Burlington, NC Pedestrian Master Plan

Steering Committee Kick-off Meeting

April 25, 2011

Introductions

The meeting began with introductions of all Committee members by Mike Nunn. The Committee members in attendance were:

Nolan Kirkman, PE Director of Public Works, City of Burlington

Bob Harkrader, AICP, Director of Planning & Economic Development, City of Burlington

Mike Nunn, Planner, City of Burlington, Burlington/Graham MPO

Lanny Rhew, PE, City Engineer, City of Burlington

The Consultants in attendance were:

Matt Hayes, AICP, Alta/Greenways

Jason Reyes, AICP, Alta/Greenways

Lindsay Smart, AICP, Alta/Greenways

Opening Discussion

The meeting began with a discussion of newly constructed sidewalks in the City. The majority of sidewalks have been constructed using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA/stimulus) funds, or the developer. The Committee is interested in researching the availability of private funding opportunities to continue the construction of sidewalks.

Alta/Greenways Presentation

Matt Hayes and Jason Reyes of Alta/Greenways gave a joint presentation discussing the scope of work and planning process. Together, they described the different tasks of work that would be conducted over the next few months, including existing conditions analysis, fieldwork, public involvement, pedestrian network development, design guidelines, implementation guidance, and the final plan.

Project Direction& Schedule

Bob Karkrader and Mike Nunn prompted the discussion of the direction of the project. There has been a change in local mindset about sidewalk projects and there seems to be more momentum and support for sidewalks than ever before. While there does seem to be local support for sidewalks, it would be advantageous to the success of the Plan if a strong presentation of the benefits of sidewalks could be organized for the local officials. Gaining community “buy-in” of the Plan and of the benefits of sidewalks will help ensure that the Pedestrian Plan will be adopted, and will also help increase the odds of the recommendations being implemented. There will be a strong benefits section in the introductory chapter of the Plan and those benefits will be highlighted during the presentation to the City Council in July. Additionally, there will be an emphasis made on recommendations for updates and/or revisions to local policies involving sidewalks and pedestrians.

Mike Nunn specified that the first public workshop event should be a “hybrid” of public input for high priority sidewalk projects and local policy recommendations. The first event is tentatively scheduled for early June as part of a larger community event. “Living the dream of re-use and recycle, what was once an A&P grocery store at 268 East Front Street in downtown Burlington - will be a market once again.” The Burlington Co-Op will have its grand opening on June 11th and the committee proposed that Alta/Greenways have a booth at the grand opening to raise awareness for the Pedestrian Plan, gather feedback from citizens in the form of sidewalk project locations drawn on a map, and by utilizing a comment response form.

Bob Harkrader will contact the Co-op to coordinate adding/setting up a booth for the Pedestrian Plan at the grand opening event (which would serve as the first public workshop). To help increase participation, the idea of a Co-op raffle came up. Rachel Hawley is the City’s Public Outreach representative (222-5076) and is available to discuss other events this summer along with other public outreach efforts.

Finally, there may be other supporting groups/agencies for us to involve. The hospital and Healthy Alamance were suggested.

Goals Session

Bob Harkrader opened the discussion of goals for the Plan. Jason Reyes of Alta/Greenways recorded comments during this discussion on a flipchart. The following four main points were emphasized:

1)Integration of pedestrian elements in the City’s development ordinance and sub-division regulations

2)Identify and prioritize sidewalk projects

3)Safety

4)How to secure grant funding and various partnerships to assist in future sidewalk projects

Additional emphasis was made to:

1)Reach out to the Town of Elon, NC and Elon University to collaborate on the Front Street corridor.

2)Research existing sidewalks and planned sidewalks in Graham, NC to ensure a well-coordinated and comprehensive sidewalk network is developed.

Map Work Session

Committee members gathered around an existing conditions base map to identify key pedestrian destinations and areas and locations in need of pedestrian improvements. Some notes from this discussion include:

1)Recommendations must show equal representation of the west and east sides of town.

2)Sidewalk connections are needed from the Downtown to each of the basic four quadrants.

3)Locations of historically underserved, lower income and minority populations in the Town were shown because in general lower income neighborhoods tend to have lower rates of automobile use and lower rate of access to automobiles.

Next Steps

Committee Members

-Bob Harkrader will contact Burlington Co-op.

-Bob Harkrader/Mike Nunn will attempt to have a presentation by Alta/Greenways added to the July 18th City Council work session.

-Committee members will discuss the proposal of inviting a Councilmember to serve on the Committee as a liaison to the City Council.

-Consider 2nd public workshop as well (standalone event vs another event like the September Carousel Festival).

Consultant

-Alta/Greenwaysto develop public comment form and send to Committee by early May for their review and comments.

-Alta/Greenways to begin their existing conditions analysis by collecting and reviewing any relevant existing plans, researching sample ordinance and policy language that can be recommended in the Plan, collecting any final GIS data, and conducting fieldwork over the coming months.

-Alta/Greenways to make website links active for online comment form.

-Alta/Greenways to formulate a vision statement and list of goals/objectives based on Committee input.

-Alta/Greenways to update mapping based on Committee input during map exercise.

-Alta/Greenways to be in contact with Tony Lewis of Parks and Recreation to learn about trails and greenways planning.