This first cut, which addresses the next 22 years of development Downtown, incorporates the input of local residents and stakeholders regarding the community plan update. This past May, three different alternatives were offered to the public regarding the future development of Downtown. The three options presented were Alternative 1: Concentrated Office Core, Maximum Residential; Alternative 2: Double Multi-Use Cores, Expanded Residential Area; and Alternative 3: Large Multi-Use Core, Waterfront Retail District. The three scenarios were discussed at two public workshops, where attendees expressed concerns over waterfront access and future infrastructure. The first draft reflects some of the ideas that were generated by those two spring workshops. In addition, various subcommittees of the Downtown Community Plan Update Steering Committee worked over the summer to further shape this first cut of the preferred plan.

This Friday's meeting will gauge if the community's objectives and the steering committee's ideas have been fused together into a cohesive plan. "There is consensus among the steering committee and community on several issues, and we want to know if this first cut of the preferred plan adequately addresses those planning concerns," says Rajeev Bhatia, project manager and principal of Dyett & Bhatia Regional and Urban Planners. "Future commercial development, neighborhood dynamics, circulation, waterfront access, the Downtown arts community and quality of life have dominated the discussion and the draft preferred plan attempts to balance those issues."

Once a consensus is reached on the CCDC's preferred plan, work on the new community plan for Downtown will commence. That effort is expected to begin this winter.