HILLSDALE–Hillsdale residents will have an opportunity Saturday, March 6, to discuss a preliminary design and development plan for the hamlet. The draft plan, created by Project for Public Spaces, a professional community-planning firm, will be shown at Mount Washington House, Route 23, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. All residents are invited to the gathering and to offer input to help shape the document.

The draft plan, which took months of work, involved surveys and interviews with residents, merchants, officials and business owners, and a community workshop in November attended by more than 75 residents.

“We’re thrilled that Project for Public Spaces has devised such an innovative way to look toward Hillsdale’s future,” said David Ruede, chair of the Hillsdale Hamlet Committee, in a press release. The committee is a volunteer group that guided the plan’s development and oversees fundraising to pay for its creation.

Among the features in the preliminary plan are suggestions for new sidewalks, lighting, signs, benches and other gathering spaces, areas for parking and possible new commercial and residential development sites. The goal is to bring more residents and tourists into the hamlet and to attract a variety of new shops, restaurants and other businesses, along with upgrading the look and function of the town’s commercial center. The planning firm will take community input from the March 6 meeting and incorporate it into a final plan.

Subsequently, the ideas and design concepts will be incorporated into Hillsdale’s comprehensive plan, the official document that guides the town’s development and zoning.

For more information, contact Mr. Ruede at . More information about the hamlet plan can be found at the Hillsdale hamlet blog, http://hillsdalehamlet.blogspot.com.