Planning for the next twenty years of development in Maryville is nearing completion. The Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a draft of the city’s next comprehensive plan at its March 19 meeting. After, the document will come before the City Council for final adoption.
Billed as Maryville Momentum, the plan has been assembled over the last 10 months and will guide city priorities through 2045. RDG Planning & Design has worked with the city to create the document; the firm created the city’s current comprehensive plan, adopted in 2012, as well.
Design Principal at RDG, Amy Haase, said the planners are working on a final draft after presenting an initial plan to members of the public on Jan. 15.
“We got some great comments [at that meeting] that we were able to incorporate, and there were some things internally we wanted to improve, so we’ve been working on that too,” Haase said.
Planners said they will post the final draft to the planning website later this month.
The plan includes an updated land use map. Planners have identified opportunities for neighborhood development and infill along the city’s west side, including a proposed development between South Munn Avenue and Icon Road billed as an ‘agrihood.’
Haase described it as an opportunity for “thinking about new types of residential development. It is an area...that asks: how can we create new opportunities for residential development and also give a nod to the region’s agricultural heritage?”
The proposed neighborhood combines single-family homes with park-like landscaping, greenhouses, gardens, and communal spaces.
Another focus is creating better circulation and traffic flow along South Main Street. Over the last four decades, the area has become a regional commercial hub.
The planners have looked at “ways to create more local circulation options so not all the local traffic has to go onto South Main” Haase said.
The city is currently closing out its South Main Improvement Project, which was a major piece of its 2012 comprehensive plan.
When complete, Haase said project will be an asset for the city.
As a next step, Haase said planners are asking: “how can we continue to move that [energy] north and connect [the South Main commercial corridor] to the Midtown area, and how can we continue that momentum north into Downtown?”
Planning documents include proposals to strengthen pedestrian corridors and add streetscaping along Main Street from its intersection with Lincoln Street to the historic downtown.
Other key needs identified in the plan include connectivity between city parks and access to nature, aligning the city’s housing stock with shifting demographics, expanding opportunities for small business owners, and attracting major employers to the region.
