Sugar Land to host mixed Use Town Square on May 8

Sugar Land officials have recently been making a big push for new mixed-use development in the city, and on Monday, May 8, the city will host a "Mixed Use Town Hall" at Sugar Land City Hall. The event will held from 6-8 p.m.

"After receiving feedback from Sugar Land residents that they wanted more mixed-use spaces around town, the City's planning team began looking for ways to make that happen. Now, a new set of codes could help do just that," reads an email sent to residents about the event.

The event will focus on the city's plans to update its Mixed Use Code.

In March, Mayor Joe Zimmerman and City Manager Mike Goodrum laid out their vision for the city's future in the annual State of the City address. As they put it, the city faces a choice between revitalization of its building stock or going into stagnation.

""Life is short and we only get one chance at success, which is why we are obsessed with being a city that is creating community and legacy in our city, in our neighborhoods, and in our lives," Zimmerman said at the address at the Marriott hotel at Sugar Land Town Square.

The city has been moving forward on a number of fronts, including its backing of a proposed mixed-use development at the ong-dormant Imperial Sugar district, and giving the approval of new developments in the Lake Pointe area among others.

The guest speakers at the town hall event will be Dr. Jeronimo Cortina, and associate professor of political science at the University of Houston; Matt Goebel, planner and attorney in the Denver office of Clarion Associates; and Shana Hardin, a Sugar Land native and doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Houston whose research examines the spatial distribution of mental health and how it interacts with divergent market segments.

Learn more about the event and the speakers at sugarlandtx.gov.