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COMMERCIAL ISSUES

Highway Commercial Areas

Community representatives have expressed the strong opinion that while they wish to take advantage of the commercial opportunities afforded by Highway 965, they want to avoid this road becoming a strip "highway" commercial area and feel that development along this roadway should be representative of the City of North Liberty. In addition, it was widely felt that new commercial development should respond to the Cherry Street Center development at the intersection of Highway 965 and Cherry Street. Development opportunities along Highway 965 must be addressed within the Comprehensive Plan to ensure cohesive and quality development.

While Highway 965 is of significant importance to commercial development in the City, Penn Street also affords high traffic counts and is a major thoroughfare for travelers to and from North Liberty. Penn Street is a major gateway to the City and commercial development should also reflect the City's quality development standards as commercial areas are developed. This is particularly true of the intersection of Penn Street and Highway 965.

Highway commercial potential for the Penn Street/380 interchange as well as a future intersection on Forevergreen Road/I-380 area has also been discussed by City officials. Issues related to this topic include demand, extension of utilities, and type of development. This development potential must be fully assessed within the Comprehensive Plan, as well as strategies to ensure quality development and appropriate development timing.


Commercial Competition/Diversity

The new retail mall that is being constructed in Coralville, near the intersection of I-80 and Highway 965, will affect the City of North Liberty's commercial land use both positively and negatively. Planning for commercial development in North Liberty must take this new mall into consideration, and possibly benefit from it.

The land use inventory identified a limited number of retail establishments within the community, many fulfilling only specific convenience market needs. The community survey showed that North Liberty citizens would like more commercial development within the City. North Liberty's population and the presence of competitive markets in neighboring communities limit the amount and variety of commercial development which the City can support. Creating opportunities for a more diverse and expanded commercial market within the City which are balanced with demand and can effectively compete with neighboring markets should be a goal of the Development Framework.


Central Commercial Area/Historic CBD

Community representatives have identified a fundamental goal of taking advantage of the commercial and community opportunities afforded by Highway 965. In order to accomplish this goal, the City has developed the Cherry Street Center, adjacent to Highway 965 on Cherry Street. Because of the available space for expansion, as well as the visibility and the traffic generation of the area, it is anticipated that the Cherry Street Center will continue to expand to Penn Street and become the central commercial area of North Liberty.

The historic central business district or “downtown” area located at the intersection of Cherry, Dubuque, and Front Streets has been identified by City representatives as an area that requires enhancement. The preservation and revitalization of this area was also seen as “very” to “somewhat” important to 64 percent of citizens that responded to the community survey.

It has been determined that this area should not be considered as an area for future commercial growth. With the strong connections to Penn Meadows Park, City Hall, and the existing commercial establishments, there is significant support for this area to become a pedestrian/public oriented central space that stresses the small town quality of North Liberty or “Town Center”.

Future development of the central commercial area and enhancement of the Town Center area are goals of the Comprehensive Plan in order to provide a focused and unified commercial development pattern, as well as enhancing the image of the community.
 

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