My Thoughts on Our Work Session

I'm still mulling over statements and ideas from last night's work session. I've also received interesting comments today from both people who attended the meeting, and people who received my email summary. For now I'd just like to report my answer to Jim Lane's question that started our conversation last night:

1.      What type of vision do you have for the development of the St. Andrews property to best meet the needs of our residents?

To talk about our future let’s look at our past: When I first ran for council in 2009 I talked about ensuring that U-Heights was “A financially sustainable community that maintains its high quality of life.” At that time I widely quoted the City’s Comprehensive Plan, adopted in 2006. 

After the 09 election the new council, rather than rush to adopt any development plans followed through with a promise to update the Comprehensive Plan (link to process) which was amended in May 2010. 

Here is what our Comprehensive Plan has to say:

Page 1 Why have a plan?

A comprehensive plan establishes a general framework for zoning ordinance revisions and future development. The need to revise the University Heights zoning code prompted the City to initiate the comprehensive planning process. Comprehensive plans are valuable tools for directing future development. The process by which a comprehensive plan is developed allows community residents to express common community goals in a formal document. Once adopted by resolution, this document serves as a guide for decisions made by the city council and zoning commission.

Page 9 Future Land Use

All development proposals submitted to the City of University Heights should include consideration of proposed elements. Consideration of these elements should be given by the City Council and/or professional staff when appropriate. The examination of these elements will ensure that the integrity of the existing neighborhoods and character of the City of University Heights will be preserved and/or enhanced to the degree possible.

I would strongly encourage you to look up those 10 elements listed after page 9. Every one of these elements will be part of any agreements made with developers.

Page 19 Sense of Place

University Heights is predominantly comprised of single-family homes. Most of these homes are owner occupied, are in very good condition, and have well maintained yards. The city must face change, however, as redevelopment pressures expand across the area. It is extremely important to the community that its sense of place is not undermined during this process. Thus, defining what kind of place University Heights is now will help guide future redevelopment and new developmen

t to fit in with the existing community. A common gathering place is needed to foster community attachment and involvement. In addition, defining the historic, cultural, and architectural assets of

University Heights will help the town be more visible in the greater regional community. 

Please look up the goals we set on page  19. We have made great progress as a City on these in the past three years.

Page 31 Future Development

 As redevelopment pressures intensify in University Heights, the small amount of available commercial space may become an issue. At present less than 5 acres are devoted to business or commercial uses. This represents approximately 3% of the city’s land area. There are many possible ways to expand this commercial base; however the desire to maintain a strong residential character within University Heights is extremely important. As a result, options that allow for mixed uses may help to mitigate any impact that more intensive commercial uses may have.
I firmly believe that there needs to be a commercial component to the redevelopment at the St. Andrew Church site. Without that, there is no “community” space to gather in. Grandview has a fairly nice green space (smaller now with the new building in place) but that certainly isn’t a gathering place for our community, precisely because it is someone else’s  “yard.” Commercial spaces, because everyone can go there. seem to belong to everyone.

The residential space of this development should be high end, encouraging long term residents. I would be very willing to consider a low income component to the project. A wide mix of residents from senior citizens to working families to students makes for a vibrant community.

So these are my thoughts for a vision of University Heights. If you would like to respond to this or any other topic, please do so by completing a comment below.