Roswell's City Council will vote on the city's 2045 growth plan and the future of a historic Masonic Lodge on Tuesday, Oct. 13. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall, with a downtown redevelopment authorization also on the docket.

The seven-item regular agenda includes three land-use and redevelopment items.

2045 Growth Plan heads for final adoption

The council is set to vote on formally adopting the 2045 Comprehensive Growth Plan, a state-required framework that guides land use, housing, transportation and infrastructure decisions. Michelle Alexander, director of community development, is presenting the item.

Council members voted 5-1 on July 27 to approve the plan and transmit it to the state for review, with Councilmember Sarah Beeson opposed. That vote followed an engagement process that drew 1,038 survey responses, six stakeholder meetings and three community events, Appen Media reported. Seventeen residents spoke at the July meeting.

The plan identifies five "activity centers" tied to economic growth: Holcomb Bridge Road/Georgia 400, downtown, midtown, uptown and east Roswell. It also includes strategies for preserving neighborhood character, improving connectivity and supporting housing choices.

At the council's July 27 meeting, resident Karen Parish criticized the plan's housing language. "If a project doesn't pencil out, we add high-density housing; if an aging shopping center struggles, we add high-density housing," she said, calling on the council to define what she described as vague terms.

The Oct. 13 vote appears to be the formal final adoption following the state's review, though the agenda uses the same language as the July item. No public statement from the city indicates whether the state review is complete.

Masonic Lodge reuse heads to council

Darryl Connelly, director of economic development, will present a resolution authorizing the Roswell Development Authority to negotiate the "redevelopment and adaptive reuse" of the Masonic Lodge at 1054 Alpharetta St.

That's a shift in framing. In August 2024, the council unanimously voted to preserve the lodge as an open-air pavilion and incorporate it into a planned pedestrian plaza, according to Roswell Connections. A staff report at the time estimated the cost at roughly $3.53 million. The city acquired the lodge as part of the $20 million bond-funded parking deck project voters approved in November 2022.

No staff report or backup documents for the Oct. 13 item were available as of publication. It is unclear whether the new resolution supersedes or builds on the 2024 pavilion plan.

DDA eyes Oxbo Road and Atlanta Street

A separate resolution would authorize the Roswell Downtown Development Authority to coordinate a joint marketing and redevelopment process for city-owned property at Oxbo Road and Atlanta Street, working with willing adjacent property owners. Connelly is also presenting this item.

The Oxbo Road realignment, completed in June 2023, eliminated a staggered intersection at SR 9/SR 120/Atlanta Street. No details about the specific parcels or the scope of the proposed redevelopment were available.

Other agenda items

The agenda also includes a $1.47 million playground replacement contract covering East Roswell Park, Groveway Community Park, Roswell Area Park and Sloan Street Park, plus an intergovernmental agreement with Fulton County for the East West Connector Tax Allocation District.

Residents who want to speak on an agenda item must submit a comment card to the city clerk before the item is called. Comments are limited to five minutes per item.