The Fenton Planning Commission is preparing the city’s new master plan.

The current draft of new plan that will be used as the guideline for directing city development was put before the planning commission for discussion, Thursday night. City Planning Consultant Carmine Avantini said they were looking at not just at what the current generation of residents wants, but also towards laying the foundation of what future generations would like to see in Fenton. He pointed to 2 areas where the new master plan is most different from the current.

One was in the Community Analysis department, where the US-23 study plan has been updated to reflect revised concept layouts. The other was in the North Leroy Road district. The Planning Commission considered a plan for traditional type buildings along that corridor with extra height for denser development. The idea is that once downtown Fenton fills up, this extra space would keep development there and not push it out into the neighborhoods. Planning Commission Chairwoman Charity Thompson said she was excited for the focus on Leroy Street, believing it will improve the aesthetics and make better use of the river.

The commission also discussed the trend retail is going through and how prepare for further changes and the effects it might have. When asked by the Planner how they would like to proceed, the Commission felt ready to move on to the next step, which is holding a public hearing for this current draft of the Master Plan. That hearing is tentatively scheduled to take place during their next meeting on Thursday, April 26th. (MK)