A meeting was held Wednesday evening at the Goodman Community Center to discuss the proposal for the Milwaukee Street Special Area Plan, which looks to develop nearly 300 acres of land by Milwaukee Street and Highways 51 and 30.

The plan proposes to create a mixed-use urban neighborhood that brings in both residential housing opportunities and more commercial areas.

The area currently includes the Swiss Colony warehouse, the Voit farm, and Duren property, as well as Woodman's Market. City officials said that they hope the development will make the area feel more like a neighborhood.

"It'll be a street that people live on, not a four lane road that takes people from Fair Oaks to the highway and back," said David Ahrens, alder of the 15th district.

Additionally, Dan McAuliffe, a Madison city planner, said that the plan will take advantage of the existing transit hub.

"We think this is just a great opportunity," McAuliffe said. "It's so close to downtown, it has exceptional transit, it's walking distance to a grocery store. Certainly a potential to have a great new neighborhood in the heart of Madison."

In building up this area, some residents voiced concerns over preserving green spaces.

"I really enjoy that we actually have a lot of green space," said Blooming Grove resident Samantha Skar. "It's one of the reasons why we moved where we live. And I think that should be continued because green space is getting harder and harder to find, and once you lose green space, you can't get it back."

McAuliffe said that the next steps are taking into account people's feedback, meeting with the neighborhood association, and meeting with the plan commission on August 20th to review the draft.