Small-town community downtown areas are in a renaissance. Downtowns serve as both vital economic engines for a local economy and also gathering places to celebrate together. The traditional Main Street atmosphere of Downtown Rogers, with its quintessential historic buildings and retail storefronts, presents opportunities not only for small business, but also offers authentic experiences for those that venture downtown. Recognizing this, the Rogers City Council established Downtown Rogers as a top, long-term priority for the community.

This Downtown vision is clearly defined in the City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and is further supported in a renewed Downtown Master Plan and new Main Street Streetscape Plan. The next step? Creating the model.

The City Council has initiated a Small Area Plan exercise for Downtown, hiring consulting firms Loucks and SRF to assist City staff with this work. With planned redevelopment and a new restaurant poised to open on Main Street, now is the time to explore issues and opportunities as Downtown evolves, including short- and long-term parking needs. The outcome? Create a sketch plan for what Downtown Rogers could look like, identify parking needs and where parking can occur, and provide recommendations to guide decisions about future physical development—from district amenities to new businesses.

Downtown District

The 2040 Comprehensive Plan established a Focus Area for Downtown, covering a much broader area than just Main Street between County Road 81 and Memorial Drive. The new District extends south of the railroad track to include Lions Central Park and to the west along Industrial Boulevard. Long-term success of Downtown depends on how the core of Downtown ties into other adjacent public and private uses, and vice versa.

Small Area Plan Boundaries

Although the Downtown District is much larger, the Small Area Plan study area is much smaller, focusing on the area around Main Street between County Road 81 and Main Street. Small Area Plans specifically explore issues, opportunities and solutions within a confined geographic area that has a cohesive set of characteristics. The long-term success of Downtown depends heavily on a strong and well-designed core. It is this area where the integration of commerce, residential living, community activity – and parking – need to fit together like puzzle pieces.

September 21, 2021 Kick-Off

The Small Area Plan study kicked into high-gear on September 21, 2021. Downtown businesses, property owners and residents joined City Council and Planning Commission members and City staff to share their insights on what Downtown is today and can be in the future, and what specifically future public and private investment needs to address and Downtown Rogers evolves.

December 7, 2021 Check-In & Update

On December 7, 2021, City staff and project consultants provided a project update, recapping the results of the community survey regarding Downtown Rogers and reviewed public input and conversations from the September 21 Kick-Off meeting.

Click here to view the Community Survey recap.

February 1, 2022 Concept Plan Roll Out

At the February 1, 2022, public open house City staff and project consultants unveiled four different Concept Plans for Downtown Rogers. The Concept Plans were based on a combination of community vision, as defined by the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and Downtown Master Plan, and community input from the Downtown community survey and previous open houses. Concept D was the identified preferred option by the majority of those attending.

March 1, 2022 Final Plan Presentation

On March 1, 2022, the final concept plan for the Downtown Rogers Small Area Plan was presented to the community. The final Small Area Plan is based on the vision and strategies established for Downtown Rogers, plus a combination of previous City planning efforts, including the 2015 and 2020 Downtown Master Plans and 2040 Comprehensive Plan, and community input via public open houses and community conversations, and a community survey specific to Downtown. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the Small Area Plan to the City Council. The City Council will review the Small Area Plan at a March 22, 2022 workshop; adoption is scheduled for April 12, 2022.

Perspective Renderings

Click Here to View the Downtown Existing Building Square Footages.

Click Here to View the Downtown Pedestrian & Parking Connections.

Click Here to View the February 1, 2022 Open House Comments.

Project Schedule

Project Contacts

Nate Ekhoff, Loucks (Small Area Plan)

d: (763) 496-6722 | e: NEkhoff@loucksinc.com

Tom Sachi, SRF (Parking Assessment)

d: (763) 452-4838 | e: TSachi@srfconsulting.com