Gainesville will host a workshop tonight to hear from the community about the city's gateway corridors, roads that lead into the city.

The meeting is 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Frances Meadows Aquatic and Community Center at 1545 Community Way NE.

It is part of sessions on the next comprehensive land use plan, which is a blueprint that outlines community development goals and guidelines.

The plan will also incorporate Vision 2014 from Gainesville Parks and Recreation, Vision 2030 from the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce and the 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan by the Gainesville-Hall Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The staff will host two more workshops after tonight's to garner public feedback on specific areas in Gainesville.

A hearing on Aug. 11 will look at the "central core" of the city, including the downtown, midtown, Fair Street and Bradford Street areas.

A final focus on Sept. 8 will pinpoint commercial opportunities along Atlanta Highway, Browns Bridge Road and Lakeshore Mall.

"These are all open to anyone," said Matt Tate, the city's planning manager and comprehensive plan project manager, in May. "You don't have to be a resident in a certain neighborhood or a business owner on the west side of Gainesville to attend these and give input."

The planning department added a focus on gateway roads to the 2004 comprehensive plan when residents expressed an interest in more welcoming entrances to the city along Thompson Bridge Road, Dawsonville Highway, Brown's Bridge Road, McEver Road, Atlanta Highway, Queen City Parkway, Athens Highway, Cleveland Highway and E.E. Butler Parkway.

Gainesville City Council members adopted an ordinance in 2005 for these corridors, which requires certain building materials, underground utilities and parking lots along the back and sides of a building.

"We want to know what is working and what we could improve since the ordinance passed in 2005," Rusty Ligon, director of the city's Community Development Department, has said. "It's neat to think back to this being an idea in 2004, turning into a code and now we need an update for the next year."