Council approves riverfront plan after two years of debate
The 6-3 vote clears the way for a mixed-use district, public promenade and 240 units of housing along the east bank.
After two years of hearings, redrawn maps and a petition drive that gathered more than 4,000 signatures, the city council voted 6-3 Tuesday night to approve the riverfront redevelopment plan.
The approved version keeps the public promenade at full width, a change residents pressed for during the spring comment period, and reduces the tallest permitted building from twelve stories to eight.
“This is not the plan any one of us walked in with,” council member Dana Whitfield said before the vote. “It is the plan this city argued its way into, and that is usually the better one.”
Construction on the first phase, including the promenade and a public boat launch, is expected to begin next spring. Housing permits will be issued in stages, with an affordability requirement of 20 percent for the residential parcels.
Opponents said the traffic study was too narrow and promised to keep pressure on the planning commission as individual permits come forward
