LCI Buzz Words Sure to Upset Even When Not Part of City's Plans

It was almost midnight before the Alpharetta Planning Commission got to the Downtown Livable Communities Initiative update, but Kyle Caswell was awake enough to realize the report required by the Atlanta Regional Commission contained some buzzwords that wouldn't please some city residents.

"This is always used as cannon fodder for the urbanization team," Caswell said at the Aug. 4 Planning Commission meeting.

Community Development Director Diana Wheeler said the ARC set up the forms, which included the terms.

The update is a checklist that the city must send to ARC so the city can remain eligible for future funding.

Potential projects aren't required, but must be identified, Wheeler said.

"We know that we must have a surface parking lot sometime in the future," she said.

The city might become home to Gwinnett Technical College's North Fulton campus, at which point a parking garage would be needed.

"We're not trying to open up a big ole can of worms here," Caswell said.

Some items, however, seemed to do just that, he said, including affordable housing bonuses and parking decks.

"Sometimes it seems contrary to what half the citizens want," Caswell said.

The report includes a planned and designed greenway trail connecting Wills Park with Milton Avenue, linking the park with downtown, improvements to Main Street including a median and crosswalks and the City Center project that will be on the November ballot.

The report covered the past five years of the LCI, and the next five years.

The Planning Commission approved sending the report to Alpharetta City Council.