Getting set up, about to go live. Handful of advocates who attended last night's Council meeting in favor of the Mobility Fee moratorium to expire.
Roll call: Greg Anderson, Lori Boyer, Jeff Clements, Dylan reingold, Doyle carter and downtown Don Redman
Jack Shad up. Parking extraordinaire. Speaking about state law that requires parallel parking unless otherwise not required by local ordinance. Using Margaret Street example (Black Sheep), that wanted to use angled parking (get more parking spaces and reduces speed on roads, safer for pedestrians auto and cyclists) and gave up bc Council dragged their feet with inaction. Wants committee to consider angled parking approved by right.
Councilwoman Daniels checking in.
Wayne reed talking about design process of Laura St. City standard examined Used charleston and savannah as examples to slow motoring traffic down and recognizing there are multiple users. Found that reducing stall width and increasing width of sidewalks preferable. Jax standards do not recognize these values.
Speaking to standards giving indemnification to engineers. If standards do not allow for safety, engineers liable for lawsuits.
Lane width on Luara was 11 ft. With stall wifdth of 8ft... Both 1 ft lower than what was required. DDRB had to approve this deviation despite safety preferances of a proper design.
Redman, cobblestones are disaster for cyclists. Reed, design included pedestrian crosswalks.. Cobblestones are successfully traffic calming measure.. Especially in front of Landing
Boyer asks was it envisioned that the roadway was to be used for cyclists?
Reed, focus was more in slowing traffic and pedestrians. Cyclists are users but were not necessarily accounted for.
Boyer says we need to take I. Consideration multiple users and pedestrians and cyclists are underrepresented in design process.
Reed, San Marco Blvd had more community input and therefore more users were considered.
Anderson asks about liability issue. Reed, there is a standard but a process is needed that allows you to stray from that standard. One standard depending on neighborhood, whether rural or urban. Need more flexibility, with anither process that reviews on case by case basis.
Boyer, even as PUD 10-set review can reject alternative roadway designs
Stephen this committee is about Adopting a context sensitive street policy city-wide.
Doug Miller, CEO of England Thames-Miller
Have to rezonePUD to implement small scale changes. Need alternate process for these deviations.
Riverside Ave example... You can narrow lanes and widen sidewalks... But infrastructure not up to snuff.. Says this is fallacy of infill. You don't have enough space to upgrade utilities and having less room for accomadtions for these upgrades takes away from a particular project. Development needs more flexibility. Utilities are outside of the right of way and may hvpave their own easements which complicates things.
Smart guy but clearly he is part of the problem and not solution. Thinks st johns towns center is perfect because you have so much more space to work with. On Riverside Ave, you compete with JEA ROW. Utility lines should take priority over roads. Wants more space, not less.
NEFBA can get behind this. Development needs to be sped up and not slowed down by unnecessary layers.
Pretty big news!
NAIOP on board with anything that can provide flexibility with govt and private development is preferential. Having only one set of of alternative standards may not be enough.
More big/good news. Current process is flawed and needs flexibility.
Jim Robinson, tying Mobility Plan to context sensitive streets. MP is already our master plan. It already sets up mobility zones that articulate context sensitive transportation modes.
Any process of context sensitive streets should not be random, but should follow Mobility Plan. Public Works is on board and we need to relax tension of rigid dimensional guides that are all encompassing.
I'm not surprised by the comments from Doug Miller....good to hear Jim Robinson is on board
Current standards only plan for vehicular safety and not other forms of transportation. Robinson says process is too complicated, needs to be simplified and look at big picture.
Boyer agrees. Says its disheartening very time new cycling or pedestrian deaths are on news.
Redman agrees.
Daniels wants to know what NAIOP means.
Redman. We're way behind. Personally been hit 4 times in bike in two years. Feels as though he's been the lone voice for years on Council.. And is excited to see attention is finally on the matter.
Daniels makes a point that this may conflict with her health committee.
Boyer says we should consider health planning. But not conflict. All interrelated and thats why Bishop put Daniela on this committee.
The pro(Stephen) has arrived. I can retire in peace.
Steve Lovett emailed Boyer a completes street checklist that they are adopting in Seattle that he is working on. Steve's a good and very smart guy.
