Big changes are in the works for downtown Redding. A community meeting was held last Thursday to discuss the downtown specific plan which will completely revamp the downtown area.
The existing plan has not been updated since 2001. Paul Helman, planning manager for the City of Redding, says the plan will regulate development, land use, parks, bicycle and pedestrian use and parking, but it won't be specific to each parcel.
"We're not really dictating that this site is only for a courthouse, or this site is only for an office building,” Helman said. “Do we want to have more flexibility where mixed use can happen almost anywhere downtown, or like the current plan do we want to keep it with a more compartmentalized where we have a focused core that's heavily mixed use surrounded by some other zones that have more of a focus on residential or office development?”
Council member Francie Sullivan says she is happy to see the changes that will be coming.
"In the old days we didn't allow mixed uses in buildings and now we see the error in that thinking,” Sullivan said. “And for a long time people didn't want tall buildings downtown now I think people are rethinking that too."
The plan will be paid for with a state grant. And if you missed the meeting there will be plenty of more chances for public input before it goes to the council sometime in the late fall.