, vitality, appearance, movement and network linkages.
Promotion strategies include branding and advertising, marketing and recruitment, and events.
Vitality strategies include residential opportunities, cultural arts and recreation, and tourism.
Appearance strategies include infill development, façade improvements and streetscaping.
Movement strategies include implementing a wayfinding system, improving image corridors and gateways and the complete use of streets.
Network linkage strategies include making partnerships, identifying organizational structure, and making good use of governmental centers.