My shirt is the darkest blue... Therefore superior to my peers. If I were a reptile, the women folk in the Council Chambers would all be handing me their hotel keys.
we are all waiting with baited breath for Doyle Carter to speak
Finally he makes his entrance, thought he was a mute for a moment.
doesnt understand some of the guides Boyer has submitted for review. if he has a 10 acre property, why should he put a sidewalk in the front of his property?
he is now thrilling us with a personal, folksy account of his family's property. No one is following him. His deep southern twang makes me thirsty for sweet iced tea.
calvin burney speaks... boyer wants a designated neighborhood zoning overlay in areas that were laid out under traditional neighborhood concepts but could be a different context (san marco is sort of ubran but not necessarily laid out that way). Calvin agrees with this suggestion.
about to leave to attend to a leaking faucet at a rental property.
Thank God for apple pie, baseball and Lori Boyer.
Quote from: fieldafm on October 10, 2012, 05:01:57 PM
My shirt is the darkest blue... Therefore superior to my peers. If I were a reptile, the women folk in the Council Chambers would all be handing me their hotel keys.
However ... I am the only one wearing a tie, which tastefully matches my blue shirt and khaki slacks. You can have your hotel full of women. I won't challenge you there.
These live blogs are a great service. Even though I was at the meeting, I couldn't pull myself away from the commentary.
I was most concerned by the comments that utility conflicts make urban redevelopmemt not worth the cost. This is completely ignoring the other cost factors associated with development, like existing police, fire, drainage, schools, increased vehicle miles, etc.
Having missed the last two Context Sensitive Streets subcommittee meetings, I decided to sit in on yesterday's. For the remainder of this post I will use "CSS" - which most often means designing a road for bicycle, pedestrian and transit considerations and not only the fast travel for cars.
I am encouraged by what I saw.
Bill Joyce (city engineer) and Jim Robinson (public works director) talked about the typical design and review process. There was a commitment on their part to start projects with CSS in mind instead of it being an afterthought. Every project, no matter how small, would take this approach. Robinson remarked that we aren't building anymore 4-lane roads anytime soon, so we are talking mostly about drainage projects that would require rebuilding a road section and resurfacing projects.
Lori Boyer (chairwoman of the subcommittee) explained that we need to move from a "we will include CSS facilities if we can afford it" mentality toward a "we won't move forward with a project until we can afford to include CSS" mentality.
The other council members in the room (Carter and Redman) seemed to agree. Anderson and Daniels were absent (excused).
Redman reiterated his stance that we should have a full-time bike/ped coordinator reviewing every project for consistency with CSS.
James Reed (who serves as a part-time bike/ped coordinator) talked about the need to apply CSS standards to every project based on the Mobility Zone it is located within, and not simply on what is surrounding the area. To only look at current conditions fails to recognize the future development that will occur as allowed by the future land use plans.
James also made the great point that we need to think of CSS the same way we look at ADA. ADA compliance (handicap accessibility), isn't something we do only when we can afford it. It is part of every project, and in many instances is a major influence in the design. CSS should be considered in the same light.
Calvin Burney (planning director) spoke about a CSS checklist, using the guide that was provided by Steve Lovett and in use in Seattle (where Steve splits his time). Calvin likes the checklist and intends to create one specific to Jacksonville that will involve the Planning Department, Public Works and JTA.
Calvin also talked about the sidewalk fund - which is money collected when a developer is unable (usually due to physical constraints) to put in a sidewalk fronting his property. He was clear to state that it is always their priority for the sidewalk to be constructed. However, in those rare circumstance when it is not possible, the developer pays into a fund similar to how the tree mitigation fund works. Once the money is deposited, it leaves the control of the planning department and there was some uncertainty as to how it has been spent in the past. Boyer suggested that perhaps once found, the money could be used to start working on some of the projects in the Mobiltiy Zones.
Doyle Carter spoke about the priority for sidewalks constructed in school zones. Boyer refered him to the Safe Routes to School program headed by Chris Ledew of FDOT. The program consistently spends less than is budgeted each year, due mostly to a lack of requests.
Again, I am very encouraged by the actions of this subcommittee. They need our continued public support for the work they are doing as they begin to put some teeth in Context Sensitive Streets!