GOSHEN —
Goshen Plan Commission members Tuesday gave their blessing to a proposed plan to enlarge the current Consolidated River Race/U.S. 33 Economic Development Area. The goal is to bring significant infrastructure improvements and expanded business and employment opportunities to the area.
The vote follows a similar vote by the Goshen Redevelopment Commission during its Jan. 8 meeting. City Council members also approved the plan at their Tuesday meeting.
“The Redevelopment Commission is proposing to expand what’s called the economic development area, for which we also use the term TIF (Tax Increment Finance) area a lot,” said Community Development Director Mark Brinson. “So we’re expanding the current TIF area which extends all the way from U.S. 33 out near Walmart to the downtown. That is being expanded to include some properties on the east side of Goshen, and is connected to the downtown.”
According to Brinson, nearly 80 percent of the area targeted for expansion is zoned manufacturing. To help illustrate the proposed changes, Brinson provided commission members with several maps detailing those targeted areas, which included most of Ninth Street from College Avenue to U.S. 33, parts of Monroe Street and Logan Street, Steury Avenue, and a section of Clinton Street from Third to Ninth street. Brinson also noted significant planned improvements to Ind. 4/Lincoln Avenue as it heads into the city, a section also known as the Lincoln Avenue Corridor.
Goshen Planning and Zoning Administrator Rhonda Yoder indicated that Tuesday’s approval by the Plan Commission was necessary primarily in order to ensure that the proposed plan does not deviate from the city’s current comprehensive plan.
“Basically what the Plan Commission is determining is that what’s being proposed is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan,” Yoder said.
According to the declaratory resolution approved by the commission, the list of potential improvements to the area that could arise due to the TIF expansion is significant. A small sampling of the nearly 30 proposed infrastructure improvements connected to the expansion include:
• A pedestrian/bicycle trail from Purl Street to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds;
• An improved streetscape along Ninth Street from College Avenue to Lincoln Avenue;
• Intersection improvements at 10th Street and College Avenue, numerous Ninth Street intersections, and 10th Street and Reynolds Street;
• Road improvements along Ninth Street from College Avenue to Purl Street, along Logan Street, and along Pike Street from west of Third Street east past Goshen High School;
• Sidewalk improvements along Plymouth Avenue and Purl Street; and
• Creation of a “quiet zone” from Goshen College to the downtown area including the construction of gates and safety measures at corridor railroad crossings.
“So that kind of gives you an idea of the types of projects we’re proposing,” Brinson said. “I’m not saying that we’re going to do all those projects. These are basically just projects that you’ve identified that are included in the plan.”
Brinson noted that as the plan moves forward, the Redevelopment Commission will be tasked with deciding what projects are the highest priority, as well as what type of funding is available to do those projects.
“This East Goshen area we see is an area that needs a lot of public improvements,” Brinson said, “and this would be a very useful tool to have to help make that happen.”
Breaking News
Related Photos
-
The revitalization of the Ninth Street industrial corridor, a portion of which is shown in this photo, is part of a larger proposed city improvement project approved by Goshen Plan Commission members Tuesday. SAM HOUSEHOLDER | The Goshen News
Plan Commission OK's Goshen improvement effort
- Breaking News
-
-
You should know: Tom Yoder
GOSHEN — Tom Yoder doesn’t mind getting dirty when he’s pursuing one of his favorite interests — gardening.
-
Technology speeds disaster alerts
Caitria O’Neill remembers her reaction to hearing tornado warnings on June 1, 2011. She went to the grocery store, she said, “because I live in Massachusetts, and we don’t get tornadoes.”
-
Here today and gone tomorrow
Word of changes at Navistar wasn’t entirely unexpected. More than 500 jobs leaving Wakarusa? That information was a surprise.
-
ADEC bike ride draws crowd
ELKHART — Cycling met philanthropy at Concord High School Saturday morning as approximately 250 cyclists hit the pavement to show their support for the 41st annual ADEC Ride-A-Bike fundraising event.
-
A local quake: low probability, high consequence
GOSHEN — Earthquakes in Indiana aren’t top of mind for most Hoosiers. But while the chances of a massive earthquake in these parts are slim, the damage such a freak occurrence would cause could be huge.
-
Experts believe its only a matter of time before a mid-American quake
It’s a bleak scenario. A massive earthquake along the New Madrid fault kills or injures 60,000 people in Tennessee. A quarter of a million people are homeless. The Memphis airport — the country’s biggest air terminal for packages — goes off-line. Major oil and gas pipelines across Tennessee rupture, causing shortages in the Northeast. In Missouri, another 15,000 people are hurt or dead. Cities and towns throughout the central U.S. lose power and water for months. Losses stack up to hundreds of billions of dollars.
-
Businesses gearing up for new digs in downtown Goshen
GOSHEN — It may not be much to look at now, but just you wait.
-
The Plain Side: Quad Hopper finds a bit of Utopia
I have found my El Dorado, my Shangri La, my Utopia. It’s in Mishawaka.
This is not an ad for Barnes & Noble book sellers. I am only relating what happened Saturday last. -
IU Health employees work to promote wellness during day of service
GOSHEN – Around 50 employees volunteered for the Goshen Parks Department Friday to help improve the city’s trail system.
-
Charges filed in ’08 armed robbery
GOSHEN — A Goshen man who allegedly helped rob an Amish man at gunpoint in 2008 has been charged with the crime.
- More Breaking News Headlines
-
Tornadoes, Storms Strike Midwest
'Babyland': Camp Lejeune's Toxic Legacy?
Raw: Heavy Tornado Damage in Shawnee, Okla
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
