Chapter 36.12
GREATER DOWNTOWN GOALS AND POLICIES
Sections:
36.12.020 Area-wide goals and policies.
36.12.030 Downtown District goals and policies.
36.12.040 Rail District goals and policies.
36.12.050 River District goals and policies.
36.12.010 Background.
City staff held a series of meetings with property owners, including elected City officials, representatives of large industries, economic redevelopment interests and owners of small businesses and properties. The meetings were conducted as informal brainstorming sessions in order to define more specific issues, constraints and opportunities and continue to discuss the community’s vision for the Greater Downtown area.
In addition to these meetings, two public open houses were held (December 2011 and February 2012) and questionnaires and information were available on the City’s website for several weeks to invite similar input from other property owners, tenants and citizens at large. Participants were asked to evaluate various design and planning concepts to determine which of these are most important to the community and should be addressed in greater detail in the plan. The concepts addressed four major topics relative to an area plan: land use, circulation, economic (re)development and visual character. The results, along with previous information for the CBD, show strong community support for ideas that are translated to the goals and policies listed below for the Greater Downtown Plan.
(Ord. 4571, 3-20-13)
36.12.020 Area-wide goals and policies.
(a) Goal 1. Enhance the transportation system to accommodate automobiles, bikes and pedestrians, and provide adequate, convenient parking.
(1) Policy 1a. Street design will accommodate travel lanes, parking, bike lanes, medians, sidewalks, and street trees, appropriate to and complementary of the adjacent land use.
(2) Policy 1b. Street design will achieve a balance between travel mobility, land use access and livability and improve connections to the Greater Downtown area and the connections between subdistricts.
(3) Policy 1c. Emphasize “walkability” of the downtown area through street design that is pedestrian friendly to provide a foundation for a safe, active and livable area, including sidewalks, accessibility improvements, bicycle facilities, off-street trail connections and safe crossings, where appropriate.
(b) Goal 2. Establish and improve entry points into the Greater Downtown area (refer to the wayfinding and signage map in GJMC 36.16.070).
(1) Policy 2a. Street and streetscape design will include signage, landscaping and other design elements to delineate appropriate entry points into Greater Downtown.
(c) Goal 3. Promote downtown living by providing a wide range of housing opportunities, primarily in the Downtown District.
(1) Policy 3a. Support a regional housing strategy with an emphasis on infill, downtown housing.
(2) Policy 3b. Promote development patterns and regulations that accommodate vertical mixed-use development, primarily in the Central Business District.
(d) Goal 4. Redefine the land use along key corridors to provide a mix that will offer the most opportunities for redevelopment and revitalization.
(1) Policy 4a. Define subareas and corridor areas for groupings of land uses that are complementary to the rest of the Greater Downtown area.
(2) Policy 4b. Mixed uses, including residential, will be encouraged in appropriate subareas and corridors.
(Ord. 4571, 3-20-13)
36.12.030 Downtown District goals and policies.
(a) Goal 1. Maintain and enhance the economic, cultural and social vitality of the Downtown District.
(1) Policy 1a. Define subareas and corridor areas for groupings of land uses that are complementary to the rest of the Greater Downtown area.
(2) Policy 1b. Implement infill and redevelopment policies that support downtown.
(3) Policy 1c. Encourage a wide mix of uses, offering retail and commercial services at ground level and business/office/residential on upper floors in all but residential areas.
(4) Policy 1d. Maintain and expand public amenities and services in the Downtown District.
(5) Policy 1e. Enhance and preserve Whitman and Emerson Parks to integrate the space into the downtown fabric and encourage use by the community.
(6) Policy 1f. The City with assistance from the Downtown Development Authority will explore the alternative street configuration to relocate the one-way couplet of streets that are currently Ute and Pitkin Avenues to utilize Pitkin and South Avenues for this purpose.
(7) Policy 1g. Study alternatives for 4th and 5th Streets including returning these streets to the two-way grid system between Ute Avenue and North Avenue.
