By The Public Communications Office
In this episode of “What’s Up, College Station?” Marketing Coordinator Grace Hallowell and Senior Planner Matthew Ellis discuss the Northeast Gateway Redevelopment Plan, formerly the Texas and University Drive Redevelopment Area Plan.
Transcript
Grace Hallowell:
What’s up, College Station? I’m Grace Hallowell, and today I’m joined again by Mr. Matthew Ellis from our Planning and Development department. Hi Matthew.
Matthew Ellis:
Hi Grace. How are you doing today?
Grace Hallowell:
I’m doing well. We are here to talk about an update on the Texas and University Drive redevelopment plan.
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah, yeah, we are. I’m very excited to be here and talk about it.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, it’s been a while. It’s been a few months since we last talked. So, give us a little progress report of what’s going on with this project?
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah, yeah, we’ve been busy at work since we last saw our fellow citizens at our last public meeting. We’ve been very busy behind the scenes, getting the final plan written and kind of moving through the phases. One of the big things to start with is that we are going ahead and we’re rebranding the project to actually be called the Northeast Gateway Redevelopment Plan.
We think that this reflects the character of the plan and still maintains the redevelopment aspects of it, but is a little bit easier to say than Texas Avenue and University Drive redevelopment plan. So kind of getting it a little bit shorter and talking more about our geographic situation there in the Northeast Gateway.
Grace Hallowell:
Right. Yes, easier to say.
Matthew Ellis:
Yes, for sure.
Grace Hallowell: Easier to remember.
Matthew Ellis:
For sure.
Grace Hallowell:
So what have you found from these public meetings? What has been the response to the project?
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah, we’ve had some very positive feedback about different ideas that staff has had and are bringing forward, as well as some really interesting ideas that came directly from our stakeholder engagement. I think we’re really excited about some of the actions that we’re starting to see shape up into that final planning effort.
Definitely whenever you’re doing a redevelopment effort, there’s some amount of place making that has to go on because we’re changing this area that people have been in a lot. And so, we have a few actions that are coming out and we’re teasing those out about branding and signage and the kind of things that people do to navigate this space. But I think that one of the other things that we’re really excited about is the different improvements that we’re making to mobility and making sure that people can get into, out of, and throughout the district, especially as that area gets more dense, that we are creating opportunities for people to navigate around and to other areas of town and of the region.
So I think that those are some of the big things action-wise that we have coming out that I’m really excited about seeing personally over the next 10 years and being a part of making those things happen.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, and that’s a very good point, that we are growing and we are growing fast, and we can’t stay in the same place because 10 years from now, we could look like an entirely different city.
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah. And the goal of planning really is to create those outcomes that we want to see, to create places that are equitable and healthful and bring people out of their homes and are safe for people to navigate, that generate economic value for the city, and really are attractive to people in the City of College Station and the region at large to come and visit us. That does require planning on the front end.
And so we’re trying to bake some of those things into the plan to ultimately create these districts that are viable and people are excited to come visit us and see. So one of the things that I like about planning is to get to start to think about those things and really coming out of the comprehensive plan, we have the opportunity to look at the whole city that way, but then getting to do a small area plan like this redevelopment plan has definitely, I think, shown us as a staff how awesome this planning area is going to be over the next 10 years and beyond.
So we’ve seen the success of our redevelopment planning efforts in Northgate, and I think we can start to anticipate seeing some of those in the next 15 to 20 years after we do this little setup over the next 10 years.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes. So what else can you tell us?
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah, so as I said, we’ve been very busy kind of putting together that final plan document, and so we’re here to talk about and invite people to come out to our last public meeting, which we’ll have on August 28th. We’ll have the plan up on the website that’ll have an opportunity to give feedback on the different parts of the plan.
But we’re going to have a public meeting here in City Hall on August 28th at 6:00 PM in council chambers, that’ll give people an opportunity to come and read the plan, ask staff any questions about the plan and the different feedback pieces that we heard and have that final plan. People on your staff who have been helping us behind the scenes, creating a beautiful plan document that we’ll get to show off you all’s work as well and really show off the ideas that the citizens have had combined with better graphics than I can personally produce. So it’ll be exciting.
But after August 28, we’ll look forward to plan adoption and moving forward into the meetings with the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council to really get the plan adopted.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes, a lot of intricate moving parts that goes into all of this.
Matthew Ellis:
Definitely, definitely. Lots of calendaring and different things there.
Grace Hallowell:
So where can people go to find out more about this project?
Matthew Ellis:
We still have our website up from the beginning of the project at cstx.gov/TexasUniversity, and there you’ll find more information on the plan. That’s where we’ll host the plan when we have that draft ready for citizens to give feedback on.
We’ll also be updating it with the meeting dates and times and the different things there to try to get people out and engaging with the planning effort before we bring it forward for adoption.
Grace Hallowell:
Yes., and remind me the new name one more time.
Matthew Ellis:
The Northeast Gateway Redevelopment Plan.
Grace Hallowell:
Northeast Gateway Redevelopment Plan.
Matthew Ellis:
Yes. Still the same planning area. It’s a new name, same great taste. So, please don’t use that.
Grace Hallowell:
Well, all right. Thank you so much for joining me today, Matthew.
Matthew Ellis:
Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity.
Grace Hallowell:
Yeah. And that’s what’s up. Yay.
Previous Episodes
If you liked this post, share it with the buttons below!
