Grosse Pointe Farms master plan recommendations expected this month

GROSSE POINTE FARMS — Master plan recommendations from Grosse Pointe Farms’ planning consultants with McKenna Associates are expected to be made during the next City Council meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 10.

Paul Urbiel, a senior principal planner with McKenna Associates, said they had been doing a technical analysis of all the feedback received from the community since the master planning process began in earnest this spring. During a Sept. 13 City Council meeting, Urbiel said they had gotten about 225 comments online, 263 responses to an online survey, and roughly 1,000 visitors to the city’s master plan website.

“Through those multiple channels of engagement, certain themes are emerging,” Urbiel said. “That’s a good thing. … Residents seem to very much value living in this community.”

Among the trends Urbiel has noted so far are that residents like the neighborhood quality of the community and would like to see more parks and recreation programs for children and promotion of the local economy. One negative is traffic management at certain intersections, Urbiel said.

Some residents have voiced support for the construction of a walking and biking path along Lake St. Clair, adjacent to the seawall, while others have opposed that. At press time, no such path was in the works.

City Councilman Lev Wood said he didn’t understand interest in a lakeside walking and biking path.

“Where are you going to put the parking?” asked Wood, noting that the area in question is residential, not commercial, so parking is either limited or nonexistent.

Another topic that commenters disagreed on was adding dedicated bike lanes to roadways, something some favored and others opposed.

Farms officials are pleased that many people have shared their opinions or visited the website.

“It does tell us we have an engaged community,” City Councilwoman Beth Konrad Wilberding said.

About 75 people attended a master plan open house in June, Urbiel said.

“We had a great turnout at the workshop,” City Councilman John Gillooly said.

Officials see opportunities to make small changes that will improve the community overall, based on what they’ve heard from residents and business owners.

“We’ve got a lot in the works for a great, small community,” Gillooly said. “It can only get better.”

For an agenda or more information about the next council meeting, visit the city’s website at www.grossepointefarms.org.