Strategic Investment Area: Difference between revisions

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The final report was appended to the city's [[Comprehensive Plan|Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan]] in February 2014.  
The final report was appended to the city's [[Comprehensive Plan|Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan]] in February 2014.  


The firm [[Cunningham Quill]] from D.C. was hired as the consultant. Work got underway in February 2013 and a report was presented to Council in December 2013. <ref>{{cite web|title=Bold redevelopment plan features greenway in downtown Charlottesville|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/16703-redevelopment-plan-features-greenway/|author=Brian Wheeler|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=December 10, 2014|accessdate=July 28, 2014}}</ref>
The firm [[Cunningham Quill]] from D.C. was hired as the consultant. Work got underway in February 2013 and a report was presented to Council in December 2013. <ref>{{cite web|title=Bold redevelopment plan features greenway in downtown Charlottesville|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/16703-redevelopment-plan-features-greenway/|author=Brian Wheeler|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=December 10, 2014|accessdate=July 28, 2014}}</ref> In February, Lee Quill said the process would be a way "to create a new neighborhood that can re-weave the city back together." <ref name="feb2013">{{cite web|title=Study on reinvesting in city neighborhood under way|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14138-strategic-investment-area/|author=Sean Tubbs|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=February 23, 2013|accessdate=November 10, 2015}}</ref>
 
===History===
===History===
During the 2013 update and review of the city's [[Comprehensive Plan]], City Councilor [[Kathy Galvin]] called for the city to create small area plans that would direct city investment in public infrastructure. <ref>{{cite web|title=City leaders debate growth management strategies|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14061-cplan-council-plan/|author=Sean Tubbs|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=February 12, 2013|accessdate=November 5, 2015}}</ref>  
During the 2013 update and review of the city's [[Comprehensive Plan]], City Councilor [[Kathy Galvin]] called for the city to create small area plans that would direct city investment in public infrastructure. <ref>{{cite web|title=City leaders debate growth management strategies|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14061-cplan-council-plan/|author=Sean Tubbs|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=February 12, 2013|accessdate=November 5, 2015}}</ref>


The city had conducted similar studies such as as the 2010 redevelopment master plan for [[Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority]] properties and the [[Torti Gallas]] study of 2000.  
The city had conducted similar studies such as as the 2010 redevelopment master plan for [[Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority]] properties and the [[Torti Gallas]] study of 2000.  
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Galvin specifically used the term "strategic investment areas" to describe locations covered by the plans. At a February [[2013]] work session of the [[Charlotteville Planning Commission]], planning manager [[Missy Creasy]] cautioned against the use of that phrase because of the potential it might to scare people who lived there that a sudden transformation was going to be underway.  
Galvin specifically used the term "strategic investment areas" to describe locations covered by the plans. At a February [[2013]] work session of the [[Charlotteville Planning Commission]], planning manager [[Missy Creasy]] cautioned against the use of that phrase because of the potential it might to scare people who lived there that a sudden transformation was going to be underway.  


==Main ideas==
==Plan development==
The concepts evolved over the spring and summer of 2013.  
They study team traveled to Charlottesville in the middle of March 2013 to hold meetings with stakeholders, including a walk-around the 330 acres with about 20 people. <ref name="march2013" /> [[Joy Johnson]], a public housing activist, said the community needed jobs.  


The main vision of the plan envisions building a new mixed-income and mixed-use neighborhood along a new linear park to be built along a daylighted [[Pollocks Branch]]. This new greenway would serve as an open space that would help create a sense of place and would include pedestrian connections to the rest of the community. A civic plaza would be created adjacent to the greenway to serve as the central area for the SIA. New retail would surround the plaza, and a pedestrian connection to the [[downtown mall]] would be strengthened. <ref name="may2013">{{cite web|title=Consultant unveils three options for Charlottesville strategic investment area|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14855-sia-plans/|author=|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=May 19, 2013|accessdate=November 10, 2015}}</ref>
The concepts evolved over the spring and summer of 2013. Architects hired as part of the project said they were looking to create industrial space as well as providing spaces where people could live "car-lite." <ref name="may2013" />
 
The main vision of the plan envisions building a new mixed-income and mixed-use neighborhood along a new linear park to be built along a daylighted [[Pollocks Branch]]. The waterway currently travels underneath the ground through the area. The new greenway would serve as an open space that would help create a sense of place and would include pedestrian connections to the rest of the community.  
 
