The first change involves the shifting to the west of a road at the bottom of the large park area. This shift will bring the size of the park to about 5.1 acres — staying in line with the 5-acre park described in the original site plan presented before the bond referendum was voted on.
Another, perhaps more drastic, change proposed by Michael Swartz, the architect working on the project, at Monday’s workshop meeting is the repositioning of the parking deck.
A source of concern for some residents since the downtown development plan was proposed, the 400-space parking deck has been presented in preliminary site plans as being positioned going from west to east, parallel to the Publix supermarket.
But the proposal shown Monday places the parking deck, still behind Publix, going from north to south.
Swartz said this positioning will allow the city to preserve a large oak tree that was set to be taken down with the previous proposal.
According to Swartz, the deck, which will be four stories, will be easy to disguise and will not fully be seen by passersby.
“Grade really works to our advantage on this site,” he said of the future City Center location.
Swartz said his team looked at repositioning the future City Hall building on the site plan to where it is no longer sitting on the park site, but said he does not recommend moving it anywhere else.
During the public input portion of the meeting, where only two residents spoke, a question was raised about the proposed roundabout on Haynes Bridge Road.
Public works director Pete Sewczwicz assured residents that the roundabout is being designed with one lane going into the traffic circle and one lane coming back out — not one lane going in and two coming out.
At the Sept. 10 city council meeting and workshop, City Council members will hear additional updates and are set to vote on the newly proposed changes to the City Center site plan.
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