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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-15-1997 t l City Council Agenda Packet October 15, 1997 r . y ~ y • 1w ~.k r .,~yl~-.. I':~~~y ~r.'1 Wit','*~~" , "S~~'■j~-0Tt a. r.. ~~t,; ~a: `}a, Y' y g h. •.1 A M" Mm MEL • • ~~7 I Agenda No. AGENDA Agenda Item CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL Date OCTOBER 15, 1997 Joint Work Session of the City of Denton City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday, October 15, 1997 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Work Session Room of City Hail, 215 E. McKinney, Denton, Texas, 76201 at which the following items wili be considered NOTE: A Work Session is used to explore matters of interest to one or more City Council Members or the City Manager for the purpose of giving staff direction into whether or not such matters should be placed on a future regular or special meetinf. of the Council for citizen input, City Council deliberation and formal City action. At a work session, the City Council generally receives informal and preliminary reports and information from city staff, officials, members of city committees, and the individual or organization proposing council action, if invited by City Council or City Manager to participate in the session. Participation by individuals and members of organizations invited to speak ceases when the Mayor announces the session is being closed to public input. Ahhough Work Sessions are public meetings, and citizens have a legal right to attend, they are not public hearings, so citizens are not allowed to participate in the session unless imited to do so by the Mayor. Any citizen may supply to the City Council, prior to the beginning of the session, a written report regarding the citizen's opinion on the matter being explored. Should the Council direct the matter be placed on a regular meeting agenda, the staff will generally prepare a final report defining the proposed action, which will be made available to all citizens prior to the regular meeting at which citizen input is sought. The purpose of this procedure is to allow citizens attending the regular meeting the opportunity to hear the views of their fellow citizens without having to attend two meetings. I. Presentation by and discussion with Dan Burden regarding walkable communities. CERTIFICATE I certify that the above notice of m -eting was posted on the bulletin board at the City Hall of the City of Denton, Texas, on the day of 1997 at o'clock (am) (P m ) CITY SECRETARY NOTE: THE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION ROOM OF THE DENTON CITY HALL iS ACCESSIBLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. THE CITY WILL PROVIDE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED IF REQUESTED AT LAST 46 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE SCHEDULED MEETING. PLEASE CALL THE • CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE AT 349-8309 OR USE TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES FOR THE DEAF (TDD) BY CALLING 1-800-RELAY-TX SO THAT A • • SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER CAN BE SCHEDULED THOUGH THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE. • • Agenda No, ADIMA llfrn _ Dat1 AGENDA CITY OF DENTON CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 15, 1997 Joint meeting of the City of Denton City Council and the Denton Independent School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday, October 15, 1997 at 12:00 noon st the Central Administration Office, 1307 N. Locust Stmt, Denton, Texas at which the following will be considered: . Cali to Order, announce quorum 2. Discussion of Drug/Alcohol Programs in Community 3. Adjournment CERTIFICATE I certify that the above notice of meeting was posted on the bulletin board at the City Hall of the City of Denton, Texas, on the day of 1997 at o'clock (a. M.) (p nI CITY SECRETARY NOTE: THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION OFFICE IS ACCESSIBLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. THE CITY WILL PROVIDE SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETERS FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED IF REQUESTED AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE SCHEDULED MEETING. PLEASE CALL THE CITY ~ SECRETARY'S OFFICE AT 349-9309 OR USE TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES FOR THE DEAF (TDD) BY CALLING I-804-RELAY-TX SO THAT A SIGN LANGUAGE INTERPRETER CAN BE SCHEDULED THROUGH THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE. 40 • • IrAt1000T TO COUWL - 10115fe7 Creating Walkable Communities By Dan Bwden Walkable communities an cornerstones and keys to ad forms of of -im grwmd transportation. Every trip begins and ends with walking. And most bu=as depend on &w feet for their fast and last forms of movement. Walling remaina the the lma form of transport for all people, and the constwtion of a walkable community is the most afiordabk trsmponstion ryslem any community can plan, design, construct and maintain Wallubk communities put town planning back on