In what might have been an historic session tonight, the City of St. Joseph convened five separate city boards and two advisory panels to begin a 15-month journey designed to develop an action plan for the future of the city’s central business district and surrounding neighborhoods.
Several dozen members of all seven boards sat around a large series of conference tables and reviewed the survey results of a preliminary blush at what the city needs to do to answer the question, “Where do we want to take our downtown some 10 to 15 years from now?”
The boards meeting tonight included:
- The St. Joseph City Commission
- The Downtown Development Authority
- The Parks Advisory Board
- The St. Joseph City Planning Commission
- The Zoning Board of Appeals
- The St. Joseph Today Board of Directors
- The St. Joseph Improvement Association Board of Directors
Mayor Mike Garey and City Manager John Hodgson led the boards through a Power Point presentation that lays out the city’s desire for, and need to establish, a formal steering committee that will guide the projected 15-month process of seeking input and feedback from multiple constituencies, the potential assistance of a hired consultant to provide formal guidance through the process, and creation of what would ideally be a prioritized list and implementation plan and schedule to take those ideas from paper to reality.
An 8 question survey was made available both online and through a printed form to every member of each of those boards ahead of time and the results were shared in the roundtable forum tonight. That survey showed:
- Just under 2/3rds of respondents (63.89-percent) felt it would be a good idea to create a logo or catchphrase for the project.
- In an open range option that ended up suggesting as few as 5 and as many as 30 members be selected for the steering committee, the average size of the group was pegged at 13 members.
- 91-percent of those voting agreed that the future downtown plan should be expanded beyond the current Downtown Development Authority boundaries.
- Anywhere from 50 to 70-percent of those sharing opinions suggested that all contiguous neighborhoods to the DDA should be considered for inclusion in the expanded downtown study.
- Asked about their “Favorite thing about downtown St. Joseph,” a wide range of amenities were cited, heavily laden with words like “lake…small…shops…proximity…charm…retail…restaurants” and similar popularity points.
- The overwhelming response to “How do you feel when you are in the downtown?” was “Comfortable,” drawing a hair under 88-percent. The only two other responses ranked were “Hopeful” and “Frustrated,” with 6-percent readings each.
- Asked “What would you like to see changed about downtown St. Joseph?” there were again a multitude of responses, but they were heavily punctuated with “Parking…More…Main Street…and Better,” among many others.
- The final question asked, “How would you like to see downtown St. Joseph in ten years?” Once again, myriad words popped into the word cloud created by the survey, but the two heaviest emphasis words were “Parking” and “More.” Other words filtering in including “Retail…Expansion…Street…Summer… Better…Additional…Space” and similar sentiments.
City Manager John Hodgson was moved by the overwhelming feeling that downtown is considered “comfortable” and the charm of the lake and similar amenities both natural and man-made.
He shared a lengthy list of what the city calls “Possible Functional Component Areas” that the new steering committee might consider including such things as:
- Alley Improvements
- Alternative Transportation
- Commercial Market Analysis to determine what types of businesses are needed or missing
- Connectivity between the east and west sides of Main Street
- Design Guidelines or standards for downtown exterior appearances
- Refuse and Recycling Options for merchants
- Review of Underutilized Properties both public and private
- Streetscape Improvements
- Traffic Control/Flow Study
- Vehicular and Non-Motorized Parking Study
- Wayfinding Opportunities for public directional signage
- Zoning Ordinance Review
City officials stressed it was simply a narrow focus starting point and the community can, and should, decide what it wants through this entire process because, as Mayor Garey said, “It’s about bricks and mortar, yes, but it’s also about the culture of the community.”
Each board was instructed to convene in meetings of their own and determine how many of their own members they would like to have serve on the steering committee so that the ultimate structure can be arrived at hopefully by the end of the month so that the committee can get its work underway.
Garey cautioned that it will be a creative process, but “There will be work involved. This will not just be 15 monthly meetings, there will also be a call to speak to community groups like Rotary and others to help assure the widest possible community buy-in.”
Community Development Director & Zoning Administrator Kristen Gunderson helped lead the discussion and encouraged the steering committee to “Get people involved who will be strong, vocal cheerleaders and advocates for the project,” and people “willing to address other people in the community to help build the excitement for and obtain feedback regarding the work of the committee, and the plans they formulate.” City staff is currently engaged in finishing a “Public Engagement Policy,” and should have it ready for city commission approval in the next several weeks.
The whole process is fostered by the lack of a detailed downtown development plan in the city’s 2016 Master Plan. In order to garner grant support and critical infrastructure dollars to help make the downtown the best that it can be, the city has to provide a solid, defined plan for the central business district.
Members of the new steering committee will be tasked with mandatory meeting attendance, additional reading and homework, and participation in special events to help sell the plan and obtain additional public feedback to help refine it going forward.
Parks Commission Board Member Gloria Mance strongly urges potential steering committee members to recognize that “Time and dedication will be required, and you need to put your heart and soul into it and do the best that you can.”
Many in attendance suggested that additional people need to be involved including young professionals, a more diverse panel of opinions, and those who are increasingly avoiding downtown by shopping almost exclusively online to define the downtown of the future.
Mayor Garey thanked the groups tonight for “A lot of great ideas, but the heavy lifting comes in implementation once a plan is developed and the inevitable pushback that comes with any plan.” He encouraged recruitment of a lot more “allies and supporters” of the community because, “Whatever we come up with, we have to be committed to!”
A tentative date for the first Steering Committee session was pegged for 6pm on Tuesday, March 27th at St. Joe City Hall, but that could change as each group provides their input. In other words — stay tuned.
