The Highway 182 corridor in Starkville could be getting a facelift. Around 30 city leaders, planners, property owners and residents kicked off a process Wednesday set to culminate in a redevelopment plan for Starkville's oldest commercial district.
Planners and city staff will seek public input at meetings in June. Goals of the plan are to reevaluate current and future economic development opportunities throughout the corridor, identify needed infrastructure improvements and spur on new small business development in the area from Highway 12 to Highway 25—around a five mile section of the corridor.
"The Highway 182 area is a vibrant area," Community Development Director Buddy Sanders said. "There are lots of possibilities there, it just needs a spark."
Tennessee planning firm Farmer Morgan will host the charrette process, with a public design workshop set for June 20, a concept plan presentation with public review on June 21, an open house to review the input June 22 and a closing presentation on June 23.
All meetings will take place in the second floor conference room of City Hall, 110 W. Main St. Times vary from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on June 20, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 21, all-day June 22 and 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on June 23.
From the meetings, planners will complete the first draft in August, a second draft in September and a final document presentation Sept. 30, according to Farmer-Morgan Managing Partner Benjamin Farmer, lead planner on the project.
"We need to look and see what the advantages and disadvantages are in the area," Farmer said. "We are here to figure out a broader vision. We are going to figure those things out and figure out how to make those things doable."
A marketing plan for the area will be developed by Mississippi State University Assistant Professor of Marketing Mike Breazeale. He will work with 30 students starting this summer to compile a comprehensive marketing plan to lure businesses to the area. The plan could host focus groups to give students more insight on the history of the corridor.
"We need to figure out the cultural history of this area and what makes it unique because branding is storytelling," Breazeale said. "The best way we can brand this area is to tell the actual story of the area through everything we do."
During the kickoff meeting on Wednesday, attendees hoped lighting, traffic, parking, infrastructure and pedestrian improvements could be addressed to correspond with any future economic development opportunities defined in the plan.
The process will be funded through a brownfield grant worth $400,000 the city received in 2013, Mayor Parker Wiseman said. Through the Environmental Protection Agency, municipalities are awarded funding to clean up sites complicated by possible environmental contamination from previous developments. Some areas throughout the Highway 182 corridor were identified since the area included former service stations and former businesses that used chemical solvents.
"We've been assessing various sites the last two years," Wiseman said. "One of the areas of interest we put in the application was the Highway 182 portion. It's the oldest highway corridor in the city of Starkville. It is one of the most unique streets we have."
As the planning process moves along, officials will work with the Mississippi Department of Transportation to identify any right-of-way issues throughout the corridor, along with working around electric utility transmission lines in the area with Starkville Utilities. Both issues must be addressed to develop the corridor, officials said.
Throughout the corridor, the right-of-way width varies, something that will complicate the planning process. The plan will help spur private investment in the area, while addressing right-of-way and utility concerns. The future of economic development in Starkville is tied to the corridor, Wiseman said.
"Those issues are more prevalent then they would be in a first generation highway corridor," Wiseman said. "The neat thing about this initial discussion is that people recognized the assets and the challenges the Highway 182 corridor has."
Attendees floated the idea of creating a development authority for the corridor, something that failed last year to come to fruition for the Highway 12 corridor. Residents also questioned city officials over the state of the Family Dollar project near Highway 182 and Jackson Street. The in-progress project needs to comply with city facade ordinances and fill a ditch after placing a drainage pipe near the store site, Sanders said.
The lot closest to the Jackson Street-Highway 182 intersection won't be redeveloped any time soon due to restrictions placed by the Family Dollar site's developer and utility transmission lines running through the corner plot—one of the corridor's busiest intersections. The site could be used for future parking options to accommodate future businesses, Sanders said.
Those at the meeting hoped the redevelopment plan could help break the current stigma surrounding the area after developments came and left in the area—by incorporating specialty commercial opportunities—and by maintaining the area's historic roots.
"The corridor is very important," Golden Triangle Planning and Development Analyst Phylis Benson said. "It's what people see when they exit the Highway 82 bypass. As a property owner near by, I would like [the planners] find what is truly unique about that area and develop it. Play off of it, don't bulldoze everything. If you do that, I'll live three blocks from Highway 12. That's not what I think is unique about my neighborhood."
Notices of future meetings will be posted on the city's website, cityofstarkville.org.