[HSVTiger]

And we prepare and wait for Audi
Huntsville is much better prepared this time with a master plan in place for the nearly 10,000 out there.

When Volkswagen considered building its first U.S. automotive plant on Huntsville's western fringe in 2008, city officials didn't have a blueprint for developing the surrounding areas.
If the same rural site ends up in the running for a rumored Audi factory, Mayor Tommy Battle will be able to trot out a detailed master plan that shows where new roads, schools, parks, neighborhoods and businesses might be built nearby.
On Tuesday, The Times' editorial board got a sneak preview of the plan for 9,323 acres of Limestone County farmland annexed by the city since mid-2008.
It was to be presented to the city's zoning subcommittee this morning.
Battle said he believes the annexed farmland, which stretches to Interstate 65 south of Athens, will succeed Hampton Cove, Zierdt Road and the Providence area as the city's next development hotspot.
"We have to keep an area that we can grow into," he said. "This gives us economic viability for the next 20, 30 years.
"None of us in this room will be around to see it fully developed, but we've at least got to put the seeds in the ground."
The linchpin of the city's plan is the 1,500-acre farm, owned by the Sewell family, that Volkswagen took a hard look at before selecting a site in Chattanooga.
The city's Industrial Development Board has paid the Sewell family $300,000 to keep the land under option for the past year and a half. Although the option is due to expire Nov. 30, David Johnston, an IDB member, said the Sewells have agreed to extend it until mid-2013.
That will give city officials more time to come up with the $30 million needed to buy the rolling site just north of the original Greenbrier Bar-B-Que restaurant.
The master plan envisions the Sewell tract becoming a sort of Cummings Research Park-west with a mix of industries, research and development work and other businesses.
Sasaki Associates, the Boston firm that wrote the master plan for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, says two new major roads are needed as that area grows.
A four-lane boulevard tentatively called Greenbrier Parkway would run from Interstate 565 north to Browns Ferry Road. Acting Planning Director Marie Bostick said the city hopes to begin engineering work on the first phase next year.
The other road would be a seven-mile-long interstate spur designed to open Limestone County's rural farmland to commercial development and create a new shortcut between I-565 and I-65.
Greenbrier Parkway and the interstate spur would meet, strategically, at the Sewell tract.
Because the area is so sparsely populated now - barely 800 people spread across more than 9,000 acres - Battle said the city has a unique opportunity to design a pedestrian-friendly community where residents can walk to work, schools and shopping.
More than 20 percent of the annexed farmland - about 2,000 acres - cannot be developed because of flooding concerns and existing wetlands.
Battle said the city would look to use those areas for walking trails, greenways and parks.
Frederick Merrill with Sasaki Associates said economists predict that Huntsville, Atlanta and Charlotte, N.C., are among the cities poised to be "economic winners" through 2050.
He cited a study that projects Madison and Limestone counties will add 177,000 new residents over the next 25 years.
That growth could be accelerated, officials agreed Tuesday, if the Rocket City lures a huge new employer such as Audi.

Luxury automaker Audi is expected to select a site for its first North American assembly plant by this summer, The Chattanooga Times-Free Press reports . Michael Macht, Volkswagen AG’s head of manufacturing, told Automotive News Europe that while Mexico has advantages, “Made in the USA” is an important statement. Macht told the publication that there’s still capacity at VW’s Chattanooga site. Audi is VW’s luxury brand. In addition to Chattanooga and Mexico, Volkswagen is said to be considering a 1,500-acre site in Huntsville near Greenbrier Road and Old Highway 20 in Limestone County off of I-565.