Additionally, a civic plaza would be created adjacent to the greenway to serve as the central area for the SIA. New retail would surround the plaza, and a pedestrian connection to the [[downtown mall]] would be strengthened along Second Street E. <ref name="may2013">{{cite web|title=Consultant unveils three options for Charlottesville strategic investment area|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14855-sia-plans/|author=|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=May 19, 2013|accessdate=November 10, 2015}}</ref>


To facilitate the development, design standards were also established and the city was encouraged to create a new city overlaying district and to examine the possibility of form-based zoning. That has not occurred as of the fall of 2015.  
To facilitate the development, design standards were also established and the city was encouraged to create a new city overlaying district and to examine the possibility of form-based zoning. That has not occurred as of the fall of 2015.  


==Boundaries==
==Boundaries==
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The SIA includes sections of the [[Fifeville]], [[Belmont-Carlton]], [[Ridge Street]] and [[Marta Jefferson neighborhood|Martha Jefferson]] neighborhoods.  
The SIA includes sections of the [[Fifeville]], [[Belmont-Carlton]], [[Ridge Street]] and [[Marta Jefferson neighborhood|Martha Jefferson]] neighborhoods.  


Residential areas include two [[Charlottesville Housing and Redevelopment Authority]] sites and the subsidized [[Friendship Court]] community. The greenway is shown as traveling on the eastern portion of their Friendship Court property, prompting concerns from the [[Piedmont Housing Alliance]] that their ability to redevelop the site would be compromised. <ref>{{cite web|title=City to spend $350K on Friendship Court planning study|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/22442-friendship-court-study/|author=Sean Tubbs|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=November 2, 2015|accessdate=November 10, 2015}}</ref>
Residential areas include two [[Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority]] sites and the subsidized [[Friendship Court]] community. The greenway is shown as traveling on the eastern portion of their Friendship Court property, prompting concerns from the [[Piedmont Housing Alliance]] that their ability to redevelop the site would be compromised. <ref>{{cite web|title=City to spend $350K on Friendship Court planning study|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/22442-friendship-court-study/|author=Sean Tubbs|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=November 2, 2015|accessdate=November 10, 2015}}</ref>


===Area History===
===Area History===
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*Public Site Tour - March 14, 21013
*Public Site Tour - March 14, 21013
*Public Open House - March 14, 2013
*Public Open House - March 14, 2013
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - March 14, 2013 (Ix Property)
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - March 14, 2013 (Ix Property) <ref name="march2013">{{cite web|title=Study team circumnavigates Ix property|url=http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/news/article/14291-strategic_investment_area/|author=|work=|publisher=Charlottesville Tomorrow|location=|publishdate=March 14, 2013|accessdate=November 5, 2015}}</ref>
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 22, 2013 (Crescent Halls)
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 22, 2013 (Crescent Halls)
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 23, 2013(6th Street Community Center)
*Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 23, 2013(6th Street Community Center)
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Public housing advocates are skeptical. <ref>{{cite-progress|title=Strategic Investment Area could mean major changes south of Downtown Mall|url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/strategic-investment-area-could-mean-major-changes-south-of-downtown/article_8878fcae-f7ef-11e2-8fe2-001a4bcf6878.html|author=Aaron Richardson|pageno=|printdate=|publishdate=July 28, 2013|accessdate=August 6, 2013|cturl=}}</ref>
Public housing advocates were skeptical from the beginning and remained so. <ref name="feb2013" />
 
. <ref>{{cite-progress|title=Strategic Investment Area could mean major changes south of Downtown Mall|url=http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/strategic-investment-area-could-mean-major-changes-south-of-downtown/article_8878fcae-f7ef-11e2-8fe2-001a4bcf6878.html|author=Aaron Richardson|pageno=|printdate=|publishdate=July 28, 2013|accessdate=August 6, 2013|cturl=}}</ref> Joy Johnson said in February 2013 that she was concerned about Quill's use of the phrase "new neighborhood." 





Revision as of 12:15, 10 November 2015

The Strategic Investment Area is a 2013 City Council initiative to identify and shape potential redevelopment opportunities in a 330-acre section of Central Charlottesville. The final report was appended to the city's Charlottesville Comprehensive Plan in February 2014.

