Agenda #7a
memorandum
to: Mayor and Town Council
from: George Cianciolo, Chair
subject: Streetscape Master Plan Review Committee Interim Report
date: March 6, 2006
The purpose of this report is to provide an interim report from the Streetscape Master Plan Review Committee.
In June 2005, the Chapel Hill Town Council directed the Town Manager and staff to set up a Streetscape Master Plan Review Committee (Committee) to determine whether the existing Streetscape Master Plan (Master Plan) was adequate, particularly in regards to Rosemary Street and downtown lighting. The Committee was to be composed of two members each from relevant Town advisory boards as well as members representing downtown citizens and businesses. The Committee began meeting in October 2005 and has met twice monthly for one and a half hours/meeting since then. The Town staff persons assigned to the Committee are Mr. Curtis Brooks and Ms. Emily Cameron.
DISCUSSION
Strategy:
Much of the Committee’s early work was spent reviewing the existing Master Plan, both in terms of its success in achieving its desired goals on Franklin Street and in terms of its potential usefulness in guiding development on Rosemary Street. Several of the Committee meetings included downtown tours (guided by Mr. Brooks and Ms. Cameron) to visualize first hand the success (or failure) of various components of the existing Master Plan. These tours, as well as tours by individual Committee members on their own, were conducted during both daylight and nighttime hours to identify potential issues relating to lighting.
In its initial meetings the Committee established both a Mission Statement and a statement of Goals and Principles which it intended to follow in its discussions and preparation of subsequent recommendations to the Town Council. The mission of the Committee and its guiding goals and principles are:
“The mission of the SMPRC is to develop recommendations for physical improvements within the public right-of-way which will provide optimal environments for the businesses, residents, and visitors of downtown Chapel Hill.”
Goals:
(A) To review the existing Streetscape Master Plan and identify possible revisions
(a) concerning districts covered
(b) concerning design components
(B) To prepare recommendations to the Chapel Hill Town Council regarding
(a) additions/deletions to the existing Plan
(b) implementation strategies for the Plan
Principles:
(1) The existing Streetscape Master Plan is the result of years of work involving significant community input. Every effort should be made to retain as many components of this Plan as possible.
(2) Significant changes have occurred, are occurring, or will occur in the downtown area covered by this Plan and these changes should be carefully considered in determining what revisions or additions are necessary.
(3) The Committee should focus only on Streetscape components and implementation strategies directly related to working, living, and visiting the downtown area, including those related to safety, accessibility, aesthetics, and sustainability.
The Streetscape Master Plan Review Committee proposed two sets of recommendations regarding 1) the existing Master Plan and 2) Streetscape implementation.
Master Plan:
After extensive review of the existing Master Plan the Committee determined that it was neither within its charge by Council nor within its areas of expertise to attempt to revise at this time, those components which it believed inadequate. Thus, the Committee makes the following recommendations to the Town Council:
1. Based on our review of the existing Streetscape Master Plan the Committee believes that the existing Master Plan is inadequate in certain areas, particularly in regards to Rosemary Street and the west end of West Franklin Street. The Committee thus believes that the Master Plan should be modified. This modification might be accomplished using existing resources or a consultant might be hired using Streetscape funds. The Council might consider involving the design consultants involved in its Lot 5 project, a major project on Rosemary Street, in revising the existing Master Plan.
2. Adequate, well-designed, and functional lighting is a major source of concern for all areas of downtown. A new lighting plan should be developed for the downtown. This might be accomplished with existing resources or a lighting consultant might be hired. A lighting plan should include not only public resources but lighting on buildings (both down- and up-lighting) and should reexamine town ordinances prohibiting light spillover across property lines when the spillover occurs onto public right-of-way (ROW). The new lighting plan should also include an evaluation of the potential use of neon lighting in the downtown district. Pending the results of this study the Committee recommends that the Council consider the installation of additional street lighting on the 500 and 600 blocks of West Franklin Street and the installation of mast arm signal poles at Franklin and Porthole Alley, at Franklin and Columbia, and at Mallette, Roberson, and Merritt Mill intersections.
