City of Cornelius Awarded $315,000 Planning Grant from Metro for Major Downtown Planning Project
On Thursday, October 26 the Metro Council awarded the City of Cornelius a $315,000 2040 Planning and Development Grant for their “Cornelius Urban Renewal, Town Center Plan, and Conceptual Site Planning Project.” This multi-faceted planning project is designed to achieve three distinct, yet complementary objectives. First, the Town Center Plan will establish guiding principles and standards for development and expansion of commercial and residential services and amenities in the City’s downtown district. Second, two properties in the city have been identified as “high employment opportunity sites”; these are the Grande Foods (old Hank’s) site and the large undeveloped property around Fred Meyer. The grant will pay for a detailed conceptual site planning effort for these properties and will establish expectations for future development, identify infrastructure needs, and evaluate impacts to the community. Third, an Urban Renewal Plan will establish a 20-year project schedule for infrastructure and redevelopment properties to be paid for by projected increases in tax revenues within the Plan area (not an increase in taxes for any property).
“This will be a major planning effort and will set the stage for significant improvements in our downtown and greater commercial corridor,” says Community Development Director Ryan Wells. “Metro has conveyed great support for our community’s positive development and this grant award is a substantial expression of that support.” The City and Metro will now execute an intergovernmental agreement for the grant. Soon afterward the Community Development Department will release a request for proposals for consulting firms to develop the Town Center Plan and Urban Renewal Plan. “This planning process will solicit a great deal of community input,” says Wells, “and Cornelius residents, property owners, and business owners can expect to have a large impact on how the downtown district emerges over the coming years.” Interested parties may contact Ryan Wells, Community Development Director, at (503) 357-3011.