The firm Cunningham Quill from D.C. was hired as the consultant. Work got underway in February 2013 and a report was presented to Council in December 2013. [1] In February, Lee Quill said the process would be a way "to create a new neighborhood that can re-weave the city back together." [2]

History

During the 2013 update and review of the city's Comprehensive Plan, City Councilor Kathy Galvin called for the city to create small area plans that would direct city investment in public infrastructure. [3]

The city had conducted similar studies such as as the 2010 redevelopment master plan for Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority properties and the Torti Gallas study of 2000.

Galvin specifically used the term "strategic investment areas" to describe locations covered by the plans. At a February 2013 work session of the Charlotteville Planning Commission, planning manager Missy Creasy cautioned against the use of that phrase because of the potential it might to scare people who lived there that a sudden transformation was going to be underway.

Plan development

They study team traveled to Charlottesville in the middle of March 2013 to hold meetings with stakeholders, including a walk-around the 330 acres with about 20 people. [4] Joy Johnson, a public housing activist, said the community needed jobs.

The concepts evolved over the spring and summer of 2013. Architects hired as part of the project said they were looking to create industrial space as well as providing spaces where people could live "car-lite." [5]

The main vision of the plan envisions building a new mixed-income and mixed-use neighborhood along a new linear park to be built along a daylighted Pollocks Branch. The waterway currently travels underneath the ground through the area. The new greenway would serve as an open space that would help create a sense of place and would include pedestrian connections to the rest of the community.

Additionally, a civic plaza would be created adjacent to the greenway to serve as the central area for the SIA. New retail would surround the plaza, and a pedestrian connection to the downtown mall would be strengthened along Second Street E. [5]

To facilitate the development, design standards were also established and the city was encouraged to create a new city overlaying district and to examine the possibility of form-based zoning. That has not occurred as of the fall of 2015.

Boundaries

Sia-in-charlottesville.jpg

The boundaries for the study area are the CSX/Buckingham Branch Railroad line, Rialto Street, Ridge Street, and Palatine Avenue, as well as a small northern spur into the Martha Jefferson neighborhood. [6]

The area makes up less than 5 percent of the city's 10.4 square miles.

The SIA includes sections of the Fifeville, Belmont-Carlton, Ridge Street and Martha Jefferson neighborhoods.

Residential areas include two Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority sites and the subsidized Friendship Court community. The greenway is shown as traveling on the eastern portion of their Friendship Court property, prompting concerns from the Piedmont Housing Alliance that their ability to redevelop the site would be compromised. [7]

Area History

In the late 19th century until the mid-20th century, the area was home to various industrial companies such as the Charlottesville Lumber Company, the Charlottesville Ice Company, and the Frank Ix and Sons Textile Mill. As these buildings began to close, jobs began to leave the SIA area. Following the destruction of Vinegar Hill in the name of urban renewal, large blocks were created to serve as a home for subsidized and public housing. [6]


Firms

In additional to Cunningham Quill, other firms that worked on the plan include Bolan Smart Associates and Kittleson & Associates. [6]

Project Goals

  1. To rebuild and preserve public and assisted housing as part of an integrated plan for revitalizing neighborhoods hallmarked by concentrated poverty.
  2. To catalyze coordinated investments in neighborhood revitalization, including improvements in infrastructure, education and community assets that attracts businesses and industries.
  3. To build the foundations for economically viable neighborhoods of opportunity and choice within one of the city’s most distressed communities by promoting mixed income residential development without displacement and employment growth.
  4. To address interconnected challenges: housing decay, crime, disinvestment, health disparities, adult educational opportunities, transportation and economic opportunities for youth and adults.
  5. To create a healthy, viable neighborhood with urban amenities such as public parks, institutions like libraries and excellent food sources and safe, interconnected streets that promote walking, biking, and efficient public transit.
  6. To adhere to and comply with the Residents’ Bill of Rights for Redevelopment. (Note, the Residents’ Bill of Rights for Redevelopment can be found on following page.)

