Another day, another task force

Star Tribune Fri, 30 Nov 2007 22:35:10 CST
Proposal to create New Hope's city center is revived

With most of its land already developed, the city is eyeing a busy intersection near a cemetery for a new downtown. ... New Hope still has to begin talks to establish a redevelopment agreement with Ryan and determine how much, if any, financial support the city will provide. The project will also require the developer to create a city center at an intersection where two corners are taken up by a cemetery and a school district building. "That's one of the challenges in any fully developed community," said Mayor Martin Opem. City officials have started to require new design standards for buildings in the area to create a more cohesive, city center feel. This new plan won't try to build the city center from scratch but will take small steps to change the existing buildings. "Most of the projects that bite off too much at one time never get anywhere," Opem said. Original questions still remain The city established a task force to study the area in 2000. Its recommendation included more residential development than this proposal and planned on the closing of a Kmart, which remains open. The task force plan never came to fruition. Now that the city has been approached by Ryan Companies, the original questions of what to do with the school district building and the other buildings at the intersection will have to be addressed.

[[keywords: LandUse;Metro;]]