YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections→Nicholasville

Nicholasville eyes downtown plan

March 14, 2007

mmoore@jessaminejournal.com

Before the city of Nicholasville can secure streetscape funding, it must first come up with a downtown master plan.

"We have applied for grant funds from the state to do our downtown streetscape, and we've been turned down twice," City Clerk Roberta Warren told the city commission at last Thursday's meeting. "We don't have a downtown master plan. They want us to be ready to roll, and we've not had that in place."

This came as eye-opening news to Commissioner Chris Moore.

"Should this not be one of the first things Nicholasville Now! should have done?" he asked. "If we've needed this, and Nicholasville Now! knew about this a year ago, what has Nicholasville Now! been doing for the past year? We need this."

Nicholasville Now! Executive Director Carola Hartley wasn't at last Thursday's meeting, but said on Tuesday that her organization has already begun the work to get a master plan completed.

"We've been talking about it for a long time," she said. "Nicholasville Now! did the first part of a master plan which was a market analysis of downtown."

Getting a master plan does take some time, Hartley said. She added the cost of the analysis study was about $15,000.

"It's not something you can accomplish over night," she said. "Sometimes it takes months or years to complete."

On top of time, Hartley said a master plan takes money.

"We had estimated anywhere up to $50,000 to get it done," she said.

Moore said he wasn't aware of the analysis study and said the city should have been kept in loop more by those at Nicholasville Now!

The city asked CDP Engineers to bid the downtown master plan project, and the company responded with a $23,500 price tag.

Lewis Dixon, a representative of CDP, said a master plan would touch on everything within the city.

"It's dealing with parks, stormwater, utilities, parking issues ... it's going to be a comprehensive look on how to improve on downtown," Dixon said.

Dixon presented the commission with a handout outlining some goals of the plan.

CDP has conducted an initial study of the project area - downtown's historical district - and surrounding commercial and residential areas with the goal of securing future grants for the implementation of streetscape projects.

CDP's study will encompass more than just a few downtown blocks, Moore said.

"We are looking at main street from north to south," he said. "It will be a much wider scope than what Nicholasville Now! is doing. We're looking at traffic flow, economics and everything else."

Mayor Russ Meyer said the time is now to act and get a viable master plan. He told the board to be prepared to vote on whether or not to move forward with CDP's proposal to conduct the master plan at the next meeting scheduled for March 22.|2/2/07|***

|

|

|