In an exhaustively detailed master plan, the shuttered General Motors assembly plant will someday become a bustling development with big-box retail, cafes, office space, townhouses and maybe even a recreational center.
The project also will offer a vibrant town center, pedestrian bridges, light-rail stations and Bubbling Creek Park, the latter a seven-acre space with a spring and a pond.
To get started, the Doraville City Council will need to approve it all -- and soon.
Planning professionals and city officials laid out their long-term vision for Doraville on Wednesday night, making a formal presentation of the city's downtown master plan as part of the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) program. The presentation was held at the Doraville Civic Center, drawing about 30 interested residents and local officials.
Following the presentation, the plan was roundly greeted with praise and optimism.
"This could be a new day for Doraville," said Merle Evans, who has lived in the Oakcliff section of town since 1963. "I hope that I'm alive to see it. I just hope that we can develop the leadership necessary to develop the plans."
If the Doraville City Council approves a measure to adopt the plan at its March 21 meeting, a proposed connector between Buford Highway and Peachtree Industrial Boulevard will make it onto a list of projects under consideration for a transportation tax referendum slated for 2012.
While a number of city officials have been enthusiastic about the plan, some council members haven't committed to the project.
"I think we’ll have an opportunity to take a look at some components and decide how we’ll proceed," said council member Brian Bates, who couldn't attend the presentation because of a prior engagement. "I haven’t had a chance to really study it. But from a concept basis, I think it is moving in absolutely the right direction."
The Atlanta Regional Commission has funded a study of Doraville through its LCI program in an effort to generate ideas for redeveloping the area and distributing funds for transportation projects. If the city council approves the plan, the commission will help the city implement the plan in earnest.
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