Fayetteville

will be getting some help about $75,000 worth from the Atlanta Regional

Commission in its ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.

The city is

one of 10 new recipients of ARC Livable Centers Initiative planning grants

totalling nearly $1 million in matched federal funds. City Manager Joe

Morton announced the Fayetteville grant at Thursday night's City Council

meeting.

According to

a statement released by the ARC, the Fayetteville funds are for a study

"intended to promote quality development with multi-modal connectivity,

while preserving the historic core in the town center."

The LCI program

plans to award $5 million in grants over a five-year period, with $3 million

of that having already been awarded. Beginning in July of this year, $350

million will be available for the projects themselves.

To be considered

for funding, LCI study scopes must demonstrate:

A local planning

outreach process that promotes the involvement of all stakeholders, particularly

low- to moderate-income and minority citizens.

A diversity

of mixed-income residential neighborhoods, employment, shopping and recreation

choices at the activity center and town center level.

Access to

a range of travel modes including transit, roadways, walking and biking

to enable access to all uses within the study area.

Other successful

grantees this year include projects in Atlanta, Austell, Decatur, Lilburn,

Powder Springs, Woodstock and Fulton and DeKalb counties.

"Along

with the 22 recipients funded over the last two years, there are now 32

communities in the Atlanta region developing 'quality growth' plans through

the award-winning LCI program," according to the ARC.

Fayetteville

officials recently unveiled plans for improvements on the west side of

the Courthouse Square, with a new parking area behind the buildings facing

the square and next to the Holliday-Dorsey-Fife House. The plan, which

is being called "Backstreet Fayetteville," is the latest step

in a larger overall effort to improve the downtown area an effort that

recently got a boost from a new bond initiative approved by the city that

should see several hundred thousand dollars allocated for the project.