3. The Committee is concerned that the rapid development of Rosemary Street will result in certain locations which have wide, attractive sidewalk facilities which are separated from one another by stretches which have either poor or no sidewalk connectivity. Therefore, the Committee strongly recommends that the Council act to acquire sufficient ROW to provide at least a minimal (5-foot wide) sidewalk connectivity on Rosemary Street with a more desirable minimum width of 8-feet from back of curb to building and a desired average width of 14-feet from back of curb to building. Use sidewalk bond funds to construct these “missing links” if possible and strongly encourage UNC to build appropriate sidewalk connections on their properties.
4. Signage in the downtown area has been a concern of many parties for several years. It is critical to not only merchants, but citizens and visitors alike. Thus the Committee recommends that the Council should consider a town-wide way-finding and signage study which would include input from all parties affected (merchants, visitors’ bureau, public safety, UNC, residents, Town officials, etc.).
5. The Town should pro-actively plan for the future relocation of powerlines or other utilities by working with merchants and developers to determine the feasibility of requiring new developments to have conduit under sidewalks, or other recommended "future flexible" (per Duke Power or other knowledgeable sources) designs. In particular, the Town should consider the impact of any required relocation of utilities by developers on adjacent or nearby businesses that might be forced to incur additional costs to connect to such relocated utilities.
6. Adequate, highly-visible crosswalks are a major concern for all areas of downtown and, given the residential nature of much of the proposed new development on Rosemary Street, should be a significant concern going forward.
7. Given the number and size of recently proposed developments on Rosemary Street and the residential nature of these proposed developments, the Committee recommends that the Town Council consider adopting the following guidelines for this area until a revised Master Plan is in place:
a. Streetscaping, including sidewalks, should whenever possible be an average of 14 feet from back of curb to building with a minimum of 8 foot walkable (unobstructed) pedestrian space from back of curb to building. However, variable widths to add design interest are encouraged.
b. Rosemary Street should be designed with wide-outside (13 foot) travel lanes and a center-turn lane (10 foot) wherever possible to facilitate and encourage bicycle travel.
c. On-street parking should be allowed wherever possible to facilitate commercial entities as well. Such on-street parking might be provided by way of cut-ins (see Figure 1).
An illustration of how Rosemary Street might look under these suggested design guidelines is shown in Attachment 1.
Implementation:
Prioritized Recommendations for Use of Existing $500,000 of Streetscape Bond Funds *
1. The existing Streetscape Master Plan should be modified to address the issues specific to Rosemary Street. This modification might be accomplished using existing resources or a consultant might be hired using Streetscape funds.
2. A new lighting plan should be developed for the downtown. This might be accomplished with existing resources or a lighting consultant might be hired. A lighting plan should include not only public resources but lighting on buildings (both down- and up-lighting) and should reexamine town ordinances prohibiting light spillover across property lines when the spillover occurs onto public right-of-way (ROW). The new lighting plan should also include an evaluation of the potential use of neon lighting in the downtown district.
3. Acquire sufficient ROW to provide at least a minimal (5-foot wide) sidewalk connectivity on Rosemary Street with a more desirable minimum width of 8-feet from back of curb to building and a desired average width of 14-feet from back of curb to building. Use sidewalk bond funds to construct these “missing links” if possible and strongly encourage UNC to build appropriate sidewalk connections on their properties.
4. Pending input from a Town lighting plan (see #2), reconsider installation of a two-level lighting system on the south side of the 500 and 600 blocks of West Franklin Street such as the system currently in place in the 100 block of East Franklin Street.
5. In view of the fact that the impending construction on parking Lot 5 will have a significant impact on pedestrian safety and convenience along this portion of West Franklin Street for several years, consider making improvements to the sidewalk in front of University Square now.
6. The Town should consider a town-wide way-finding and signage study which would include input from all parties affected (merchants, visitors’ bureau, public safety, UNC, residents, Town officials, etc.).
7. Implement crosswalk improvements (imprinted asphalt, etc) at all mast arm signal locations as well as other locations which present pedestrian safety concerns.
8. Implement installation of mast arm signal poles at Franklin and Porthole Alley, at Franklin and Columbia, and at Mallette, Roberson, and Merritt Mill intersections.
* All of these recommendations and their priorities had the support of a strong majority of the Committee. It should be noted, however, that the Downtown Partnership, through its representative, felt that the Committee’s recommendation #4 should have been the top priority.
