The East-West Gateway Council of Governments held the first of four public forums tonight for its new study on development at MetroLink stations.
The project will create a toolkit local stakeholders can use to create sustainable communities around MetroLink stations and encourage business development.
Mary Grace Lewandowski is an assistant project manager for the study and said the agency will use a number of criteria to identify five stations with especially high development potential.
“We would look at broad spectrum, look at something that’s more suburban in nature, maybe more dense or urban in nature,” Lewandowski said. “We have a variety of station options to consider in making that decision.”
Once the five stations are chosen, the agency will create a detailed plan for how development efforts could proceed.
Kurt Culbertson is a consult working on the plan and said the end game is to find public-private partnerships to finance projects.
“Encouraging private development plans that are already underway and figuring out how to partner around those ideas is important,” Culbertson said.
Public forums will be held throughout the week, and will be located near MetroLink stations.
East-West Gateway Council of Governments will also accept comments online through the end of August.
The study is set to be completed next year and is funded by a community planning grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
More information on the study can be found at the project’s website.
