The following is an email sent to Stone Avenue businesses and property owners from Mike Mecklenburg regarding the upcoming Planning Commission Meeting on the draft Stone Avenue Master Plan.
Hello Friends of Stone Avenue,
This Thursday, the Greenville Planning Commission will hear a presentation of the Draft Stone Avenue Master Plan. The Commission will see the same public presentation of the plan that was made at the Hughes Library last month. This draft is the culmination of months of discussion and input from all the stakeholders: businesses, property owners, neighborhoods, planners, elected officials, city staff, etc…. The planning commission will hear comments, discuss the plan and vote on whether or not to send this plan on to city council – with or without any further recommendations based on the commission members’ discussion. This process will repeat itself in front of city council at a later date. Only after this process is complete can we begin the next steps of working toward implementing the plan, e.g., continuing to work with DOT on the road diet, reviewing the municipal ordinances and planning further public hearings and workshops.
Friends of Stone Avenue will be at the planning commission hearing to support adopting the draft master plan, and continuing the work toward its implementation. The hearing is Thursday, January 13, at 4:00 pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall. If you are able, please come and join us. If you have not already done so, please review the latest on the plan at the Plan Stone Avenue website. The document is not as long as it seems – graphics and back-up data comprise many pages. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are particularly useful to review. Earlier last fall, I sent all of you a summary of the road diet for Stone Avenue — an important part of the recommendations. Please let me know if you need another copy.
Please remember that voting to approve the plan simply means that we have all agreed on a shared vision for Stone Avenue and some broad recommendations and strategies to move forward with this vision, an agreement we have reached during the previous months of discussion. Voting to approve the plan does not mean that the plan or any part of the plan is necessarily going to happen. Approving the plan is only a green light to begin work on its implementation following the principles and recommendations outlined in the plan (the basic principles are summarized on page 3.2 of the plan).
To reiterate the mission of the Friends of Stone Avenue (FOSA): our primary goal is to help the adjacent neighborhood associations, businesses, property owners and organizations on our commercial corridors remain informed and engaged in the long-term planning process for Stone Avenue and the larger community. FOSA does not and cannot represent the interests of any one group. Rather, our aim is to represent our many common interests and goals and work with the City of Greenville to achieve those goals. We further understand that planning is a long term-term process, taking time and deliberation, with results that will affect our community for decades. With this in mind, our mission is to:
• Advocate timely implementation of the master plan.
• Continue to remind all parties of our shared vision and keep these goals front and center of efforts to make that vision a reality.
• Be a forum for discussion to build the consensus needed for positive, mutually beneficial changes in our community as outlined in the plan.
• Continue to find common ground between the groups and interests that make up our community as we effect change for Stone Avenue and the North End.
FOSA’s growing membership includes representatives from each of the neighborhood associations adjacent to Stone Avenue and over forty businesses, organizations and property owners. Please let me know if you would like a list of current members.
Again, for more detailed information and to view the latest on the plan, please visit the Plan Stone Avenue website. Feel free to give me a call at 864-235-7351 if you have any questions or wish to discuss the plan or Friends of Stone Avenue.
Best,
Mike Mecklenburg
Friends of Stone Avenue
