Chapter 32.32
PLANNING BOUNDARY

Sections:

32.32.010    Why plan North Avenue?

32.32.010 Why plan North Avenue?

Historically, North Avenue was the northernmost boundary of Grand Junction. As development continued to grow to the north, the North Avenue corridor now finds itself in the City Center area of Grand Junction, in proximity to many great assets and amenities such as Stocker Stadium and Lincoln Park, Colorado Mesa University (previously known as Mesa State College) and a wide range of community services, hospitals, and easy access to downtown.

Until the 1990s, North Avenue was the primary retail tax generator for the City of Grand Junction. However, over the last few years the area has experienced a dramatic loss in revenue in great part associated with the extensive development of new and large commercial and retail centers along the western edge of the City. With business pulled to these new commercial centers, North Avenue has an opportunity to reestablish itself by creating a unique community environment where people will come back to again and again.

Rather than mimic the developments occurring on the western edge, the North Avenue Corridor can reclaim its identity by promoting developments that combine retail, office, residential and civic components to establish a distinctive and thriving sense of place and character. This will provide, as supplement to downtown, a historically rich active neighborhood with a focus on educational opportunities, employment, entertainment and mixed use.

The Planning Area runs from I-70 Business Loop on the west to 12th Street on the east. It includes one or more blocks north and south of North Avenue for the northern and southern boundaries (see map below).

In 2007, the City of Grand Junction completed and adopted “The North Avenue Corridor Plan,” a corridor plan for the North Avenue area east of 12th Street to I-70 Business Loop. The North Avenue West Corridor Plan for that area west of 12th Street continues the planning effort for North Avenue. This plan incorporates many of the 2007 North Avenue Corridor Plan elements, while acknowledging and enhancing the unique features of the west end of North Avenue such as its proximity to Colorado Mesa University, the historic downtown neighborhood and the Sherwood Park neighborhood, an early suburban growth area of the city. Both plans look far into the future, over the next 25 years, the time horizon established by the City’s Comprehensive Plan.

In all long range planning, the collective ideas of many people will launch the community into the future in a way that will be meaningful and successful. The vision, guiding principles, and the street cross-section were shaped through public participation. Key elements of the process included public questionnaires, open houses, focus groups, a technical advisory committee and an online survey taken by over 350 people.

(Ord. 4486, 11-2-11)