ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Alpharetta officials voted to move ahead with a new plan to guide future capital projects and redevelopment aimed at revitalizing the Windward Parkway and Ga. 9 area.
At a March 18 meeting, the Alpharetta City Council unanimously approved a resolution to adopt the Windward Livable Centers Initiative study, a joint effort between Alpharetta, Milton and True North 400, the community improvement district that encompasses much of North Fulton.
The livable centers initiative, or LCI, is an Atlanta Regional Commission grant program that incentivizes cities to increase mobility, promote healthy living and improve access to jobs and services.
Alpharetta and Milton first pitched the LCI in 2011 for their shared Windward Parkway and Ga. 9 corridor, which acts as a border between the two cities. The plan was adopted in 2012.
Since the 2012 adoption, Alpharetta city staff said transportation, economic and consumer trends have shifted, leading to a 2022 agreement between Milton, Alpharetta and the CID to update the LCI.
Alpharetta councilmembers voted to apply for an ARC LCI grant to fund the project in February 2022, but the ARC did not award the money. The CID then offered to shoulder a third of the $180,000 cost to update the plan if each city also contributed $60,000, and the trio formalized the funding agreement in October 2022.
True North 400, which managed requests for proposal, selected urban planning firm MKSK Studios to conduct the update study.
At the March 18 meeting, MKSK senior associate Luis Calvo presented the results of the study as a work session item before the formal adoption.
Calvo said the firm began the planning effort in February 2023. Between May and June of that year, it collected 808 responses from employees in the area and hosted 90 residents at two community meetings to garner feedback on…
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