More comments 3rd Draft Comment Summary

Courtney

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• Publié par: Effu
• Nombre de lectures: 26
• Langue: English

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SUSTAINING A LIVABLE LAKE FOREST PARK: THE FUTURE OF OUR TOWN CENTER COMMUNITY FORUM #3 Turning Vision Into Action July 15, 2004 On July 15, 2004, the City of Lake Forest Park Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park Task Force held its third and final Community Forum at the Third Place Commons in Towne Centre.More than 100 people participated in the open house format Community Forum.Task Force members, community volunteers and consultants were available at each of the six stations to discuss the exhibits pertaining to: •Vision for Town Center•Retail and business activity at the • Center Three examples of potential site designs •Transportation •Housing at Town Center•Civic spaces Community Forum participants were asked to comment on the materials and exhibits at each station, using postit notes and flip charts.In addition, a comment form was provided to gather additional input (see Attachment B).The following summary is organized by key issue area and reflects all 56 comments forms distributed at the Forum and Picnic in the Park, as well as 16 comments received following the meeting via email as of August 23, 2004.Attachment A contains all comments received verbatim. Who We Heard From Most of the comment forms and emailed comments contained responses to the optional questions regarding attendance at previous project Community Forums, previous visits to the project web site and length of residence in Lake Forest Park. Previous Exposure to the Project th Participants at the July 15Community Forum were likely to have little previous exposure to the project through the Community Forums – 39% reported participation in the first and 32% reported participation in the second Forum.Fewer than one quarter of those who commented (14 or 23%) reported participation in both previous Forums. •More than halfAlmost half (25 or 40%) had not participated in either previous Forum. (52%) of those without previous Forum experience reported visiting the City’s Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park web site. •Overall, twothirds (66%) of those commenting reported a previous visit to the project’s web site. Exhibit 1 Reported Attendance at Previous Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park Community Forums

Attended Community Forum #1: March 4, 2004 Attended Community Forum #2: April 29, 2004 Total Responses

Sustaining a Livable Lake Forest Park: The Future of Our Town Center Summary Community Forum #3: Turning Vision Into Action

24 38.1% 21 33.3% 63

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Previous Exposure to the Project Community Forum participants reported an average 17 years length of residence in Lake Forest Park. Responseswere concentrated among those who had been living in Lake Forest Park for between five years and 20 years.Four Community Forum participants reported residing in LFP for more than 40 years. Exhibit 2 Term of Residence in Lake Forest Park

More than 30 years11 20% More than 20; less than 30 years7 13% More than 10; less than 20 years15 27% More than 5; less than 10 years12 21% Less than 5 years11 20% Total 56 Vision Community Forum participants were predominantly positive in their response to the Task Force Vision for the Town Center.Comments reflected shared an interest in accessibility and blending the development on the site with Lake Forest Park’s existing special character.Other comments echoed interest in the open space and mixed use design character of the Site Design Examples – incorporating gathering spaces, residential uses in combination with retail, landscaping along the creek, and walking areas.Adding these elements were viewed as a way to strengthen Town Center as the hub of the community. Some concerns were expressed with regard to whether the planning horizon extended to 2020, how the community would measure whether the vision had been fulfilled and what the term “model community” meant.Specific suggestions were offered regarding the need for commuter parking, parking for bikes and specific businesses and services of interest.Individual concerns included a preference for fewer than five stories, a smaller housing component, and discomfort with multifamily or rental housing, in general. Site Design Examples The most frequently preferred element of the site design examples was improved pedestrian connections to Town Center.Creating a public plaza, as shown in Example #2, on the site was of interest to 19% of those commenting.The ideas of rerouting the stream or daylighting the stream were almost equally appealing. Elements unique to Example #3 were less preferred, with 68% of those commenting citing a preference for traffic calming on the west side, a Main Street running east to west and a grand stairway from the lower to the upper level of the site.This example received fewer favorable comments than either Site Design Example #1 or #2.

