The Next Generation Advisory Board on Jan. 13 pushed city staff to connect Project Downtown’s Main Street design to other nearby efforts — including Geneva Village and the Littleton Boulevard subarea — and to spell out how design choices will protect historic character and benefit local businesses.

Board members said presentations so far have been visually compelling but sometimes appeared to treat elements — parking, traffic, Geneva Village — in isolation. “I think what I got out of that was there are a lot of personal interest when it comes to downtown Littleton,” a board member said, urging a more holistic review that considers parking, business mix and long-term use of public assets.

Amanda Henderson, who identified herself in the meeting, said staff has assigned a single project manager to coordinate the multiple initiatives and is building a shared tracking system. “There is 1 key project manager who is holding all of these projects and building a database and a system where we can look at each of the projects in one big system,” she said.

City staff described the Main Street portion as a distinct phase of Project Downtown with an estimated cost of about $30,000,000. On financing, staff said the city plans to issue Certificates of Participation (COPs) and repay the debt from a portion of revenue already dedicated by voters to a capital improvement sales tax, not by raising a new tax. “We plan to issue COPs to pay for that portion of the project… and plan to pay the debt with that portion of the capital improvement sales tax that was passed by voters several years ago,” a staff member said, adding estimated payback of roughly 20–25 years.

Board members pressed staff on specific design features they want prioritized — mature trees, wider sidewalks and patio-friendly infrastructure to support restaurants and boutique retailers — and asked for clearer engagement with business and property owners so public improvements translate to private investment. Members cited examples of return-on-investment figures presented at a recent capital-financing study session and urged caution in applying out-of-area multipliers to Littleton’s market.

The board agreed members would each draft a short (paragraph to one page) set of priorities and concerns about Project Downtown and submit them before the group’s February meeting. The board intends to synthesize that input into a concise set of five priorities to share with city council and staff as the design phase advances.

The city did not take a formal vote; staff said broader planning efforts — including the transportation master plan and climate risk assessment — will continue and that the board will have multiple opportunities to participate on stakeholder teams.