<!--Rick Forgione--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Forgione</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com">rick.forgione@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
The transformation of brownfields into a thriving green industrial park and construction of a new road consisting of a business park are among the key components in a draft master plan to revitalize Highland Avenue and the surrounding North End community.
Referring to it as the “beginning of the beginning,” close to 50 people attended the fifth and final public comment meeting Monday at the Doris Jones Family Resource Center to discuss plans and possibilities for the Highland Community Brownfield Opportunity Area. Those in attendance received a detailed presentation from Urban Strategies, Inc., the consulting company hired by the city.
“This is really your vision of the future we’re proposing, not ours,” consultant Mark Reid said about the 18-month process. “This has always been about creating a new image for this community.”
The planning process is being supported under a $375,000 grant secured by the city in 2004 and has involved several public meetings and interviews with more than 40 stakeholders. The goal is to create a plan to revitalize 560 acres of land identified as brownfields in the North End. Designation as a Brownfield Opportunity Area makes the community eligible for various brownfield redevelopment incentives, including state employment credits used to entice new businesses and promote commercial expansion.
Though the planning team has received plenty of feedback, the overwhelming theme has been the need to create jobs for North End residents. If all goes as realized in the 20-year master plan, Urban Strategies is estimating the creation of between 5,000 to 7,500 new jobs, Reid said.
Much of the focus is on transforming numerous brownfields at the northern most point of Highland into an industrial park housing factories and businesses utilizing energy efficient practices. The draft also proposes construction of a new street south of College Avenue that runs from Hyde Park Boulevard to Highland Avenue, which would free up hundreds of acres of land-locked property to establish a business park.
Reid said the new roadway is not meant to take away from Highland Avenue, which will remain a mix of residential and business properties.
“Highland will be celebrated as the main street of the entire community,” he said. “That’s the street everyone should go to after work.”
The draft also lays out plans to beautify the neighborhood and add a smattering of parks, including the remediation and transformation of the old Tract II Power City warehouse site near Beech Avenue.
A few people in attendance Monday questioned the draft’s effectiveness, saying it’s similar to plans that were proposed 10 years ago. Another concern was the plan doesn’t include specific strategies on how to reach the goals.
Joe McCoy, a longtime community activist and member of the Highland Community Revitalization Committee, was underwhelmed with the proposed master plan and doubted it would live up to its prediction of creating thousands of jobs for area residents. He believes any strong plan needs to begin and end with challenging people to take the initiative of finding work and supporting themselves.
“I would love to come back five years from now and see if this plan does anything in this community as far as self-sufficiency is concerned,” said McCoy, who now lives in Atlanta. “But I am guessing by then we will still be looking at this plan.”
Urban Strategies will spend the next several weeks implementing public comments before presenting the final plan to the city and state by the end of July.
Get Involved
To review a copy of the draft master plan or to find out more information on the project, visit www.shapehighlandsfuture.com. Comments can still be made by sending them to alan.nusbaum@niagarafallsny.gov.
