Meeting Attendees:

Summary:

The Transportation & Infrastructure Committee met jointly with the Development Patterns Committee. A listing of the members of that committee who were present at the meeting is included in the Development Patterns Committee meeting summary. A number of the members of the Development Patterns Committee also participated in the discussion of the Transportation and Infrastructure items. The purpose of the meeting was to review the Principles, Strategies and Solutions that were proposed by MSCW at the October 4, 2007 Committee meeting.

Committee members were asked to provide comments to modify, delete, or add new Strategies and Solutions. If a Strategy and/or Solution was not brought up for discussion by the Committee, then it was considered a “consensus recommendation” for consideration by the Task Force. If approved by the Task Force, the Strategies and Solutions will be used as the basis for the Final Shared Vision Plan.

The following items were raised for discussion:

• Further Explanation of Gateway Centers for coastal and other state-owned lands
• Downtown gateways
• Downtown traffic movement
• Community Redevelopment Agency funding and plans
• Immediate transit opportunities
• Privately constructed utility infrastructure
• Unimproved nature of roadways leading to the coastal areas

Mr. Taff noted that the Gateway Centers could be a significant factor in the economic development of the community, particularly as it relates to tourism. The proposed Gateway Centers are strategically placed grouping of infrastructure, such as ranger stations, welcome buildings, restrooms, parking areas, trailheads, playgrounds, and picnic areas, on the edges of state-owned lands that make the state-owned lands more “user-friendly”. The example discussed was the park center at the entrance to Great Smokey Mountain National Park.

Mayor Ketring strongly endorsed the downtown gateway improvements at the intersections of US Highway 19 with Jefferson Street (US Highway 221) and Main Street. Mayor Ketring further noted that while she believes a rerouting of US Highway 221 through downtown was a valid idea, there would be significant public concern.

Jack Brown, a member of the Development Patterns Committee, stated that the first step to downtown improvements would be the creation of a downtown theme and plan. Items such the gateway intersection improvements, Main Street improvements, and downtown traffic plan would all be a part of this plan and follow the overall downtown theme. This theme would attract people and give them a reason to visit the downtown area.

Mayor Ketring noted that at this time the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) boundaries are very small (a few blocks around the courthouse) and funds are spent on issues as they arise. It was discussed that a CRA plan needs to be created. This plan would consider future CRA revenues over a number of years, the desired projects that could be paid by CRA funds, and the priority and timing of these projects during that same duration. Mr. Brown suggested that the City and County use CRA funds to buy abandoned buildings, refurbish them, and sell them to new businesses.

The consensus was that immediate transit opportunities would be difficult to pursue. An example of this would be the on-call service for elderly and disabled that was recently established. It was very difficult to obtain the local matching funds for the project. However, it was also agreed that some sort of transit service would serve as an initial stepping stone to public acceptance of larger systems in the future.

There were some questions raised regarding the construction of utility infrastructure using private funds. It was clarified that all utility infrastructure, particularly water and wastewater, should be done as part of a public-private partnership, and that public ownership of this infrastructure was preferred.

Concerns were raised regarding the unimproved nature (unpaved) of many roadways that serve the coastline. It was determined that improvements to both these roadways and currently paved roadways should be part of an overall transportation plan. One of the key components of that plan would be to determine the desired nature of future roadways, such as number of lanes, curb and gutter, and medians. It was also stated that new development should be planned around existing or planned corridors, rather than new corridors having to be created to serve development.

Mr. Ostrodka reminded the Committee that the Task Force will consider all of the Committee recommendations for inclusion in the Shared Vision Plan. The Committees will review and rank three different land use alternatives at the December 6, 2007 meeting. The alternatives are based upon the Strategies and Solutions, as well as direction from the Task Force.

The meeting was adjourned.

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