April 30, 2021
The City of Lawrence Planning & Development Services Department is excited to share that a draft of the Downtown Master Plan is now available for community review and input. The draft can be viewed and/or downloaded from the project consultant website: hlplanning.com/portals/lawrence/documents
The Downtown Master Plan is a guiding document that identifies needed and desired assets in Downtown Lawrence as well as existing infrastructure and its potential uses and obstacles. A sustainable Downtown Master Plan will recognize the existing successful nature of downtown and include areas of potential enhancement that incorporate innovative and creative initiatives.
Intensive community engagement has been a core component of creating the Downtown Master Plan, and that will continue through the review of the current draft. All Lawrence residents and visitors to downtown are invited to view the draft plan online and send feedback via email directly to the project team at: downtownplan@lawrenceks.org.
There will also be coordinated virtual meetings for community members to give feedback on the draft plans. The following meetings are currently scheduled for late May and early June:
- Downtown Master Plan Virtual Open House – Thursday, May 20 from 6 – 8 p.m. This will be a virtual meeting where all attendees are invited to listen to a presentation of the draft plan from the consultant. This will be followed by a question and answer session where community feedback is appreciated and encouraged! You can register for the meeting at this link (advanced registration is required to participate virtually). If someone is unable to attend the meeting virtually (by phone or computer), please email the project team for assistance: downtownplan@lawrenceks.org. The meeting will be live-streamed on the City’s YouTube channel as well as recorded and posted to the website.
- Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee Virtual Meeting – Thursday, May 27 from 4 – 6 p.m. This will be a virtual meeting where the Downtown Master Plan Steering Committee is invited to listen to a presentation of the draft plan from the consultant. This will be followed by a question and answer session for meeting attendees. You can register for the meeting at this link (advanced registration is required to participate virtually). If someone is unable to attend the meeting virtually (by phone or computer), email the project team for assistance: downtownplan@lawrenceks.org. The meeting will be live-streamed on the City’s YouTube channel as well as recorded and posted to the website.
- City Commission – Tuesday, June 1. The City Commission will hear a presentation on the draft plan and provide feedback during their regular meeting. Instructions on registering for City Commission meetings are available here.
Additionally, the consultant will be putting up a survey on their website in the coming days that will ask community members to give their impressions of the Downtown Master Plan draft. The City will share on social media and update the project web page when that survey is available.
The draft of the Downtown Master Plan is step six of seven in the plan outlined by the project consultants, Houseal Lavigne Associates.
- Step 1: Project Initiation [COMPLETE]
- Step 2: Community Outreach and Engagement [COMPLETE]
- Step 3: Market and Demographic Analysis [COMPLETE]
- Step 4: Existing Conditions Summary [COMPLETE]
- Step 5: Downtown Visions, Goals and Objectives [COMPLETE]
- Step 6: Drafting of the Plan
- Step 7: Plan Adoption
Contact: Amy Miller, Assistant Director of Planning & Development Services – amiller@lawrenceks.org | 785-832-3166