Vision Fairbanks
CITY BUDGETS FOR DOWNTOWN SERVICES
The Clean Team that keeps downtown’s sidewalks cleared of various messes and snow in a defined area downtown got a boost in the budget the City Council passed on December 12, 2011. Without funds to operate, the Clean Team would have dissolved had not the City Council voted unanimously to partially fund the Clean Team for $50,000 in 2012. The one-time appropriation sponsored by Council member Vivian Stiver comes from the city’s general fund and was moved from the $200,000 the Mayor had requested for abatements. (The $150,000 remaining for abatements is a sizeable commitment to that use, equaling actual abatement expenditures in 2010 and 2011.) The City’s 2012 budget also contained a general fund appropriation for the Community Service Patrol. This was the City’s second $50,000 contribution to the CSP in as many years; funding is expected to continue through 2014 if the CSP is able to match the City’s contribution.
In a related development, Council member Stiver circulated by hand delivery a draft resolution to form an ad hoc committee to study the formation of a local improvement district downtown to provide funding for the Clean Team and the Community Service Patrol. The committee would be comprised of four property owners in the downtown area, two business owners in the downtown area, one resident in the downtown area, and one council member to serve as the non-voting chair of the committee.
REVIVING CUSHMAN’S REVITALIZATION
The effort to remodel downtown’s main arteries is reviving. To get the ball rolling again, Fairbanks Mayor Jerry Cleworth named a steering committee to become acquainted with the issues, limitations and potential of Cushman and Barnette streets as one-way facilities. Members of the steering committee – Scott Allison, Tim Cerny, Mary Nordale, June Rogers, and Eric Stoner – will help develop “complete street” alternatives and take public comment and answer questions about the alternatives at springtime public workshops. The steering committee is ultimately answerable to the Fairbanks City Council since the chosen alternative will require Council’s support. Construction will start in 2013.
Kinney Engineering is the primary consultant on the project. Crandall Arambula is sub-contracted to help in the development of design alternatives.
Click on these links to the minutes of the steering committee’s inaugural meeting, Kinney Engineering’s traffic engineering results and more on complete streets. The steering committee’s next meeting is at City Hall December 13 at 6 PM.
TAX RELIEF FOR DANCE THEATRE FAIRBANKS?
Dance Theatre Fairbanks will go before the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly November 17th to seek relief from propery taxes on the old fire hall on 7th Avenue that DTF rehabilitated in the course of locating their non-profit dance school in downtown Fairbanks. The News-Miner previewed tomorrow night’s action and you can read about it in the DTF’s own words here. The Assembly is likely to take up the Ordinance shortly after 7 PM.
REVITALIZATION SCORECARD
The implementation phase of Vision Fairbanks is over. See News-Miner article. Neither of the plan’s foundational pieces – revising traffic circulation downtown and creating new zoning tools – found support among transportation planners and the Borough Assembly, respectively.
Several candidates for local office* have a voting record on measures meant to ‘set the stage’ for economic development downtown. In the last year, incumbent Borough Assembly candidates Joseph Blanchard II and Michael Dukes cast votes on two Vision Fairbanks implementation measures.
The first was on March 24, 2011. Ordinance 2010-09 would have created new zoning tools to attract future investment. The ordinance failed in a tie vote and the vote was as follows:
FOR: Hutchison, Kassel, Musick, Winters
AGAINST: Blanchard, Dukes, Howard, Want
The next was June 23, 2011. Ordinance 2011-31would have created new zoning tools to attract future investment and enhance parking provisions downtown. The ordinance failed and the vote was as follows:
FOR: Kassel, Musick, Winters
AGAINST: Beck, Blanchard, Dukes, Howard, Hutchison, Want
Revitalizing a downtown is complex. The Downtown Association is committed to an all-of-the-above approach to downtown’s day-to-day and necessary long-term structural changes. So we’ll explore possibilities remaining in the Vision Fairbanks plan, continue to generate ideas and events that bring people downtown and support the efforts and ideas of others to do the same.
