By Dave Vieser. An important meeting between consulting firms and town officials regarding the creation of a downtown Cornelius Master Plan will take place next week.

Seven different consultants, all from the metro Charlotte area, responded to a request for proposals (RFP) on the development of a master plan to guide development on a 137 acre segment of the town along Catawba Avenue and Main Street.

After reviewing all seven, the town narrowed the field down to two. They’ll meet separately with each one on March 20, prior to recommending one to the Town Board.

Quotable

Osborne

“Creating a downtown master plan gives us the opportunity to bring another level of detail. It will help attract what we want and repel what we don’t want,” said Commissioner Michael Osborne. “It also gives us the opportunity to include deeper dives into infrastructure and how to support our growing downtown area.”

The RFP acknowledged that downtown has been developed in a piecemeal fashion. Town officials are hopeful to have a final recommendation by May.