JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – It’s been nearly five years since the City of Jamestown approved the Land Use & Transportation Plan (LUTP).

In August, the city approved SRF Consulting to assess the current plan and explore planning and zoning, housing, and more to prioritize implementation.

On Monday, Scott Harmstead and David Sweeney with SRF Consulting presented their assessment of the plan. To conduct the assessment, Harmstead says they talked to a number of stakeholders to gain an understanding of what things needed to be addressed moving forward.

Harmstead says in the original 2015 plan, there was some very aggressive growth scenarios presented.

Other items assessed included the connectivity of the city. This includes progress on the 20th Street SW connection, Exit 257 opportunities, and railroad remaining a barrier for commuting.

Even with some of these projections, Harmstead says a lot has been accomplished.

Sweeney later said a big portion of the LUTP was the future use of areas in the city. One thing was developers not know about the LUTP.

Both Harmstead and Sweeney gave recommendations for the city in the transportation, downtown, parks, housing, and more. These include additional zoning ordinance amendments such as districts, parking, and signage, targeting development opportunities and scaling back expectations for fringe growth.

It was also recommended the city share the LUTP with the development community for future projects. For traffic, it’s recommended the city prioritize active transportation improvements and leverage federal and state funding for their projects.

SRF Consulting also encouraged the city to continue building on recent success in their special districts and downtown renovations. They also recommend the city work towards creating housing development partnerships and promote new housing around community focal points.