(8) Policy 1h. Within the CBD, encourage shared parking, discourage single-use, surface parking and develop new means of paying for shared parking (e.g., develop a fee in lieu of required on-site parking that will be used to fund shared parking structures).
(b) Goal 2. Require density/intensity in the Downtown District as prescribed by the Comprehensive Plan, primarily within the Central Business District.
(1) Policy 2a. Strengthen means of implementation that promote vertically mixed-use structures, primarily within the CBD.
(2) Policy 2b. Require minimums in height and density/intensity for new development in the CBD.
(3) Policy 2c. Require minimal or no building setbacks within the Downtown Core to maximize site intensity/density.
(c) Goal 3. Develop a pedestrian-oriented, walkable Downtown Core.
(1) Policy 3a. Discourage uses on ground level that do not support pedestrian activity.
(2) Policy 3b. Require building facade details that activate the ground floor, particularly on corner buildings to activate north-south streets.
(d) Goal 4. Stabilize and enhance the residential subareas.
(1) Policy 4a. Discourage further encroachment of nonresidential uses into the established residential neighborhoods.
(2) Policy 4b. Establish design standards to address conservation and enhancement of the residential development patterns and streetscape.
(3) Policy 4c. Establish design standards for the transitional subareas to emphasize use and development compatibility with adjacent residential areas.
(4) Policy 4d. Promote the establishment of neighborhood watch and neighborhood organizations.
(e) Goal 5. Recognize and promote opportunities to build subareas/neighborhoods, each with a unique identity.
(1) Policy 5a. Develop a set of guidelines within each subarea to address building and facade design, streetscape, landscape and other elements of site development.
(f) Goal 6. Jump-start the revitalization and reinvestment in the Downtown District with strategic catalyst projects.
(1) Policy 6a. Plan and budget for strategic property acquisition for future development.
(2) Policy 6b. Identify locations for and promote concepts of catalyst projects, including public building/housing/mixed use, live/work units, mixed-use retail/residential and mixed-use retail/office.
(Ord. 4571, 3-20-13)
36.12.040 Rail District goals and policies.
(a) Goal 1. Preserve the opportunity for heavy industry and rail service that supports it.
(1) Policy 1a. The City will maintain industrial zoning in those areas served by rail lines and sidings.
(b) Goal 2. Recognize distinction between “industrial” streets such as 9th and 12th Streets and “public” streets 7th Street and Riverside Parkway.
(1) Policy 2a. Develop street sections that reflect the differences in development patterns along and the use of the street.
(2) Policy 2b. Discourage industrial and commercial traffic from using C-1/2 Road and direct this traffic to travel north and east using the Riverside Parkway.
(c) Goal 3. Promote higher quality, customer and pedestrian friendly development along 7th Street and Riverside Parkway.
(1) Policy 3a. Implement design guidelines and standards along corridors that will result in site and building design improvements along the corridors.
(d) Goal 4. Re-establish and improve a street grid in the Rail District.
(1) Policy 4a. The City will implement the Grand Junction Circulation Plan in the Rail District, including construction of new streets as development occurs in the industrial and commercial/industrial areas.
(Ord. 4571, 3-20-13)
36.12.050 River District goals and policies.
(a) Goal 1. Create/maintain/enhance a green waterfront.
(1) Policy 1a. Take advantage of and create opportunities and partnerships to enhance the riverfront trail system.
(2) Policy 1b. Take advantage of and create opportunities and partnerships to develop Las Colonias Park and open space areas within the Jarvis property.
(b) Goal 2. Create retail, general commercial and mixed use opportunities that complement the uses along the riverfront.
(1) Policy 2a. Utilize zoning, overlay districts and incentives for development and redevelopment of complementary uses.
(c) Goal 3. Create/enhance redevelopment opportunities and partnerships.
(1) Policy 3a. The City will work with the Downtown Development Authority to expand its boundaries.
(2) Policy 3b. The City will consider implementation of incentive strategies for redevelopment.
(3) Policy 3c. The City will consider redevelopment opportunities for the Jarvis property including the potential for public-private partnerships.
(Ord. 4571, 3-20-13)