EASTON — On Wednesday evening, dozens of people attended a meeting held for the sole purpose of allowing community members to express their concerns and collaborate ideas for the future of Easton Crossing, a planned residential mixed-use development in Easton.

During the meeting, attendees raised concerns and hopes for the new development including ideas on parking, accessibility for people with disabilities and accessible affordable housing.

It’s unusual for a developer to seek community input so early, said Chris Wheedleton, a consultant and facilitator from River and Roads, a community development firm supporting the development of Easton Crossing.

According to Wheedleton, most developments around the Easton community are done somewhat backward. The first time community members get to share ideas is usually when the development is in front of the town council, and by then essential parts of the plan are difficult to change, he said.

Easton Mayor Megan Cook, Easton Town Council President Frank Gunsallus, members of the Easton Affordable Housing committee, area residents and representatives of the Mid-Shore Board of Realtors were in attendance Wednesday.

Wheedleton said as an Eastern Shore native, he felt proud to help bring people together to share their ideas for this property.

“We understand how important this site is for this town and for the East End neighborhood in general and for the greater community, which is why we’re here today,” he said

Two mixed-use developments will be built on the former Perdue grain facility on Brookletts Avenue. The developments will provide affordable housing opportunities and commercial space for the town, the developer said in a May 28 statement.

The project’s developer is Chesapeake Community Development, a subsidiary of The Arc focused on creating equitable, accessible and inclusive committees, according to the Chesapeake Community Development website.

Attendees at the Wednesday meeting sat in groups of seven and answered questions about the development’s future.

The questions included:

• What are key residential elements needed for the community?
• What challenges do you see for the property?
• What would success look like for the development?

Every table had large post-it notes for attendees to write down their ideas. Once they moved on to the next question, the meeting leaders would come by each table, take the large note and stick it to the walls for all to see.

As the meeting progressed, attendees shared their hopes and concerns, including wanting active commercial use of the property, playgrounds, proper security and accessible buildings.

Carolyn Jaffe, an advocate for the East End Association, shared her concerns about parking with her table.

“We had a lot of discussion about the difficulty with the streets that surround (the site). The site itself has three very narrow streets,” Jaffe said. “They’re not expandable … So you’ve got parking, you’ve got traffic, which is already a problem. There’s a lot to swallow in that.”

Other attendees requested restaurants, open space for residents, and a diverse mix of residents from different incomes, ages and ethnicities.

Jonathon Rondeau, President and CEO of The Arc Central Chesapeake Region, said this event was essential to the organization, and he was happy to see a mix of excitement and some well-founded concern.

“Any development that we’re doing, whether it’s housing or mixed development, is reflective of the communities we serve,” Rondeau said. “Before we are fully done with the development process of designing the space. We wanted to hear what the community wants to see as part of that so we can make sure that it’s integrated into the plans.”

When closing out the meeting, Wheedleton urged everyone to continue to share their ideas through an online feedback form at ccdmaryland.org.

A second community meeting will be hosted in September, with details to be announced soon, according to Wheedleton. That meeting will feature information and plans based on the comments from Wednesday’s meeting.

See the original article published in the Star Democrat here.