Following the development of the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan from the inside, Tim Schulz, will be reporting on his experiences on the Community Advisory Committee. Below are his notes from the 1st public meeting.
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Representing Moule & Polyzoides Architects and Urbanists are;
Stefanos Polyzoides, David Sargent, and Juan Gomez-Novy
Most of what the M & P representatives’ presentation covered was an introduction to what they do, how they define their role, and an overview of the process they oversee to reach the end target of establishing new codes and standards by which we will improve/develop/redevelop Downtown Fresno as a whole.
Instead of re-writing everything that was presented, it is much faster to view the Power Point presentation they displayed during the introduction of their overview.
One important point that Stefanos Polyzoides established early on was to answer a question that was yet to be asked, which was that “Downtown is part of the Neighborhoods Plan.” Although we (Fresno) have two separate community advisory committees; the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan, and the Downtown Neighborhoods Plan, the two will be subject to the same codes and standards to be established over the next two years, approximately. An overview of the process, which as they state is the most important and indispensible part they will employ is as follows;
Discovery and Outreach reach out, listen, educate, listen, evaluate- underlying theme being collaboration
Vision and Charrettes learning w/ community, build political support
Unpack charrettes w/ staff, Committees
Implementation connect downtown and neighborhoods, base on current demographics
Sustainability Green Infrastructure/water/storm-water
Code + General Plan Policy adjustments Form-Based Code
Environmental review integrate w/ plan process, EIR streamlines the review process
Success for this process will largely depend on the Committees to, 1. communicate key issues, 2. gauge how MPA is doing, and 3. act as points of interest in order to attract other people
The last portion of the meeting was open for questions from both the Committee and the public. I did not record all of the questions, but tried to get the ones that I thought were more relevant and probably more common questions that the public may have.
Q Alan Allen: Fulton Mall- walk or street solution?
A Stefanos Polyzoides (S.P.): We will decide that through the process
- Side note: the Historic Preservation Commission will have a vote on April 5 to appoint the Fulton Mall a Historic Landmark.
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A S.P.: Fulton Mall may be highly important to people, but it is only one issue. There are and will be many other issues and we want to make sure that the Mall does not drown out other issues. (I personally appreciated this point and his making the statement from the beginning. We need to make sure that we don’t hyper-focus on minute or singular items, as important as they may truly be, and in doing so lose focus on the big picture and the all-encompassing purpose of the whole process.)
A David Sargent (D.S.): We will concentrate on developing standards and guidelines for adaptive re-use, zone level regulation, etc. We can change the current zoning and standards if that is what is found to be necessary.
A John Dugan (J.D.): We are going to build on Form-Based Code; we will establish a whole new foundation. In the meantime, we can adopt interim development standards and interim zoning changes in the interest of forward movement. It will be very much green field based.
Dennis Manning (Downtown Improvement Group) – would like to work with the group, and is very interested in and has background in transportation and the involved systems.
Community member – encourage going back to 2-way streets (Tree Tops), encouraging geo-tourism to celebrate our ag and immigrant history, and concerned about possible adverse affects of bringing the high-speed rail
Q Arthur Sadine – Who makes final decision for Specific Plan?
A Elliot Balch (E.B.): Ultimately the City Council, which will most likely happen in 2012.
Heather ?: What will make us unique, stand out? Worth looking into arts, entertainment, cultural diversity, and avoiding the “mom and pops” and corporations. We need character and personality. We need to make Fresno a cool place to visit.
Orlando Veloria – (from Orange County, Santa Ana) Although a Clovis resident, I own a restaurant at 860 Fulton. I would encourage everyone that while this process is taking place over whatever span of time it requires, that we stay the course and invite/bring/encourage visiting downtown. Things don’t start after this is all done. The energy started long ago, and just as I have lived through and seen downtowns grow and revitalize when growing up, Fresno is more than capable of doing the same thing. Let’s clean up Fulton Mall. Let’s have public displays of renderings. Let’s show people that the wheels are in motion and that it’s not just a bunch of talk.
Q Joe Moore: Explain, 1. new urbanism, 2. economics – how does that fit into the exercise?
A S.P.: 1. Accept traditional urban form and feed a synergy between old and new. 2. Take certain steps, sequencing (Pasadena, Ca.), and patience.
A D.S.: Strategic Economics (from Berkeley). Will be on website (don’t know which site) May 4 and 5.
Don Simmons – 1902 Divisadero, Historical preservation is a large part of the environmental factor. Reiterate the April 5 hearing for Fulton Mall as State Historic Building/Site.
End note: anyone can visit the website [fresnodowntownplans.com] to ask questions or leave comments, or call 621.PLAN.
Timothy Schulz
*photo above from City of Fresno Downtown and Community Revitalization Department’s Facebook page
