5-6-14 CPAC Kickoff Meeting Summary

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VISIONING WORKSHOP SUMMARY November 19, 2014 On Wednesday, November 19, 2014 a Community Visioning Workshop was conducted as part of the Comprehensive Plan update, with approximately fifty participants in attendance. The Visioning Workshop was a hands-on workshop where members of the community were invited to put pen to paper and illustrate their vision for University City. The workshop began with a review of the purpose of the Comprehensive Plan, current progress in the planning process, and the anticipated timeline for the remainder of the project. Following this introduction, the workshop was broken up into seven small working groups who were asked to review and discuss issues and opportunities within future of University City by drawing on maps of the community, highlighting potential strategies to address local issues, and identifying desired land use and development throughout the City and its the entire workshop. Vision Components The workshop concluded with general agreement regarding the long-term role and character of University City and the projects and improvements desired for the future. A synthesis of the ideas and concepts generated at the workshop is presented below; all of which will be considered in the creation of the updated Comprehensive Plan Update. Olive Boulevard Corridor Improvements & Redevelopment Every group at the workshop stressed the importance of addressing the Olive corridor. Participants noted its symbolic role as a boundary between the north and south parts of the community (i.e. 3 rd ward isolation) as well as a physical barrier to pedestrian mobility. Everyone agreed the City needed to take an active leadership role in its redevelopment and that the corridor needed a vision. Ideas ranged from a road diet reducing traffic to only two lanes and adding bicycle lanes, to - that used Complete Streets policies, to adding public plazas and pocket parks, to including pedestrian refuge islands and landscaped medians, to being more aggressive with code enforcement. Some groups felt certain parcels did not fit the future vision for the corridor, such as the UHaul business, and should be targeted for relocation and redevelopment. Further, groups felt the City-owned lots were clear catalysts to trigger the kinds of redevelopment they want to see achieved. One specific idea was a production-scale microbrewery, which may be located closer to the light-industrial area.