Gregg Rubin, an employee at Westlake Ace Hardware at 23rd and Louisiana streets, straightens out some lattice in the parking lot in front of the business on Friday morning. Planning consultants are considering creative ways for several areas in town to be redesigned.

If the upcoming weeklong planning session works the way city leaders hope that it will, it will provide community members with detailed examples of how areas can be redeveloped in an old-style way.

Commissioners have asked that the consultants’ final report include detailed plans showing how six areas can be redeveloped or added to using the Traditional Neighborhood Design concept:

¢ Downtown.

¢ The shopping center at 19th Street and Haskell Avenue.

¢ The Malls Shopping Center at 23rd and Louisiana streets.

¢ The shopping center that runs between Clinton Parkway and 25th Street on the west side of Iowa Street.

¢ A large area generally west of the South Lawrence Trafficway and south of U.S. Highway 40.

¢ A large area generally south of the Wakarusa River and east of U.S. Highway 59.

The group will work on detailed plans that could include street layouts and a glimpse at how buildings could look in an area. None of the plans would be binding on any of the property owners or tenants. But city leaders are hoping they will plant a seed that will lead to some landowners stepping forward with Traditional Neighborhood Design projects.

“I think people are going to be very excited when they see the drawings and renderings and start realizing what is possible,” City Commissioner Sue Hack said.