Two Millenials present a master plan

Two professionals from the Millennials generation have given Walhalla a suitcase of ideas for its future.  Blake Sanders of Pelzer, South Carolina and Melissa Miklus of Baltimore, Maryland of the company Alta Planning and Design received audience applause and positive feedback for the public presentation of a master plan for Walhalla.  The plan offers ideas for changes to and along side streets feeding into Main Street bordered by North and South Broad streets between the blocks of Ann and Church streets.  Mayor Danny Edwards stressed that the master plan is not Streetscape and the city won’t be able to do all that the planners suggest.  But it is a starting point, the mayor said.  One idea is to convert Short Street into a festival street friendly to pedestrians and switch the public entrance to the courthouse from the Short Street side to the Main Street side.  Another is convert fronts of existing stores on S. Catherine between Main and South Broad into areas for outdoor dining.  The plan recommends biking trails, additional crosswalks, and n signage to reflect Walhalla’s proximity to the mountains.  Alta Planning’s Blake Sanders suggested several potential local, federal and private funding sources.  Mayor Edwards told reporters the city will pay Alta between $10 and $12 thousand for its work.  The master plan is subject to city council approval, and Sanders recommends that the elected leaders take their time to decide what parts of the plan they like.