Students will have a chance to influence the future look of Campustown this Wednesday at a meeting sponsored by Ames and Student Union Board.

City planner Jeff Benson unveiled the university impacted area draft plan a month ago at a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. There was little student involvement at the meeting, Benson said.

“There wasn’t much student attendance, but we didn’t heavily advertise the meeting,” he said. “It is hard to get students to come to city meetings; that’s why we’re bringing the plan to them.”

The university impacted area plan addresses issues with neighborhood compatibility, parking, preservation of historic structures and keeping the “feel” of Campustown. For instance, current parking space requirements in Campustown are based on the number of apartment units, not the number of bedrooms, Benson said. The opposite is true everywhere else in Ames.

The letter of the law can be followed and not fulfill the spirit of the law, Benson said.

“When there is a challenge, the human mind tries to solve that challenge,” Benson said.

Benson said he wants students to see the plan and comment on it before submission to the City Council.

“Students can take a survey and get free food,” Benson said.

He said a brief presentation of the current draft will be presented at 12:15 p.m., and city planners will answer student questions afterward.

Talitha Fox, senior in animal ecology and president of the Student Union Board, said she thinks this is a good way for students to see what the city has in mind.

“I haven’t seen the plans myself and I think it is valuable to try and get student opinions,” Fox said.

City planners will submit the draft to the City Council in November, and the draft will be turned into ordinances under the direction of the council.

The third reading of the Campustown building and demolition ban was approved at the last City Council meeting. It stays in effect until Jan. 1. The ban was suggested and approved to make sure no large-scale changes were approved in Campustown before the new ordinances were finalized. It takes 17 days for the city to approve plans to build a high-rise, Benson said.

Planners expect to have the university impacted area ordinances completed and approved by the council before the end of March.

The meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Oak Room of the Memorial Union.