By Gary Lawler
The Greater Casa View land use meeting
[dropcap2]T[/dropcap2]he Greater Casa View Alliance held town hall meetings in January and May of this year to develop a vision for the Upper Ferguson Road Corridor from Oates Drive to LBJ Freeway. Omniplan, a 55-yr-old architectural and planning firm, has agreed to guide the community through the development of the study.
In January, the attendants broke into focus groups, identifying the Casa View Shopping Center, Sidewalks, Art, Gateways Into the Community, Development, Beautification, the Casa View Library Building, DART, Lighting, Better Retail, and Community Identity as their primary interests.
Councilmember Sheffie Kadane supported GCV’s efforts, saying that when we work for a better quality of life, we make people want to come here to live.
Omniplan collected and compiled input from that meeting and prepared responses and design concepts, which they presented at the May meeting. They presented GCV’s challenges and assets, gateway locations, development, green space opportunities, the connecting of pedestrian areas along the corridor, and community priorities.
Omniplan also presented conceptual drawings of Ferguson Road which included narrowing the road to 2 lanes in each direction in residential areas, adding bike lanes, adding room for landscaping by sidewalks, and adding underground power lines.
The community then broke out into groups to supplement Omniplan’s presentation. Topics discussed included finding a new use for the Casa View Library Building, Neighborhood and Business Signage, DART Shelters, Mobility, and Community Identity.