Steering Committee

Steering Committee Guiding Principles

  1. Improve and maintain a high quality of life for the people who live there and those who may in the future by addressing issues surrounding housing decay, crime, health, jobs, adult education, child care, and transportation.
  2. Create a healthy neighborhood and a “sense of place” with public parks, libraries, other amenities and healthy food sources with safe and interconnected streets that promote walking, bicycling and efficient public transit and use green infrastructure techniques to improve water quality.
  3. Promote mixed income residential development without displacing current residents.
  4. Focus and coordinate private and public investment in infrastructure, education and community assets to increase economic, recreation and housing opportunities.
  5. Honor the CRHA Residents Bill of Rights and rebuild and preserve existing public and assisted housing as part of an overall plan to revitalize the area. (The SIA will work in concert with the CRHA redevelopment plan and not supersede or replace it).
  6. Develop shared understandings of the issues, challenges, opportunities and desired outcome for the SIA.

Meetings

Public meetings

  • Public Site Tour - March 14, 21013
  • Public Open House - March 14, 2013
  • Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - March 14, 2013 (Ix Property) [4]
  • Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 22, 2013 (Crescent Halls)
  • Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - April 23, 2013(6th Street Community Center)
  • Public Presentation and Hands-on Discussion - May 16, 2013 (Mt. Zion Church) [5]
  • Public Presentation and Discussion - July 17, 2013 (Jefferson Center) [8]

Steering Committee Meetings

  • Project Team Introduction - February 20, 2013
  • Steering Committee Site tour - February 21, 2013
  • Steering Committee Meeting - February 22, 2013
  • Steering Committee Meeting - March 15, 2013
  • Steering Committee Meeting - April 24, 2013
  • Steering Committee Meeting - May 17, 2013
  • Steering Committee Meeting - July 16, 2013

Design Goals

  • To reconnect the new and existing neighborhoods with one another, Downtown, area schools, parks, and the trail network.
  • To formulate a comprehensive vision for the area in order to reposition it with its own unique identity building on its historical, cultural, and physical characteristics, including its topography and Pollocks Branch.
  • To identify and brand the SIA as an emerging urban “Ecodistrict” with the Pollocks Branch watershed as the catalyst of a green system of stormwater management, utilizing cutting edge sustainable practices and strategies for new built interventions.
  • To add new residential units within the SIA in order to increase the city’s tax base, increase opportunities for affordable housing, allow for a mix of unit types and prices, promote a mixed-income community, and provide a critical mass of residents to support additional needed retail.
  • To increase access to economic opportunities for public housing residents through increased transit, bicycle and pedestrian access to jobs, education, and training in and beyond the SIA.
  • To increase access to jobs, community services, and economic opportunity by increasing commercial space within the SIA.

Feasibility

To address feasibility of the plan's goals, the vision plan contains a "development feasibility" section featuring the work of Bolan Smart Associates.

Reaction

Sia-boundaries.jpg

The study was unveiled to the public in mid-July 2013. [8]

Public housing advocates were skeptical from the beginning and remained so. [2]

. [9] Joy Johnson said in February 2013 that she was concerned about Quill's use of the phrase "new neighborhood."



References

  1. Web. Bold redevelopment plan features greenway in downtown Charlottesville, Brian Wheeler, Charlottesville Tomorrow, December 10, 2014, retrieved July 28, 2014.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Web. Study on reinvesting in city neighborhood under way, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, February 23, 2013, retrieved November 10, 2015.
  3. Web. City leaders debate growth management strategies, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, February 12, 2013, retrieved November 5, 2015.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Web. Study team circumnavigates Ix property, Charlottesville Tomorrow, March 14, 2013, retrieved November 5, 2015.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Web. Consultant unveils three options for Charlottesville strategic investment area, Charlottesville Tomorrow, May 19, 2013, retrieved November 10, 2015.
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Web. City of Charlottesville Strategic Investment Area Plan, Cunningham Quill, Cunningham Quill, December 13, 2013, retrieved July 28, 2014.
  7. Web. City to spend $350K on Friendship Court planning study, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, November 2, 2015, retrieved November 10, 2015.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Web. Firm unveils plan to guide growth in central Charlottesville, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, July 19, 2013, retrieved August 6, 2013.
  9. Web. Strategic Investment Area could mean major changes south of Downtown Mall, Aaron Richardson, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, July 28, 2013, retrieved August 6, 2013.

External links

Page on City website

Resources