As downtown Holly Springs continues to expand and evolve, the update to the Town’s plan for continued growth and development in the heart of Holly Springs is beginning to take shape.
Drop by an open house meeting on Monday, March 20 between 5:30-7 p.m. at the Holly Springs Cultural Center to share your input on the Downtown Village District Area Plan. Review maps and draft concepts, and share your feedback with consultants.
“We’re getting closer to an updated vision for downtown,” said Senior Planner Aaron Prichard, who is spearheading the Town’s Downtown Village District Area Plan project.
Work kicked off last fall on this update to the plan that will guide future development in downtown Holly Springs for the next couple of decades. After analyzing survey results and feedback from community and stakeholder meetings, the Town’s consultant is presenting emerging concepts at this open house meeting.
One of the concepts expands Mims Park connections to Main Street and neighboring areas while increasing the tree canopy downtown with plantings along streets. Other ideas include focusing on improvements at the intersection of Avent Ferry Road and Ballentine Street, as well as enhancing walking nodes to connect more amenities so they are easily reached within a five-minute walking distance.
“Foot traffic is something our community strongly indicated that they would like to see increased,” Prichard said.
While the first open house meeting gathered ideas on the types of developments and public gathering spaces the community desired for downtown, feedback gained from this second meeting will help refine that feedback.
“This stage of the planning process takes the input and goes a step further, showing us concepts visually on a map to get people thinking more deeply about what they would like,” Prichard said. “At this phase, we’re putting all the feedback and data together.”
Following the March meeting, the Town’s consultant will draft a master plan. A final open house meeting is planned for late summer/early fall. At that time, the community can review the draft action plan that will allow the Town and partners to realize the vision the community helped create for downtown Holly Springs.
The downtown plan covers Main Street from Third Street, where the post office is located, south past the hospital to N.C. 55. From east to west, the area is roughly sandwiched between Avent Ferry Road and Raleigh Street.
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