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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us October 24, 2005 Downtown plan to get discussion First Street plans moved up to November meeting By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings The much-anticipated downtown plan revision process will be discussed at the Tuesday night study session of the Ashland Planning Commission. The “reconsideration” of the decision for a planning action at 11 First St. has been put on the November agenda for the commission rather than for this Tuesday night. An update to the downtown plan began 10 months ago but was sidetracked after just two meetings because former planning director John McLaughlin determined there was more varied interest in the plan than he had originally anticipated. Instead of updating the plan through the public meeting process, the city decided to hire an outside consultant to oversee the process. Two weeks ago, the downtown plan committee interviewed the four private consulting teams who are vying for the job of overseeing the update to the plan. The downtown plan was last updated in full in 1988. The committee is made up of planning commissioners John Stromberg, Michael Dawkins and chair John Fields, City Councilor David Chapman, sitting in for Councilor Jack Hardesty, who recused himself from the selection process because he knows one of the consultants. Mayor John Morrison, City Administrator Gino Grimaldi and acting planning director Bill Molnar also sat in during the interview process. “It was very complex and interesting and brought up a lot of questions,” Stromberg said. “We’re sort of in the middle of the process.” Stromberg said he was not sure if could elaborate on the discussions because he thought they might be protected under executive-session rules, as the interviews deal with employment and contracts. Others familiar with the process could not be reached for comment. The commission will also engage in a discussion about infill at Tuesday’s meeting. Commissioner Michael Dawkins said the notion of infill, increasing density instead of the overall size of the city, is making Ashland a bigger community than it ever intended to be and is causing many back yards to be replaced by additional housing. The commission will also discuss changes to the comprehensive plan and citizen involvement in regards to those changes. Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Free Music Downloads Slippers Ceramic Piggy Banks Online Casinos FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products best online casino teleconferencing High-End Gaming Computers Diamonds Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Discounted Website Hostings Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Myspace Layouts Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Student Loans Bonus Casino ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Canadian Pharmacy Casino Gambling Sites Backpacks Click Here .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams