Several components of the long-debated Downtown Plan moved forward at a city committee meeting Tuesday night.

The Plan Commission, the last committee through which the Downtown Plan must move before it goes before the City Council for approval, moved forward issues of transportation and historic districts in the city of Madison.

The commission discussed defining historic districts in terms of finding the marketing and education value and upkeep in historic properties.

“You talk about economic incentives for preservation, but on the flip side, if you choose to be derelict you’re able to let these properties decay,” Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, said. “If you have owners that have contiguous properties, that becomes an issue.”

Ald. Marsha Rummel, District 6, a member of the Plan Commission, said if historic buildings are denoted as such more publicly, it might incentivize property owners to upkeep their properties appropriately.

The Plan Commission voted not to accept a recommendation from the Urban Design Commission that would denote exactly which buildings do not contribute to a historic district after some debate on the issue.

“Some buildings have bigger stories to tell than other buildings, and they’re worth saving or not depending on that history,” Rummel said.

The Plan Commission also took on several issues concerning transportation in the city.

A proposal outlined in a memo prepared by the Plan Commission for a 24-hour bus that would run on campus to provide a means of getting home for students out late at the library was rejected by the body for not being encompassing enough.

In an interview with The Badger Herald, Plan Commission member Bill Fruhling said the group felt that Downtown Plan does not extend to the campus area.

Fruhling said the idea of a constantly-running bus would need to be something addressed city-wide if it were to be implemented.

The memo also suggested the current location of Monona Terrace as a potential location for a rail station, but Rummel said this would cause downtown travelers problems.

She said the construction of the rail station would cause people in the downtown area too much “agitation” in terms of street closures and traffic issues. The Plan Commission chose to keep other locations in mind as potential future homes of the rail station.

Proposals for the future of West Mifflin Street were also included in the memo.

Fruhling said in the interview that the future of Mifflin has been under discussion for the past four years or so in terms of what the do with the housing in the area.

“If we’re keeping the houses there, we need to fix them up,” Fruhling said. “This is a 20-year plan, so a higher level of maintenance is required.”

Another option under discussion is to replace the run-down houses with apartment complexes, Fruhling said.

The plan for Mifflin involves reconfiguring the street without curbs to make it more open to pedestrians and bikes, according to a Plan Commission memo.

The Plan Commission will meet next on March 22 to continue discussion of elements of the Downtown Plan.