The community group, Center Line Community Forum, has Issued a statement providing an analysis of its recent trip to Eau Claire to study an example of that city’s smart growth efforts. In recent years, Eau Claire has turned a contaminated brownfield location into a site that melds public and private projects. The Door County group of 11 spent three hours touring Phoenix Park and listening to presentations from Eau Claire city officials. The analysis indicates that the development, which received the National Civic League’s All-American City award, was successful for several reasons…
-Community input with 57 meetings over two and a half years.
-Citizen advocates who raised funds to make sure project components became a reality.
-Natural resources by focusing development near a river.
-Private/public partnerships by incorporating the plans of commercial development with the public recreational areas.
-Downtown residents with the construction of apartment facilities near the park.
-TIF districts that help fund elements of the development.
The Center Line Community Forum is hoping to learn from the successes of other municipalities as it develops its own concept of developing Sturgeon Bay’s west side waterfront.
To learn more about Center Line Community Forum, head to their web site www.centerlineforum.org
