To be honest, I had never heard of a "charette" until hearing the word in reference to this weekend’s event concerning the redesign of Sylvan Avenue. At the risk of sounding journalistically cliche, according to dictiionary.com, a charette is "a final, intensive effort to finish a project, especially an architectural design project, before a deadline."

And that’s pretty much what will take place at Jack’s Backyard Saturday morning. In two separate sessions, Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. will present two or three new designs for the portion of Sylvan between Interstate 30 and West Commerce, alongside the Belmont Hotel. Everyone present will be given colored dots to mark the components they like and the ones they don’t. Anyone is invited to participate; the only caveat is that participants shoudl arrive promptly at the start of one of the sessions (details after the jump) in order to hear the instructions.

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What will happen with this feedback? Jeff Herrington of the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group tells me: "The choices made by the public, along with the wishes of developers coming to the corridor, will go to the city for further review and development," but qualifies, "This event is not a city sponsored event or forum. It is being co-sponsored by the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group, Options Real Estate and Oaxaca Investments LLC." Read about who these groups are and why they care about the design after the jump:

The Fort Worth Avenue Development Group invests its time and energy into the West Commerce/Fort Worth Avenue corridor, so this is right up its alley.

Neighorhood resident Monte Anderson is the man behind Options Real Estate, most often known for owning the Belmont Hotel. He also owns land across from the hotel (northeast corner of Sylvan and Fort Worth avenues) as well as quite a few other properties in the vicinity.

Brent Jackson of Oaxaca Investments is working on Project Luke, an approximately 30,000-square foot mixed use project with a grocery store, retail and residential that will replace the Alamo Court Plaza Hotel and other surrounding properties at the southeast corner of Sylan and Fort Worth avenues.

To add your two cents, head to Jack’s Backyard this Saturday morning, May 2, for one of two hour and 15 minute sessions: 9-10:15 a.m.  or 10:30 -11:45 a.m. Find additional information at the Fort Worth Avenue Development Group’s website.