Downtown plan update looks north
Proposal shifts from central core to beyond I-565, east of Parkway
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
The tower cranes tell it all. Downtown Huntsville is booming.
Huntsville's Downtown Master Plan is also being rebuilt. Draft concepts of the master plan update were discussed at a public hearing Tuesday night at Lincoln Elementary School.
About 60 people attended.
A final draft will be sent to the City Planning Commission in about six months with input from a steering committee of planners, business people, downtown representatives and other interests.
City Planner Ken Newberry said the main difference in the proposed update and the original master plan from 1989 is the emphasis on downtown areas north of Interstate 565, east of Memorial Parkway and south of Oakwood Avenue.
The previous plan focused primarily on the city's central core.
Newberry said the proposed update also reflects a shift in core downtown from recommended public initiatives such as parks and roads to private investments such as neighborhood businesses and live-work dwellings.
"The 1989 plan laid out a broad array of public initiatives designed to create a better atmosphere and lay a foundation for other investors," Newberry said. The city followed those plans in sprucing up Big Spring Park East, improving streetscapes around the courthouse square, and building the tourist-friendly EarlyWorks complex and Huntsville Art Museum.
Newberry said those elements added a "vibrancy" to downtown that apparently caught the attention of outside development. Examples include the Embassy Suites convention hotel, Big Spring Summit office building, the 301 East condominium project and a handful of new downtown restaurants and nightspots. "It's time to move on and hopefully have a similar success story in downtown north," Newberry told the audience Tuesday night.
Huntsville's downtown master plan serves as a blueprint for growth. City leaders can use the guidelines to rezone land, improve roads, construct bikeways, fix drainage problems and tweak building codes. Better stormwater management, for instance, can foster investments within downtown areas of the flood plain. Building code exceptions can encourage redevelopment of historic structures rather than tearing them down.
Newberry talked of creating parking under the interstate and using shuttles to move people around. The updated plan also recommends several new zoning classifications, including a research and technology category to foster business development in mill villages, an R-2-C zoning allowing row-housing in the Lincoln mill area; and a live-work category to encourage dual-use business/residential developments.
Audience questions touched on neighborhood historic designations, pedestrian-friendly street designs, preserving downtown schools and rezoning issues. Officials say any rezoning will grandfather in existing businesses regardless of whether the business is compatible to the goals of the new downtown plan.
Goals of Plan
Vision and goals of Huntsville’s Downtown Master Plan Update:
- Identify ways to lessen land use conflicts.
- Devise strategies for encouraging reinvestment.
- Emphasize historic preservation.
- Allow mixed uses.
- Identify ways to make downtown a unique, lively area that is aesthetically appealing and economically and socially vibrant.
- Keep buildings and public spaces clean, landscaped and well-maintained.
- Ensure adequate movement between downtown core sites through a variety of transit options including car (and adequate parking), bus, bike paths and walkways.
- Devise and promote events and activities.
© 2005 The Huntsville Times
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