AICP Practice Test 15

Ashford Mills Downtown Subarea Plan

Ashford Mills (population 62,000) is preparing a subarea plan for its 40-block downtown. Half of downtown is in a historic district listed in the National Register of Historic Places, which the city has also designated a local historic district. A local historic preservation commission reviews exterior changes and new construction there against design guidelines based on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

Ground-floor vacancy is 18 percent and most upper floors are empty. A developer proposes a six-story building with ground-floor retail and 70 apartments on a 20,000-square-foot surface parking lot inside the district. Separately, the city will use federal transportation funds to rebuild Main Street with wider sidewalks, street trees and new lighting. The long-range planning manager runs the subarea plan under a consultant contract with a $150,000 budget and an 18-month schedule. The business association wants more housing downtown; some preservation advocates worry about the scale of new buildings.