Mount Joy's downtown and its railroad station are tied together geographically and commercially, and improvements to one must go with improvements to the other.

What needs to be done to both was the topic Tuesday of a public workshop attended by a mixed group of professional planners and Mount Joy Borough residents.

The brainstorming session presented a forum for residents to discuss what A. Blake Drury of Glatting Jackson Kercher Anglin Inc. described as "ways they can improve the experience of living, working, shopping on Main Street," as well as how to improve the train station and "integrate it into the community."

"We want to try to get as many ideas out on the table as we can and mold them together into a viable plan," Drury said.

Drury led the group of about 20, including at least 15 residents, in the workshop. Following a video presentation on such topics as improving walkability within the borough, instilling a sense of community, maintaining a small-town atmosphere and keeping Mount Joy business-friendly, the attendees broke up into two groups.

There, people tossed out suggestions for improvements or highlighted trouble spots — including the possibility of rerouting Route 772, which connects Mount Joy with Manheim and Marietta. Trucks coming from Manheim must make a sharp left onto Main Street, then an even sharper right onto Marietta Street.

Also discussed was the need for more business intensity closer to the rail station and improving ways to get from the station to Main Street and vice versa.

Drury highlighted the need for a better mix of businesses in town, linked with ways to direct people to parking.

"When we talk about improving the Main Street experience, it's about 'Should we be focusing on more hardware stores or more clothing stores, or should we go in some other direction?' Real concrete ideas," Drury said.

The town has plenty of parking, both on-street and off. However, a disturbingly large portion of on-street parking is taken up by people who work or live on Main Street.

Because of that, Drury said, parking spaces don't "turn over as much as they should." And with parking lots, Drury said, the question is how easy they are to find and how easily people can get from the lot to their destination.

"Given the type of retail we have here, where some of it is impulse or convenience shopping, a shopper is not necessarily going to take the time to locate parking and then find their way back to the store," he said. "They're much more likely to use on-street parking and put money in a meter, if need be."

Anyone with additional ideas or suggestions may stop by the Main Street Mount Joy office, 15 Marietta St., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Sketches drawn from ideas submitted at the workshop will then be on display in the office from 4 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 7 p.m.

In December, a weeklong workshop is being planned, Drury said, to further refine "those ideas that we come up with."

lalexander@lnpnews.com