Transportation, affordable housing remain major Decatur concerns
Decatur has wrapped up a series of public-input sessions that will partly comprise the city’s comprehensive plan update. Planning Director Angela Threadgill said that many comments re-affirmed Decatur’s 2010 strategic plan, particularly concerns about transportation and affordable housing.
Transportation anxieties are nothing new in recent years, not just automobile traffic and parking solutions, but better quality sidewalks and more bike lanes.
During the final session Threadgill also spoke about two affordable housing options:
- cottage courts, with Decatur's pilot project slated for a half-acre plot holding five to seven homes of roughly 1,200 square feet off Commerce Drive
- accessory dwelling units, self-contained dwellings on a single-family lot, like a garage or basement apartment.
There were a total of seven public-input sessions where about 400 participated, with another 1,052 taking an online survey. A public draft of the comprehensive plan update will be presented to city commissioners on July 18, with commissioners scheduled to see a final draft on Sept. 19 and a likely adoption of the update in late October or early November.
