The neXtPlan establishes goals and strategies for urban revitalization, parks and recreation, transportation, housing, economic development, and public utilities and services. It replaces the 2013 X-Plan, a previous comprehensive plan that has been largely implemented and/or become outdated, according to the city.
“The amazing thing about the X-Plan was that so many components of that were executed,” said City Council President Will Urschel Thursday. “There are a number of things, the action items recommended in this plan, that are actually starting to be executed this year, right now, which is remarkable as well.”
Establishing a vibrant downtown is one of the major goals of the plan. This doesn’t just include the Market District Redevelopment Project, formerly known as Xenia Towne Square, but the city has also turned a keen eye on the Hub District, creating another economic development area around the bike hub, east of the city center.
Plans surrounding the hub district call for expansion of Xenia Station and new recreational amenities, according to city documents, as well as new types of housing, potentially oriented toward the bike path. The Hub District project “could be a catalyst for additional downtown revitalization and attract new businesses to the area,” city documents say.
The Hub District was selected by the Congress for New Urbanism as a Legacy Project earlier this year, and Xenia received pro-bono planning and design services from Opticos Design, Inc. and J. Griffin Design LLC, as well as a housing study.
The plan also calls for diversifying Xenia’s housing stock, including apartments, townhomes and other higher-density options, as well as more aggressively pursuing infill development in the city’s more urban areas.
Other prominent themes include development of an industrial-technology corridor along US-35, improving recreational amenities, improving road maintenance, connecting trails to neighborhoods, and fiscally sustainable infrastructure.
The plan will guide both public and private sector decision-making, as well as grants, partnerships, and regulations, the city said.
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