Master Plan Review - - Blount Street Commons

After the our last meeting to discuss the proposed inclusion of an Anglican church in the Blount Street Commons development, Russ Stephenson suggested that their be a follow up meeting with city planning staff to review the master plan. Russ wrote in his memo to planning staff that:

“ ... Since there were several unresolved questions about the LNR Master Plan and its relationship to the city’s planning in the area, I proposed setting up a meeting with Planning Staff for a review of the LNR Master Plan’s allocations for uses, open space and parking, and of filed use and preservation deed restrictions. Having those issues clarified will go a long way to building confidence that current market conditions will not fundamentally alter the long-term Blount Street Master Plan vision ...”

Reid Serozi and Philip Bernard attended from MCAC. This meeting was important because it clarified some of the issues around the development pertaining to "what types" of development would be allowed and where. When the Master Plan was originally presented, the site where the church will be located was shown as street level retail with residential above. In our earlier meetings with planning staff, we discovered that the underlying commercial zoning would in fact allow a church under that designation. While we expressed that the MCAC has nothing against churches, we were disappointed that the retail and residential component at this highly visiable location along Peace was being changed.