Conway residents give input on master plan for downtown

CONWAY, S.C. (WBTW) — The city of Conway held its first public meeting Wednesday night to get input on a new master plan for its downtown.

The most-recent plan was updated in 2017, so officials said it”s time to create a new plan that covers at least the next five years. The city has hired a planning group to gather ideas and share a plan with the city.

“What we will do is come up with a framework of recommendations and what we feel the city needs to begin to do first,” Irene Dumas Tyson, the director of master planning for Boudreaux said.

“I love downtown Conway, and I wanted to make sure the input is proper and moving forward and not staying stagnant like we have been,” Conway resident Mike Cook.

Dumas Tyson asked for input on what residents already love about Conway, what the challenges are now, and what they want to see.

“What do ya’ll feel is the most sacred thing about downtown Conway?” she asked. “What is that one thing that makes downtown Conway unique, and if you were to ever take it away, Conway wouldn’t be the same?” A resident replied, “the architecture.”

Residents said the city needs more places to live, family-friendly activities, more parking, coffee shops, ice cream shops, nice hotels, bike paths, an expansion of the riverwalk and more.

“The riverwalk expanded, more restaurants, more businesses open past 5 o’clock, some restaurants and businesses that are open on Sunday,” resident Mike Cook said,

Dumas Tyson said it’s important to residents’ ideas because they’re the ones who will be affected by any changes.

“It’s their city and their public space, and we have found over the years that when you engage and ask people to get involved and you ask their opinion, that they feel a lot, a sense of ownership over what’s happened,” Dumas Tyson said.

There will be another public meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday at 196 Lauro Street. There’s also a public survey that can be found on the city’s website.