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The successful aspect: There was standing room only at the mayoral candidate forum on urban planning and sustainability. Since six of seven candidates were able to come, we heard a helpful variety of ideas. People are really, really interested in this topic. Continue reading Mayoral candidate forum a huge success/dismal failure Sean Kirst recently wrote an article, The Dinosaur: More success by design, citing one of his previous articles, The Dinosaur, by design, that reinforces that idea that we have a prime example in our town of a business that works, despite all the ways people think it should not work. And that’s the Dinosaur, now the . . . → Read More: A last-century response to a current problem The following is an excerpt from a new Planners Press book by Philip L. Walker, AICP. No time to read for about ten minutes? Then skip down to number 10 in the list below. The 1970s were an innovative era in design for many facets of American life, including clothing, hairstyles, architecture, and, yes, urban planning. By the early 1970s, a number of forces were already in full play, resulting in unparalleled residential and commercial growth in the suburbs and a steady spiral downward for many downtowns. Maybe it’s the developer who doesn’t want to work with the community. Look at these beautiful ways to have a Walgreens in your neighborhood! Don’t think for a minute that they did this because these neighborhoods are somehow more special than Eastwood. These neighborhoods are special only because they have design guidelines that prevent them from . . . → Read More: Walgreens will work with communities At last night’s planning commission meeting, reference was made to the electronic billboard that sits in Dewitt but “graces” the eastern entrance to Eastwood. It was used in an argument as a precedent for allowing the LED sign at Walgreens. Oh boy. Got that slippery-slope slidey feeling? This was originally published on January 15, 2006, but it is just as important as it was then: In Sean Kirst’s open letter to Walgreens, he says, in reference to the Drake University neighborhood’s design criteria worked out with Walgreens, “The neighbors made a stink, and your people sat down and worked it out. You moved the entrance of the store up to the street, so shoppers could walk in the front door. You selected a brick for the exterior that matched nicely with nearby college buildings. While many neighbors were opposed to a drive-through, you put it in the back, where it was out of sight.” A walkable Rite-Aid:
The other day I was driving behind a senior driver who was clearly not the sprightly driver he used to be. His driving was excessively slow and his positioning of the car in lanes was not accurate. As I waited behind him at an intersection, I watched him turn left in front of oncoming traffic. Thank goodness things were moving slowly and the driver of the other car was not distracted by unnecessary signage. There could have been an accident, and his wife, sitting in the passenger’s seat, would have been hit directly. When the community met with Guy Hart, Jr. at the Palace (he’s the developer of the Walgreens), I had one point to make: older drivers are only increasing in number as boomers age. We need to keep our intersections as free of distractions as possible. It’s a safety issue. Continue reading Design guidelines accommodate older drivers Since the early 1980′s, our city forefathers in their flawed thinking have foregone long-term stable housing property tax revenue for larger, short-term tax revenue gains by approving franchise type drive-thru land uses (KFC, Burger King, Eckerds, Rite Aid, Jreck Subs, etc.) over the past ten to twenty years. What has resulted in places like Butternut St. is a high crime corridor and declining real property values. Was this trade-off worth it in the end? If we do a reading of the numerous ways in which Mayor Driscoll has supported the concept of design guidelines, which are necessary to sustainable development, then we get one picture: Continue reading Mayor does/doesn’t support design guidelines
(See notification of complete meeting HERE.) Look familiar? Continue reading Planning Commission meeting re: sign waiver It’s important to understand where we’ve come from to have a better grasp on where we’re going. The James Street Overlay District Guidelines have become very important because of the many challenges we face in maintaining their enforcement. Understanding the process that went into their creation and their adoption as an ordinance in the City of Syracuse may shed some light on why they are so important. Here I reproduce the words from this brief description of the ESF study that got things rolling (bolding mine). Joe Nastri is a long-time Eastwood businessman who was involved in the original Eastwood Review Board that was disbanded by the City. I too hope that the city does the right thing and upholds the zoning Overlay standards. Assertions have been made time and again that Eastwood looks the way it does because of neighbors and or the Zoning Overlay Guidelines. This is false. The reason why Eastwood has some problems with appearance is firstly because property owners, such as the owner of the old Steak and Sundae building and Byrne Dairy properties have made a conscious decision to allow these properties to fall into disrepair. The plan is for neighbors to get so fed up that we will accept what ever they decide is appropriate. For many years, Kathleen Joy has supported smart, sustainable development in Eastwood. She has been a tireless researcher, an effective communicator, and a source of information that might otherwise have been difficult for the average resident. Some time ago, she started her own blog. As is her habit, when she has something of import to let . . . → Read More: Post by Councilor Kathleen Joy Last week I contacted every mayoral candidate via whatever means the public at large might do so: their published email addresses or, when that was not available, their contact forms in their mayoral candidate websites. I asked them to comment on any of the posts on this website and/or join the Walkable Eastwood email group to talk to Eastwood residents directly. Only Stephanie Miner responded, and she did so quickly, joining the group, introducing herself, and sending the following letter to the 100+ residents in that group. It is the letter she sent to members of the planning commission (bolding mine): I am writing to respectfully request that the Planning Commission does not grant a waiver for the proposed Walgreens sign on James Street in Eastwood. [Published with permission, bolding mine] April 4, 2009 RE: Appl no. AS-08-33 Chairman Cowart and Members of the City Planning Commission, My name is Lance Denno and I am the 5th District Councilor for the City of Syracuse. As such it is my duty to represent the interests and the will of the citizens of Eastwood. As their elected voice, I sincerely regret that due to other commitments I cannot personally appear before you to most forcefully express my objection to this application for a Sign Waiver. I’ve been to a few planning commission meetings in the past at which developers arrived with a bunch of high-tech gear that made it easy to see pictures of what they were proposing to the commission. Well, as anyone reading this blog knows, I can put together an image or two as well. I think it’s helped people get a better grasp of just what it is we’re talking about. When people drive into Eastwood from downtown Syracuse, the first thing to greet them at the gateway to our “village” has been this, the Veterans’ Monument. It is in an area that is 50% residential. We finish our Memorial Day parade there, where we gather for speeches and silent contemplation.
The proposed “monument sign” makes our gateway all about Walgreens instead: There’s some confusion about the sign that the Planning Commission will be voting on come April 6. Here is my understanding of it (corrections, as always, are welcome in the comment section), as reported by a concerned citizen who visited the zoning office:
Just how big is this, really? According to Common Councilor Kathleen Joy, “The entire sign would be about 100 sq ft. …The architect told me that it needs to be big enough to be seen over cars and the Veterans monument. ” While looking around for examples that might instruct us on how development in Eastwood should be designed, I came across an excellent about.com article, Stop Sprawl: How to Design a Walkable Neighborhood. It’s a quick read but better than that, it has great photos illustrating the points made. To better understand the options we have if the city’s comprehensive plan is taken into account when designing one of the corners of James and Midler, take a look at the following: Although we were assured in 2005 that there would be no scrolling LED sign at the Walgreens that now graces the gateway to our “village,” this type of sign is likely to rear its ugly head again. If you care about what kind of “look and feel” our traditional village streetscape has, you may want to attend the public hearing (details below). |
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