The days of vague plans for downtown Fresno are over. It’s time to get specific.
Specific/Community Plan Areas
The contract for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan were approved by Fresno City Council on January 28, 2010. Now the sleeves get rolled up and the hard work begins. The contract allots $900,000 in Community Block Grant funds (I believe there are some other minor funding sources) this year in a total contract of $2.3 million with Moule & Polyzoides | Architects and Urbanists along with other specialized consultants.
If you read Craig Scharton’s meeting calendar blog then you’ll have seen that preparation meetings for the spacific plan have already been occurring. They have even launched a new website [http://fresnodowntownplans.com] “This website will contain a variety of information pertaining to the development projects, include details about public involvement process and how you can help shape Downtown Fresno.”
The site announces the first of the public meetings:
TUESDAY
March 9th
4:00PM – 6:45PM
Downtown Neighborhoods Community Advisory Committee Meeting #1
Location: The Grand, 1401 Fulton St, Fresno
In this first Community Advisory Committee Meeting, the consultant will outline the planning process that lies ahead, describe some of its initial findings, and give the Committee and the public a chance to share thoughts regarding priorities, issues, and concerns for the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan area.TUESDAY
March 9th
7:00PM – 8:45PM
Fulton Corridor Specific Plan Community Advisory Committee #1
Location: The Grand, 1401 Fulton St, Fresno
In this first Community Advisory Committee Meeting, the consultant will outline the planning process that lies ahead, describe some of its initial findings, and give the Committee and the public a chance to share thoughts regarding priorities, issues, and concerns for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan area.
This blogger will be out in Portland at the National Charrette Institute training. However, we have arranged for a corespondent that will be covering Fulton Corridor Specific Plan Community Advisory Committee. If you are on the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Advisory Committee or plan on attending most the meetings, then consider being our corespondent as well. If interested please contact us.
What are your hopes and aspiration for the Specific/Community plans? Post them in the comments below.
I’ll start. I ride my bike to my office in the Cultural Arts District from my home in Tower. I would see some of the weird intersections redesigned for better flow and safety from the pedestrian and cyclist perspective. One in particular is the Divisadero, H Street, Weber intersection.
Many the announcements and outreach about the plans are pretty focused on investment. Investment will revitalize downtown, investment will disperse alleviate concentrated poverty. I would like to see equal or more attention on the people. I guess it is a different perspective or approach. I think downtown should be a healthy inviting place for people and people will bring money/investment. Feel free to disagree, I would like to have that discussion.
I’m definitely going to try and make it to most of the public meetings as well.
I am curious to what degree the specific plan effects the look/feel of future development. More specifically, what is the scope of this plan? Design guidelines? Does it rezone specific properties or redesign public spaces?
From what I’ve heard:
Form based code won’t so much spell out design guidelines in terms of a specific architectural theme, but more in the way of design standards, how buildings should address the street, height, massing, etc.
I believe the form based code will replace the existing euclidian zoning that we now have.
And yes, it will also look at things like public spaces, such as the future of the Fulton Mall. The EIR will require the consultant/city to examine several different scenarios, including a “no-project” alternative, which basically means do nothing.