Fairfield’s growth plan shifts with new concepts

A refresh of Fairfield’s 2019 comprehensive plan, Fairfield Forward, contains two concepts not found in the last plan.

Included in a draft of the plan now under study, are expanded housing options and mixed-use nodes.

The nodes would be located in select, walkable areas of the city and include a built-in customer base for retail, restaurants, and activity outside of peak hours.

Their goal: attract professionals with discretionary income with a mix of users to increase the financial feasibility of the project.

“This update is going to reflect post-COVID,” said Erin Lynn, the city’s planning manager.

The plan guides land use, infrastructure, housing, economic development, redevelopment and future investment decisions.

It also focuses on four small areas to ensure balanced growth: S. Gilmore/Mack roads, Town Center, John Gray Road/Pleasant Avenue, and the Ohio 4 corridor.

The 2019 plan, says development services director Greg Kathman, was a major departure from the previous plan and now has to be tweaked to reflect city priorities and national trends.

Among those trends: housing, technology/AI, e-commerce, experiential retail (similar to Jungle Jim’s International Market), work from home, housing affordability/availability, and nodes — places that urban-like settings in a suburb – and walkability/connectivity.

“I think we were very successful in implementing the previous (2019) plan. The world is a different place than it was in 2018, 2019.  Fairfield is a different place,” Kathman said.

Since the 2019 plan was adopted, the city has completed 40 of 49 goals in it; 95 of 106 policies; and 47 of 53 implementation strategies.

A team that included city staff members, consultants KZF Design, feedback from an online community survey, and a 15-member advisory committee has been working since last August on updating the 2019 plan.

“(We’re seeing) different trends from COVID – trends in retail … We need to refocus some of our priorities,” Lynn said.

For example, the Town Center area – one of four target areas – is envisioned to grow into an area with more places to dine, shop, work, and live – all within a walkable area with a high-quality urban design.

Mayor Steve Miller said he liked the plan but was not a fan of adding additional apartments anywhere in the city – something envisioned as part of a mixed-use concept for on a 4.8-acre city-owned site in the Town Center at the corner of Nilles Road and Wessel Drive.

“I am not a fan of apartments,” Miller said. “These things never last.”

Since the 2019 Fairfield Forward plan was adopted, progress has included:

■Industrial growth: $1 billion investment

■Corporate projects: 10 expansions, three new firms with 3,375 jobs retained and 900 added

■Speculative construction: 3.75 million square feet that are fully-leased with 1,500- 2,000 new jobs

■Housing construction: 55 new homes; approvals for three new developments. 

A virtual open house with information on the proposed plan with a survey on it to get feedback before the final draft is presented later this summer or early fall, is online and available through June 19: engage.kzf.com/fairfield-forward.

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

PHOTO CREDIT: A rendering shows the vision for a 4.8-acre city-owned site adjacent to Fairfield’s Nilles Road fire headquarters. CONTRIBUTED