The Denton Planning and Zoning Commission voted Wednesday to endorse a plan that would guide future downtown development, despite initial confusion over exactly what it was considering.

Commissioners voted 6-0 to endorse the Downtown Implementation Plan, a collection of proposals designed to put a 2002 downtown master plan into practice. They did not endorse the piece of the plan dealing with Quakertown Park, including a recommendation to replace Civic Center Pool with an amphitheater and build another public pool at an unspecified location nearby.

Commissioner Jay Thomas was absent.

The plan now heads to the City Council, where a work session is scheduled for Tuesday ahead of a public hearing Aug. 17.

Some commissioners initially seemed ready to delay a decision after Deputy City Attorney Jerry Drake said he was unsure exactly what they were being asked to consider. The city had released a separate document containing proposed new development standards and review procedures for downtown-area projects, but that document was still under review and was not presented to commissioners Wednesday.

Commissioners seemed reassured after city staff members and consultants on the project explained that they were simply endorsing concepts and goals, not specific code changes, with their vote Wednesday. Detailed traffic and utility studies are also planned as part of the process to implement the plan, city staff members said.

“It’s really the start of the beginning of the potential improvement of the downtown area,” city planner Ron Menguita said.

After the meeting, commission chairman Walter Eagleton said he felt comfortable with the vote.

“We’ve thoroughly reviewed the plan, and we’ve got a committee [the city’s downtown task force] that has thoroughly reviewed it,” Eagleton said. “I feel very comfortable with that.”

The plan, prepared by Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. under a contract with the city and released this month, spans roughly 150 pages and includes proposed standards for land use, parking, parks and open space, architecture and streets.

Recommended projects include putting screens around trash bins, adding more public parking spaces and creating a system of bicycle lanes. Under the plan, the city would form special taxing districts and seek outside grant funding to pay for public improvements.

Commissioners zeroed in on the recommendation to remove the pool from Quakertown Park to make way for an amphitheater, saying the idea seemed ill-considered.

Rick Leisner, planning director for Jacobs, said the idea came from discussions with city parks officials who said Civic Center Pool had “financial issues” and needed significant improvements. Leisner said the pool would only be converted to an amphitheater if the city first built a new pool nearby, but he acknowledged under questioning from commissioner Jean Schaake that no alternative site had been identified.

A public hearing on the plan attracted only three speakers. Alex Payne and Lee Ramsey, who are both involved with downtown real estate development, spoke in favor of the plan. Another resident, Lynn Holt, said the plan raised unanswered questions and deserved more study.

The plan covers a 155-acre area bordered by Carroll Boulevard to the west; Parkway, Withers and McKinney streets to the north; Exposition Street to the east, including the site of a planned downtown bus and rail center; and Sycamore Street to the south.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.