City of LaFayette Receives Major Grant for Downtown Master Plan with University of Georgia
The City of LaFayette and the LaFayette Downtown Development Authority are excited to announce that we were recently selected for a very generous grant that will help build and design a master plan for a new vision for downtown LaFayette with assistance from the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia.
The University of Georgia’s Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning Process team will work closely over the next year with the City of LaFayette government, the LaFayette Downtown Development Authority, the LaFayette Junior Council, downtown business and property owners—along with all of our citizens to drive an innovative plan for the future of our downtown.
None of this would even be possible without the significant grant award from the Lyndhurst Foundation, additional financial awards from the Georgia Municipal Association and the Georgia Cities Foundation.
This fully funded Master Plan will come at no cost to taxpayers and, typically, a plan like this would cost $150,000 or more with a private firm.
Renaissance Strategic Visioning and Planning Process
According to the RSVP website, the RSVP is both a downtown master planning process and a downtown planning document that illustrates the community’s vision for the future and provides the step-by-step blueprint to get there.
The RSVP engagement process will include community meetings, interviews with business and property owners, educators, government officials, and citizens, with surveys and economic data collection among other activities.
Upon completion of this process, the City will have a vibrant vision for downtown that will help it develop as a booming hub for long-term growth and engagement.
The most valuable element of this plan is extensive community involvement. Our citizen’s voices are most important, and we want to hear from you.
UGA’s RSVP team will work with the City and the Downtown Development Authority to focus and facilitate the planning process. The eventual plan should enable both the City and the LaFayette Downtown Development Authority to direct their resources most efficiently as they seek to implement new and exciting development projects downtown. This grant is an important milestone in accomplishing this goal.
The LaFayette RSVP Planning Process
The Planning Process will consist of three major steps of focus which include the following:
- “Where We Are?” will consist of public input and engagement, a visual preference assessment, one-on-one interviews, focus groups, a demographic scan, plan review, and steering committee meetings.
- “Where We Are Going?” will consist of those ideas and concepts gathered illustrated by designs, renderings, and visualizations.
- “How Do We Get There?” will consist of outlining a path to success by creating a work program and implementation plan.
This is a very exciting opportunity for the City of LaFayette, as previous communities have seen substantial revitalization and improvements in their downtowns following this rigorous planning process. We’re excited to see the community come out and get engaged in building the future of LaFayette!
We would like to thank the Lyndhurst Foundation, Georgia Municipal Association, and the Georgia Cities Foundation for this opportunity.
To learn more about the LaFayette RSVP, visit www.lafayettersvp.com.