City of Marion recently issued the following announcement.
The City of Marion and the City of Cedar Rapids have joined together to hire MSA Professional Services, Inc. (MSA) and Confluence to complete a Growth Area Study on the far northwestern side of the City of Marion in the vicinity of C Avenue and Alburnett Road.
This project is a multi-disciplinary assessment of the area to identify potential opportunities for residential and public space development, with recommendations for sustainable future land use. The goals of the study are to preserve community character, identify and protect natural features, anticipate future growth and traffic patterns, assess housing needs and commercial opportunities, boost inter-community networks and identify strategies for the development of parks, public open space and bicycle and pedestrian connections.
The study commenced in October with a data collection phase, reviewing each community’s GIS data as well as a variety of related community plans: the Marion Comprehensive Plan, Corridor Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Long-Range Transportation Plan, City of Cedar Rapids Stormwater Master Plan and Step into Nature Land Use Plan.
The next phase consists of evaluating topographic data, existing road networks, bicycle routes, trails, planned improvements and utilities such as sanitary sewer, stormwater and potable water. The team is also working closely with a project steering committee and focus group, conducting local stakeholder interviews and leading a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis of the project area.
The final draft plan will include a Land Use Study Report as well as a Planning Study Report and is anticipated to be complete and ready for City review in early 2022. The final adopted plan will be integral to the successful growth of both communities and serve as a guide to future planning and development.
Original source can be found here.
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