The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

Clearwater residents will get a sneak peek of what the village’s business district could resemble during a Nov. 8 open house, from 6 to 9 p.m., at the Clearwater American Legion.

Five Rule Rural Planning founder Bobbi Pettit, planner Lowell Schroeder and members of its design team will unveil concepts for buildings and infrascture along the village’s Main Street.

Pettit compared Wednesday’s meeting to a home remodeling project.

“If you want to remodel your kitchen, you hire an interior design team for ideas. It’s the same concept with downtown revitalization,” she said.

Five Rule team members, along with civil engineer John Zwingman, architecht Paul Moore and landscape architect Austin Arens, met with Clearwater village and economic development officials Sept. 13, to tour businesses and discuss a vision for the downtown area.

The visit, along with next Wednesday’s open house, are possible from a Downtown Revitalization planning grant funding.

“The team spent the day in Clearwater to get a feel for the town,” Pettit said. “These are specific designs for Clearwater, not an Omaha overlay.

Pettit said the concepts provide an idea of what is possibile. Team members visited with business owners, who agreed to being included in the renderings.

“The pros tell us what is possible physically, depending on the age of a building and what’s possible financially, from an affordability and sustanability point. Can we afford and maintain this?” She said.

None of the concepts are final. Instead, the ideas will help if village officials apply for a downtown revitalization grant.

The public is invited to view the various concepts and provide feedback at Wednesday’s meeting.

“I encourage the public to come, especially if they want to be part of the decision making or provide feedback,” Pettit said.

She added the open house will provide more qualitative or “gut feeling,” results.

Eventually, community members will have an opportunity to take part in a survey about the process.

All information and data will be used to propose a plan, which will include the concepts and cost estimates.

Pettit said if the village applies for downtown revitalization funding, the application will be due in September.

Funding would be for a $400,000 community development block grant, with a 25% match requirement.

Pettit said small businesses would then be able to use information from the planning process to apply for grant funds to update facilities and infrastructure.

For more information about Clearwater’s DTR project, contact Lauren Sheridan-Simonsen at [email protected].