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Exhibit 3 Preferred Site Design Example Elements

Improved pedestrian connections (All) 40 22.7% Creating a public plaza (Example #2) 35 19.3% Daylighting the stream; landscaping south end of site (Example #2) 25 13.8% Rerouting the stream; adding open space to create a park (shown in Example #1) 24 13.3% Galleria or covered open space (Example #2) 21 11.6% Traffic calming feature on west side (Example #3) 13 7.2% Main Street running east to west (Example #3) 12 6.6% Grand stairway from lower to upper level (Example #3) 10 5.5% 181 Additional comments echoed these views and focused on how the Examples matched the character and scale of the community or how the Examples did not.Specific elements cited as matching community scale were the retail and housing mix (“terraced apartments above shopping”), landscaping, exposure of the stream, open space, and the pedestrian and bike orientation shown in the Site Examples.Several who commented were concerned that the number of housing units and heights shown in the Examples did not match the community character. Retail and Business Activity At the Forum, participants were asked to comment on the products or services they would expect to buy at Town Center – both on the comment form and by adding to a tally that was initiated at Community Forum #2.The results of the tally are located in Attachment B, along with additional suggestions from Community Forum #3 participants.The comments echoed the results of the tally and reiterated participants’ interests in the following frequently mentioned businesses and services: specialty grocery store, restaurants (cafés, pubs, deli, formal dining, family style), book store, library, drug store, hardware store, gardening store, clothing store, dry cleaner, post office, professional services (medical, dental, banking) and entertainment offerings (such as a theater or video store.) Housing at Town Center Community Forum participants were predominantly positive about adding housing to the Town Center site.Of those, several (less than 10 who commented) who were interested in housing on the site offered suggestions for height limits (“3565 feet;” “five stories is too high;” “within height limits”) and others preferred fewer units than shown in the Site Design Examples.Several additional comments reflected specific concerns regarding the type of housing, expressing a preference for owneroccupied condominium units over rental units. With regard to the configuration of housing on the site, one person offered that housing should be located by the Windemere building or the fire station, and another suggested that the housing

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should open to the street.The comments also reflected an interest in a range of housing price and affordability that would be suitable for a wide range of potential users, including families and seniors, with disabled access. Transportation Comments regarding parking and traffic at Town Center were divided between interests in traffic management or reducing the need for parking on the site and offering parking alternatives, and interests in added commuter parking on the site.Shuttles, walking trails and parking for Flex Cars were offered as alternatives to consider.Comments from several Forum participants questioned whether parking ratios discussed in the Site Design Examples would be adequate to support housing shown. Streams, Parks and Open Space Overall, Community Forum participants expressed a desire to open the stream – often in conjunction with landscaping, creation of a parklike setting or open space – primarily to reflect community values and secondarily, to correct flooding.Several who commented expressed concerns about the feasibility of doing so from a regulatory, cost or development position.There was also some discussion about which Site Design Example was the most appropriate with regard to its treatment of the stream (Site Design Example #1 or #2) – some who commented were in favor of rerouting and some were not. Civic Spaces Forum participants were provided a suggested list of uses for public spaces at Town Center and asked to select the types of uses they would prefer.In addition to selecting from the list provided, several participants wrotein suggestions for use of civic space at Town Center. Civic gathering spaces and places for community events were selected as a type of use more than onequarter of participants envisioned for civic spaces at Town Center.Places for small meetings and open space were viewed as preferred uses by about onefifth of those who provided comments. Exhibit 4 Preferred Use for Civic Spaces

Civic gathering spaces/places for community events 50 26.0% Places for small meetings 39 20.3% Open space 37 19.3% Quiet spaces for reading/relaxing 34 17.7% Places for children to play 32 16.7% 192 Other suggestions included: •Multipurpose civic space for concerts, speakers and lounging, such as: o“Community areas much like we enjoy now in the Commons” o“Food court/Third Place is a perfect example of a successful public space – even though privately owned”

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• Library and community college; •Music performance, small music venues; •Game tables – board games, chess, etc.; •Enclosed open space like plazas and court yards; •Outdoor café, seating and places for people watching; and •Outside walking space, walking trails/pathways/sidewalks. Other Comments Most of the other comments provided by Community Forum participants reiterated previous support for traffic reduction options (such as shuttle or park and ride), pedestrian friendly amenities, improvements to site access and signage, diversified business and services at Town Center, indoor and outdoor open space, and housing options.In addition, there were several comments of support for the work conducted by the Task Force and consultant team. Several additional comments were devoted to concerns about housing on the site, particularly rental housing, and creating development that would be out of scale with the City in terms of height and increased density and population.New suggestions were offered including: City or community purchase of the site, incorporating environmentally sustainable design, and broadening supportive zoning beyond the Town Center site.

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