Mr. Delacourt stated that the intent of the project was to evaluate the |
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LDFA, the SmartZone, and the Master Land Use Plan’s Regional |
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Employment Center - the area that encompassed most of the industrial |
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parks and associated offices. They wanted to see how the City could put |
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tools in place to best support the existing development and incentivize |
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and encourage future development and future uses the LDFA had |
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targeted for economic development. They wanted to support the people |
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and businesses in the area and put infrastructure in place. During the |
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Master Land Use process, there was a lot of discussion about how the |
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area should look going forward and how the City could keep it viable. He |
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recalled older industrial parks in other cities that had not adapted, and |
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that companies ended up moving on to the next industrial park. The City |
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did not want that to happen within the LDFA. An RFP was sent out for the |
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project, and several consultants were interviewed. They decided on a |
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group that included Spalding DeDecker, McKenna Associates and |
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Alexander Bogaerts, all of which had a good deal of experience in the |
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City and were very familiar with the Ordinances. The infrastructure had to |
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be very coordinated, and they were going to start talking with business |
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owners as to how they might grow and what types of buildings and uses |
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they would like to see. After that, they would prioritize the infrastructure |
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projects and develop a flexible and responsive Ordinance for that area |
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that allowed the City to be supportive of development by doing things |
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more quickly and effectively. |
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