*There have been no Vision Fairbanks-inspired ordinances or resolutions at the City Council in the last twelve months, so there is no voting record for the lone incumbent candidate John Eberhart.
Hear candidates for local office at the Downtown Market soap box Monday, September 19th in Golden Heart Plaza
4 - Introduction of the soap box forum
4:30 – David Lerman, candidate for City Council
5 - Mike Walleri, candidate for City Council
5:30 – John Davies, candidate for Borough Assembly
6 – Joe Blanchard, candidate for Borough Assembly
6:30 – Lloyd Hilling, candidate for City Council
7 – Van Lawrence, candidate for Borough Assembly
7:30 – John Kohler, candidate for Borough Assembly
POLARIS PROGRESS?
Opposite the gleaming Alaska State Court building, the moldering Polaris has long eluded revitalization and demolition.
The City Council will hold a work session August 22 with the Polaris’ owner Marc Marlow to review his plan to refurbish the Polaris building. Following the Alaska Design Forum’s Looking for Love Again installation in April of this year, a May 3 letter from the City Building Official brought the question to a point: what plans does the owner have for the Polaris building? The meeting is at 6 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall and is open to the public.
Taking into account current and desired future uses downtown, the Vision Fairbanks land use framework identified the Polaris site – situated as it is – as ideal for offices as a principal use, a part of a future ‘Chena Office District.’
RE-CHARTING DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION
The implementation phase of Vision Fairbanks is over. Neither of the plan’s foundational pieces – revising traffic circulation and creating new zoning tools – was acceptable to enough businesses and property owners downtown. The latest disappointment for revitalization came June 23rd when the Borough Assembly defeated Ordinance 2011-31. That ordinance would have created two new zone types in Borough code to guide land use downtown. Read News-Miner story here.
The Vision Fairbanks plan relies on traffic circulation and new zoning tools to attract significant future investment. Those changes would improve downtown’s competitiveness as an investment destination. Without those pieces, downtown revitalization is still possible, of course, but proponents will chart a different course.
Revitalizing a downtown is complex. The Downtown Association is committed to an all-of-the-above approach to downtown’s day-to-day and necessary long-term structural changes. So we’ll explore possibilities remaining in the Vision Fairbanks plan, continue to generate ideas and events that bring people downtown and support the efforts and ideas of others to do the same.
Questions or comments? Call David at 452-8676 or email david@downtownfairbanks.com
NEW ZONE TYPES UP FOR A VOTE
Ordinance 2011-31 is up for a vote this Thursday night at the Borough Assembly starting at roughly 8 PM. Ordinance 2011-31 is a second attempt to create Vision Fairbanks-inspired zone types to encourage investment downtown. The first effort was defeated in a 4-4 tie on March 24 due to concerns about the availability of parking in the new zone types. Ordinance 2011-31 therefore increases the availability of parking: parking lots would be allowed as a principal use in the Downtown Supporting Commercial District and the Retail Hot Spot zone would allow on-site accessory parking as a conditional use.
For more information, call 452-8676.
A SECOND ZONING ORDINANCE ALREADY
There is a new ordinance to refine the Borough’s zoning code and create economic development tools to help downtown compete for investment.
Sponsored by Assembly members Winters, Hutchison and Kassel, Ordinance 2011-31 is a second attempt to create Vision Fairbanks-inspired zone types to encourage investment downtown. The first effort was defeated in a 4-4 tie on March 24 due to concerns about the treatment of parking in the new zone types. Ordinance 2011-31 therefore addresses those concerns about parking: parking would be allowed as a principal use in the Downtown Supporting Commercial District, as it presently is in the Central Business District; and the Retail Hot Spot zone would allow on-site parking as an accessory use.
Ordinance 2011-31 has a busy schedule:
May 17 @ 6 PM – Planning Commission public hearing
May 24 @ 6 PM – Planning Commission again, if necessary
June 9 @ 6 PM – Introduction at the Borough Assembly
June 16 – Earliest possible date for a work session
June 23 – Earliest possible date for public hearing
Stay tuned for this second effort to implement Fairbanks’s downtown revitalization plan. See News-Miner article here.
