This is a summary of the ideas that were presented at the Task Force Meeting. They have been divided into categories. Please feel free to comment. Thanks to Councilman Reuter for assembling and transcribing these ideas.
- Stephen Snedden.
1. SIDEWALKS & PEDESTRIANS
-Skateboards + bikes on sidewalks are unsafe for pedestrians, store ingress and egress and for the bikes and boarders with cars.
-Functional + detailed sidewalk network
-Streetscapes + sidewalks need to be functional year round.
-Plan to keep sidewalk clear
-provide assistance to residents that are unable to shovel/maintain sidewalks.
-sidewalk pedestrian bridge at Larch
-Improve and expand sidewalks
-Pedestrian/Bike bypass under or over 5th Ave.
-Make Downtown a place primarily for walking - some places just for walking (Main Street?)
-Downtown Pedestrian-Friendly, bike-friendly, but cars can still get around while not dominating.
-small lot made into parks for walkers to rest.
2. TRANSPORTATION ALTERNATIVES
-Promote neighborhood electric vehicles and future modes
-turn Sand Creek into a winter arterial (skating/skiing)
-trolley system
3. TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS
-explore improvements of railroad station
-airport port district
-Reroute Hwy. 2
-Medians on arterials
-Functional alley system
4. PARKS SYSTEM
-Way for people to access parks easily (linkage)
-"Stem parks": all accessing one another connect to big lake Downtown etc.
-Dog parks
-Visually pleasing
-Parks on edges of town - land preserved for outdoor recreation (natural areas)
-Hiking trail, parks (Pine Corridor)
-Property Tax Relief for small parks, lots act, land trust.
-need more parks for sports - soccer practices/tournaments
-balancing multi-use
-more multi-use parks, soccer/golf/baseball
-Better use of open space
-watch chemical waste
5. BICYCLES
-Expand bike paths
-Create bike path arterials.
-Improve bike signage and markers
-connect bike paths.
-Improve + expand bicycle storage facilities
-Improve commuter facilities (showers, etc.)
-Temporary locker storage
-network of bike trails and paths connecting new parks
-Improve safety between motorized and non-motorized transportation
6. TRANSITIONS BETWEEN ZONES
-What about conflicts between uses where they bump into each other (single-family vs. multi-family)
-clear division between commercial and residential uses.
7. BUSINESS INCUBATOR
-A full-fledge business incubator. Need ground level encouragement for businesses to start + grow.
-a turn around in the goals of the small business center to foster new innovative ideas + job development, not just established businesses.
-Be mindful of the businesses we court and the impact they will have - very carefully.
-Bring in Green Business - regionally appropriate such as northern solar or hybrid or electric cars that are four wheel drive.
-Partnership with Bonner Business Center to foster technology while university is still being developed.
-Market Sandpoint to appropriate technology companies, not just a place to buy real estate. Alternative tech. transportation industry, etc. Aggressively seek + market.
8. CITY UNIVERSITY
-City University.
-Cooperative to bring in University not solely relying on Wild Rose
-Make zones open to education.
9. HISTORIC BUILDINGS/NEIGHBORHOODS
-process to definite "historic."
-City help for business development for historic buildings.
-Promote financial incentives to preserve historical buildings
-Historic equal emphasis on history + architecture city-wide
-allow community involvement in "historic" definition and planning.
-SA-1Pres. C. Protect the residential Character: Divert traffic, Redirect traffic, Identify (traffic?)
-SA-1 - Preservation (A): Benefits - what is there? Incentives - reimbursement, funding
-Walking Town to Where? Have a plan for the historic downtown with plagues on buildings, info pamplets, etc.
10. PARKING
-make parking "flexible" not more not less, but what makes sense.
-think about parking needs when densifying.
-CD-6 E - Parking is definitely a problem throughout the whole city - with open alleys - parking structures downtown and expanded parking, all would help.
-mixed commercial parking structure
-parking ramp
-Diagonal parking
-Change in parking regulations.
-Remote parking tied to fixed route
-Downtown Parking: use fee in-lieu for intended purpose - build parking.
11. PLANNING PROCESS
-Process for criteria + inventory + outcome
-Outside insight on all of this.
-Have a large group of design professionals "mock plan" what we'll get if the plan is executed.
-identify other "sister" communities that have already done this. "Use their plan as an outline."
-Identify builders who are utilizing good density plans in Sandpoint - include them in process.
-revise ordinances on transportation for consistency.
-Relax codes
12. HOUSING
-5 Bd. 5 BA in CA-2 for 5 families
-Living quarters for hamburger flippers to walk to the core
-Strongly encourage residential downtown (upper building levels)
-does the plan encourage densities/housing types that the private sector won't provide?
-Residential Design standards / Cluster Design Standards
13. FOOD
-Parks + Rec. + Food
-"Park, Rec. & Food" - Park grows food for Food Bank
-Community Gardens
-Small parks within neighborhood to promote gardening.
14. DOWNTOWN VITALITY
-Downtown with drug stores, grocery stores, J.C. Penny, resturants,... places families can go and shop for everything they need.
-Family-oriented feel of Downtown. Families shopping downtown.
-Walmart split up all over First Ave.
-Places for people to come together.
-Move Real Estate offices off first floor of Downtown.
-Farmer's Market & Arts + Crafts examples of what we like - especially seeing families.
-community-wide annual event, like a World's Fair or Trade Show, celebrating Sandpoint and attracting appropriate industries - including education and arts.
-Encourage Diversity
-More 2-way streets downtown
15. TREES & OTHER PLANTINGS
-SA-2: Build on existing success, research, publicize, volunteer groups
-SA-2: (F) educate the community on care of trees, appropriate varieties, etc.
-SA-2: Solidify neighborwoods program and promote it. / Encourage the development of an urban forestry committee.
-landscaping w/native plants encouraged
16. ARTS & CULTURE
-SA-3 (C/B): Work cooperatively (City with community) to promote arts events
-SA-3 (A): Improve communication about community events
-SA-3 (A): Identify existing community arts & events (farmers market; arts fair @ city beach, art walks) and nurture them!
-Family-oriented entertainment & activities.
-Resident program, dance, orchestra, children's theater - help to support creation of university.
17. MISC.
-Land leases
-SA-1: B. Identify research report, volunteer groups.
-Transition Initiative Group work with Business Community. Not two separate visions.
-Switch from a place for second & third homes to a place to live and for families.
-cellphone use
-coffer dam on Sand Creek
-Trailers, boats on trailers, stored long-term year-round on city streets.
-mixed use w/incentives
-CD-3 A.... and with a consistency that blends the generational design + architecture, cobblestone/lights, colors
-make the plan work as well for the single-wide neighborhoods (Ella) as it does for "historic" neighborhoods.
-provide incentives + technical support for sustainable/energy-efficient construction and retrofitting.
The services offered at the Bonner Business Center are very limited. The Center offers low rent for its few tenants, and that's about it.
ReplyDeleteEven though the Center refers to itself as a "business incubator", the Center in fact has no programs in place to guide new business start-ups in their growth and development.
The majority of business incubators in this country offer a structured training and mentoring program as their principal tool for new business creation, and I don't understand why our own "business incubator" doesn't have such a program in place.
I would like to see the Bonner Business Center develop a fully-functional business incubator that offers a structured program of counseling and training for new start-up businesses. We have this great facility right here in town that was built with tax dollars for the purpose of creating new businesses, so let's put it to work.
And why is this important to our discussion about how Sandpoint grows and develops into the future? Very simple. A vibrant and diversified local economy is essential if Sandpoint is to thrive as a real town. And small businesses, built with local talent and employing our local citizens is the way to make that happen