Downtown redevelopment added to five-year plan; Warrenton planning for future growth
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Posted 2/4/17
Downtown redevelopment is the newest addition to Warrenton’s list of long-term goals. Every year, city leaders update a five-year plan that provides direction and vision for future projects. This …
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Downtown redevelopment added to five-year plan; Warrenton planning for future growth
Posted
By Adam Rollins, Record Staff Writer
Downtown redevelopment is the newest addition to Warrenton’s list of long-term goals.Every year, city leaders update a five-year plan that provides direction and vision for future projects. This year, the city will begin investigating options to bring more light retail and entertainment businesses to the downtown area.Possible routes to achieving that goal could include providing incentives for businesses to set up shop or purchasing property for public use, according to a plan summary. The city also will look for ways to expand public parking in the downtown area.“We’re trying to figure a way we can help promote downtown more,” said Board of Aldermen President Mike Shilharvey. That could involve helping businesses get development grants, or encouraging property owners to set up apartment spaces above storefronts, he said.Plans for downtown development are in the earliest stages and will become more concrete as time goes by. Officials highlighted several other themes of the five-year plan that will guide ongoing and upcoming projects.One of those themes is making the city more business friendly, said Shilharvey, who represents Ward 1. The city will work to improve communication with area businesses, and is reviewing how it can streamline the planning and zoning process.Another business-oriented move was to divide Warrenton’s economic development director position into business support specialist and marketing coordinator positions. Ward 2 Alderman Gary Auch said a theme that stands out to him is preparing for new growth and change.“When they start moving the dirt at the interchange, we’re going to get a lot of interest in the community,” Auch said, referring to a planned new $15.4 million interchange two miles west of Highway 47. “We have to talk about how to get prepared for that, how to become more consumer friendly, more business friendly, more citizen friendly. ... We’re trying to be really proactive.”Mayor Eric Schleuter said a focus for him in the plan is adding more green space to the city.“We all did our own research and found that towns that have more green space have a lot more population of residential around them, because people gravitate toward them to be able to take their kids out, and be able to do things with them,” Schleuter said. “In Chesterfield, the people I talked to there said it has lots of residential growth around their green spaces, so they really capitalize on any green space they can put in.”The city is preparing to clear land on a 39-acre lot in southern Warrenton for a new city park and aquatic center. That project is set to begin later this year once a permit is issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.
The city of Warrenton has added downtown development to its five-year plan, a guiding document for future city projects. Record photo.
