Gwinnett Daily Post

NORCROSS - A strategic city plan designed for Norcross by Urban Collage got the city's approval Monday night.

City council members signed a resolution affirming their support of the Downtown Development Authority-driven initiative. The plan, which is essentially a furthering of the city's most recent Livable Centers Initiative effort, provides overlays of certain districts and Urban Collage's recommendations.

"We need to do something. There's a pattern in our past where one council will vote on something, then council members leave and others come in and nothing is done," said Jeff Allen, a candidate for a council seat in the upcoming November election.

Bucky Johnson, president of Norcross Neighbors association, pointed out that the recent purchase of the Cameron church property for a community center seems ill-timed in light of the conclusion pf the Urban Collage study.

"Seems like you got the cart before the horse," said Johnson to council members. "You're spending a lot of money to reinvent the city."

Councilman Bruce Smith said he liked the overall plan but would have liked to ask some specific question of Urban Collage representatives, who did not attend Monday night's council meeting.

The next step in the strategic development process is to solicit public input through several workshops to fine tune the project plans.

Cultural Arts Center

renovation plans approved

Clark Patterson and Associates have presented a plan to city officials to renovate the recently purchased Cameron church property into a functional community arts/cultural center. With community development block grant funds of about $488,000, Hutmacher said that the renovations as presented, as well as CP&A's 8 to 10 percent fee, can be achieved.

The CDBG funds must be committed before the end of this year, or the city will lose them.

McLeroy expressed his concern over the fact that the old church building will not have a fire sprinkler system even after the proposed renovations are complete. Hutmacher committed to obtaining bids for the installation of such a system and report his findings to the council.