Suwanee holds second Master Plan meeting

The city of Suwanee held a second community meeting Nov. 11 at Suwanee United Methodist Church to collect community input from residents in an effort to update the 2002 Old Town Master Plan.

Josh Campbell, planning director for the city of Suwanee, said the process is the same one used in planning for Town Center.

"This is a planning process we take seriously here in Suwanee," said Campbell. "We really look to you for guidance when we're making decisions about what projects we want to implement through the city…This is a very important process that will shape the future of our downtown and our Old Town area."

Shannon Kettering of Ecos Environmental Design, Inc., lead consultants on the project, summarized the information collected so far through resident participation and survey information that revealed opportunities and challenges in the area.

The Old Town Master Planning effort is focused on land use, circulation and infrastructure, and open space along with other issues. Kettering stressed the importance of a balance of the three.

"When one gets out of whack you clearly start to understand how important it is to have balance of the three," she said.

At the previous meeting, residents participated in a community dot voting exercise where they placed a dot was on one map to locate an asset to the downtown area and a dot on another map to locate a challenge for the downtown area, and then the assets and challenges were discussed.

Some of the assets included Town Center, the greenway and appropriate businesses and churches in the area.

Some of the challenges included pedestrian crossings at Buford Highway and the railroad tracks, event parking and infill development.

"It was really great feedback and incredibly instrumental to us in moving forward," said Kettering.

Feedback also indicated a sidewalk network and streetscaping were important elements to address in the plan.

"You all want to be connected from your home literally to all the places that are so wonderful here in the downtown area," said Kettering. "You really want to feel safe in how you're connecting."

Another area of importance was quality design

Kettering pointed out that components of placemaking such as balanced elements, appropriate scale and quality design all link together to make the area intrinsic and unique to Suwanee. She said quality design does matter and survey results show it is something near and dear to the hearts of Suwanee residents.
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