Politics & Government
City Council to Study 'City Center' Concept
Council members to meet with consulting firm.
The Johns Creek City Council is in the early stages of exploring a "city center" concept.
While no details regarding cost or location have been publicly discussed, the city has paid $51,000 to architecture and planning firm Sizemore Group to begin facilitating and studying the idea.
Representatives of the Atlanta-based Sizemore Group, which master-planned the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, introduced themselves during the City Council's Monday work session.
Find out what's happening in Johns Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"[We help communities] figure out where they'd like to go," said the firm's Lilly Barrios.
Mike Sizemore explained that the first steps in the process would include one-on-one meetings with council members to present questions to get them thinking, such asΒ "Is there a place in Johns Creek [you take visitors] and say 'this is our community'?"
Find out what's happening in Johns Creekwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Said Mayor Mike Bodker, "We are looking forward to the process. We have been talking about [a city center] a long time."
The City of Johns Creek, formed six years ago, currently has no downtown area, town square or central gathering place, which a city center would presumably provide.
While possible funding of a city center hasn't been broached with the public yet, proposed changes to the city's charter would make it possible for the city attain a good bond rating for special projects.
In Alpharetta, for example, voters approved a , which includes a new city hall, a parking deck, a town green and infrastructure improvements to an entire 22-acre site.
See also:Β
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.