Business & Tech
Sussex's Downtown Plan Takes Another Step Forward
Leaders say conceptual designs will continue to evolve as development proceeds.
The Plan Commission is expected to vote June 16 on the village's downtown redevelopment plans.
The plans were sent to the commission after the Community Development Authority endorsed them last month.
After the commission reviews them, a public hearing will take place on July 16 and then the plans will go to the full Village Board for approval.
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There were where residents were able to provide feedback on the concepts. Both concepts were well received by the public and the CDA allowed for elements of both plans to be used the plan that is moving to the Plan Commission.
Village Administrator Jeremy Smith Smith said elements of both plans can remain options to the village because the actual design won’t come together until planners begin working with developers.
The draft plans involve conceptual designs for the Main Street area of the village and the proposed and Sussex Center developments. The two plans contain some different elements, such as the possible realignment of the Main Street and Silver Spring Drive intersection.
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Members of the CDA said they were pleased with the overall designs of the conceptual plans. Village President Greg Goetz said it’s the “right vision for how the village should look 50 years from now.”
“We can always change (concepts) down the line,” he said. “But this is a real good start.”
Smith said the village also will begin to put together concepts for a tax incremental financing district to help finance the redevelopment of the downtown area and a scope of service for the creation of the TIF will be presented at the June meeting.
Smith said some residents at the last public hearing on the project expressed an interest in changing the name of the Cannery Crossing project to Mammoth Springs, so CDA members also made note of the potential to change the names.
As the development moves along, Smith said the village will work to help find what businesses would be willing to move into the projects in order to help them move forward as the area comes out of the doldrums of the economy.