The blueprint for revitalizing Charlotte’s downtown business district is in place. What is required next is local buy in from stakeholders.
The Downtown Development Authority got the first glimpse of a proposed Downtown Development Strategy at its Thursday, Nov. 13 meeting. Community Development Director Bryan Myrkle, who worked with staff at city hall as well as officials from the State of Michigan and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP) to develop the plan, laid out highlights of the plan that contains both action points as well as points of improvement for the downtown district.
Myrkle said the strategy is a byproduct of two Economic Summits held in Charlotte this past summer. The Summits pinpointed downtown revitalization and Charlotte Public Schools as points of emphasis. Since the school district has changed leadership in that time, organizers of the Economic Summit have shifted their entire focus to downtown revitalization.
“Another very obvious outgrowth of the Economic Summit is people over and over commenting that we’ve had enough public input, it’s time to do something,” Myrkle said. “We need to take action rather than discuss our problems.”
Actions identified in the strategic plan include assembling a business recruiting team; bringing another anchor retail business downtown; working with the Michigan Department of Transportation on truck traffic issues downtown; building off the success of the DDA’s summer concert series with a winter concert series in a downtown location; beefing up local incentives and grant eligibility; blight improvements; and taking a closer look at becoming a Michigan Mainstreet community.
Improvements include improving signage within the community, specifically on Lansing Road to direct people downtown; enhancing the Farmer’s Market, which includes adding a weeknight market; continue to utilize the Michigan State Housing and Development Authority’s grant program to rehabilitate and establish downtown apartments; utilize Beach Market in new ways; create a Corridor Improvement District near the property that includes the two train depots located on Cochran Road, which includes Tequilas Mexican Grill, Johnson’s Lumber, the former Dennis Distributing property and Citizens LLC.
The Downtown Development Strategy will continue to be discussed throughout the community in the coming weeks. A presentation on the strategy will be a large part of Can Do!’s annual planning session, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 a.m. in the Spartan Room at the Charlotte Community Library and again at 5:30 p.m. at Tequilas restaurant.
“This is a moment of real opportunity for us,” Myrkle said. “If the community as a whole is feeling a sense of crisis about downtown, now may be the time we can get some support from the overall community for our downtown efforts.”
Myrkle said the process moving forward will take a collaborative effort from community members, the City of Charlotte, its DDA, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and Can Do! Myrkle said it will take a mix of public and private investment to make sure the plan moves forward.
“There is enough information that came from the Economic Summit to tell our community leaders that the community as a whole wants to see some of this stuff happen,” Myrkle said. “We need to all start rowing in the same direction. If we’re going to make a splash downtown, we have to do it together.”
