DOWAGIAC — At a planning commission meeting on Monday night, the commission discussed and unanimously approved only one resolution for a rear addition to the Dowagiac District Library, 211 Commercial St.

Travis Munn, of Hurley and Stewart, a civil engineering firm out of Kalamazoo, presented to the planning commission, alongside Matt Weston, the library director, and Gary Martin, also a representative of the library.

Munn discussed the plans to remove the old addition out front on the north end of the building in order to restore the historical front of the original building. Munn also said the building will include a second story addition. The new addition will also have an Americans with Disabilities Act ramp, which will lead to two ADA accessible parking spaces. A parking lot with 18 spaces will be located in the back, with access to New York Avenue and alleys on both sides of the building, Munn said.

Planning commissioners asked questions about an array of additions, including elevators, parking lot light fixtures, and what will be done with the residential mailboxes located in the alleys.

Munn confirmed the new library will have an elevator, cut-off light fixtures to be conscious of residents in the area and the option of relocating mailboxes in the area if needed. He added that a standalone dropbox would also be available for visitors to drop off books at night.

Assistant City Manager Natalie Dean gave a staff report to the planning commission regarding the library taking out curb cuts along New York Avenue.

“I think it’s remarkable you are narrowing it down to one lane,” Dean said. “You weren’t giving drivers a lot of choice there, but it maneuvers drivers to the site in the way you want them to go. I imagine it would be a lot more organized.”

Dave Daniels, the vice-chair of the commission, also asked about the technology being offered in the new library’s facility for the children who use the library to do homework assignments.

“There will be more computers overall, Wi-Fi access, other technologies and more security cameras,” Weston said. “Part of this is expanding it upstairs to where the children’s spaces are. There is also a teen area, and that’s where the study rooms are located.”

Martin also brought up how the library is trying to find a temporary location while it is under construction.

“If we can’t, then they are going to have to be working around making temporary walls and keeping people safe,” Martin said.

This is the reason the library is asking the planning commission to expand its rear first, Weston added.

After the planning commission unanimously approved a resolution for the library’s rear addition, Martin said October is the planned start date.

Also discussed at the planning commission meeting was an update on the city’s master plan. The most complete draft the commission has will be shown during city of Dowagiac’s three community open houses it is hosting at several locations across the city this month and next month. At these open houses, many subjects will be covered including: future redevelopment of priority redevelopment properties, a first look at the new and updated city master plan and maps, and a presentation on the city’s new housing initiative. The Neighborhood Enhancement Program and other available resources the city offers to fix houses will also be topics discussed.

Another main point of discussion was a future land use map, which gauges where the community feels like certain uses should be, Dean said.

The city is also working towards obtaining a Redevelopment Ready Communities certification, and needed to pick out at least three priority sites. After discussing the priority sites with the city council, Dean announced they picked four areas: 143. S., Front St. the former Harvey’s Building; the former ICG plant; the former Old Division Tire; and Lincoln Grade School.

After discussion of the properties, the commission decided it wanted to add McKinley Elementary School as fifth location to the list of essential redevelopment properties.

“Each of these properties will have a board at the open houses,” Dean said. “People can go up and write the ideas they have for that property or the problems they have. We will collect all those opinions.”

Scheduled dates for the city of Dowagiac’s community open houses include:

• 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21 — Dowagiac Middle School’s Cafeteria, 57072 Riverside Dr., Dowagiac.

• 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29 — the Business Center of Southwest Michigan, 415 E. Prairie Ronde St., Dowagiac.

• 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 — the Snow Building Community Room, S. Front Street, across from City Hall.