WHERE IS ALL THE PRODUCE?
by Amy Nordrum · 1 Comment
Fairbanks’ downtown food landscape is rich in restaurant and coffeeshop cuisine but there isn’t a grocery store within sight. Nearby residents and employees have virtually no quick, easy access to fresh produce. Plans for a weekly downtown market selling crafts and produce are in the works for this summer, and could help connect area growers with those who live and work downtown.
Mary Christensen, Project Manager at the Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market, knows the situation well.
“You could not walk to fresh produce from here,” she says from her office on Fourth Avenue. “Is there anything between here and the Airport and University intersection?” She thinks for a minute or two and answers with a definitive, “There’s not.”
Mary says having a grocery store or produce stall in a neighborhood can influence eating choices for the better. Individuals are more likely to choose fresh fruits and vegetables when they’re readily available. This may be particularly important for low-income residents who live downtown and don’t have easy transportation to grocery stores.
The Cooperative Market’s long-term goal for their future store, to be located in the former Foodland at 546 Gaffney Road, is in this same vein.
“It’s really important to have a grocery store downtown that’s fulfilling our community’s needs,” says Mary. “Our grocery store is going to give options for finding fresh produce.”
A downtown grocery store is one of the top five projects recommended in the build-out phase of Vision Fairbanks.
Mary thinks a downtown farmer’s market could help alleviate some of the need for fresh produce at least temporarily. She also sees community benefits from the bustle of a busy market.
“Just being able to walk down the street to get good food- that’s what you expect when you live in a city,” Mary says. “Downtown should have vital, fun places to be. I’m looking forward to seeing (the market) grow over the years.”
Mary rattles off a list of dreams she has for a market in downtown Fairbanks based on others she’s attended.
“It’s a community thing- there’s food to eat and there’s music and lots and lots of vendors for produce, and you have to get there early if you want green peppers or eggplants,” Mary continues. “And they have fresh flowers.”
Calypso Farm and Ecology Center has long recognized the need for fresh produce downtown, and taken tangible steps to improve the food landscape. In addition to supplying Lavelle’s Bistro with fresh, local ingredients, Calypso has designated downtown as a weekly pick-up location for Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) in hopes of making this option more accessible to residents and employees.
“We were just trying to get food into the area because it is such a food desert,” explains Linnea Wik, an apprentice at Calypso. “Good, clean, organic food should be available for everybody, which is why we also accept EBT (electronic food stamp benefits) for our CSA.”
Linnea is in her second summer at Calypso and managed a farmer’s market in Santa Cruz last winter. She feels strongly that these markets can serve low-income populations by accepting food stamps and offering programs to match food stamp dollars with grant funds.
Market atmosphere is key for successful community-building and bridging gaps between market-goers of different economic brackets, Linnea says. A good market offers a place to try new things, learn about seasonal produce, and enjoy music or good food. She loves that markets are an ever-changing mix of temporary stalls instead of a fixed grocery store that can quickly grow stale.
“I love that you’re building something from the ground up and it stays there for 3-4 hours and then it’s gone,” Linnea says.
She also appreciates that a downtown market could bring new outlets to connect Fairbanksans with area growers.
“In Alaska, the idea that you can eat locally is so important because we’re so far removed from most food sources,” Linnea says. “So much more market could be created here.”
She may have been speaking broadly about agricultural markets within the state, but hints at success for a market of goods that would capitalize on these community concerns and help synergize those who are already working to bring more fresh produce to downtown Fairbanks.
Stay tuned for more details about a downtown market! If you’re a vendor , click here for more information and to fill out a contract.
STEAM UTILITY DEREGULATION DENIED
The Regulatory Commission of Alaska denied Aurora Energy’s petition to deregulate its steam heat utility. Read the Commission’s decision and the News-Miner coverage.