a scale of sustainsbility for lead and resources. Truly walkable communities lead to towns and sectors of town where crime and other social problem are *Atoned. Until we build truly walkable places, we cannot begin to succeed with trmtit, ride sharing, van pooling sad other transponation alternatives. So, why do so many political leaders, devekpem community staffer and even cidzena complain about the 1.5% of iniiastrt+cnue costs anociated with walking? Modern LSTEA funding is focused on getting a nation that was built on walking back on its feet if for no other reason than affordability and fairness. Below are steps that citizens, staM poetical kaders and others can take to build the kind of towns that our grandparents and all previous genastions knew how to build Ten Steps for Turning Your Town Into a Walkable Plact Step One - Conduct a Wslk"ry Audi The first step is to conduct your own walkability audit. Take a nine year old child with you, or push a baby stroller for tours of your neighborhood, your central business district, strip commercial section of roadway, and local school zone. Ask yourself bow comfortable you feel walking. Do you feel secure? Are these continuous walkways and crossing points convenient to . your needs? Are the walkways well separated from traffic? Carry a soda can with you. How long did you have to carry it before you could W a place to discard (recycle) it? How far do you have to walk to get to transit? How for do you have to walk before you can find a place to sit? How many curb cuts are then and are they easy to otgotfate? Do you feel welcome walking in these places? All these attributes ate more than &ilLs. They are necessary to create welcoming spaces. • Step Two - Expand Yoar Ausdit Once you have performed an audit as an individual, expand this to a team audit. Include key people from your community. if you are not the opinion leader of your town, get people on you walk who are. Have the cbarnber of commerce, service club, or group with signi6mt clout serve as sponsors of the calking audit. Include the mayor, or someone li'om his staff council members, commissioners, senior planners, engineer, school ofliciala, safety officials, health • officials, and law enforcement SUPS You can get help with formal walk dity audit sheets by • writing to the Campaign to Make America Walk o'o Bicycle Fedembon of America, 1506 2 V J Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, or call (202) 463-6625. Expand your audit by reviewing I I • how pedatri = are hurt when wralking. What crima keep people from w Qdns and what injuries are caused by cars? kAervkv peopk a you want Share your AWkV with the press. Step Three - Develop a Plan Communities and citizens cannot rebuild a plan of action. Goals, objectives and strategies come at the first stage of planning But planning mum be comprehensive. Your plain should be built into every level of community planning - transportation, community development recrc&6M school siting, transit... everything. Make an that your plan includes better ways of planning. f Much conventional planning overlooks pedestrians. Step Four - Set RaWtk Goat, Objectives aa+d Strategies Set reasonable community and regional goals for having your major roadway corridors and Dm developments built or retrofitted for walking by the year 2015. Change cannot occur overnight. But over a 15-20 year period, any town can restructure enough of its thiakiag and action to make a difference. Set achievable and measurable objectives that work within your community budget Set priorities. Fund projects oar shopping districts, schools, transit comers, and medical complexes first Step Five - Reverse the Ftrad[a Prioritlu Today most communities only fund walking infrastructure on a "ple*&dw-cw" basis, Omitting sidewalks should be the excepdon, not the rule. Require every buikkr and developer to provide. walkways. Require appropriate facilities (sidewalks, crosswans, mid-block crossings) on every collector, arterials or other principal street and highway right-of-way project in you community. Start with city and county policies and expand to regional and state projects. Even resurfacing projects should be keyed to going back and retrofitting those where appropriate facilities were forgotten in the past Step Sla - Set Criteria Sidewalks and crosswalks should not be anemic. Review the criteria for sidewalk, crosswalk and other infiastructuue standards, and set workable walkable minimums. Two people cannot walk side-by-side on a four foot sidewalk. Five fat is a fine width for most local streets, as long as the sidewalk is set back from the curb two to six feet Commercial arm and school zones require sidewalks g feet wide or wider. Review the design standards of cities where you enjoy walking. If shade is important in your region, cal for canopies. Trees are cheap to plant and greatly increase property values and enjoyment of walking. Review design criteria for intersections. • Most intersections work best for everyone (motorists too), when they are compact and well designed. i Step Seven - Fix the Land Use Current land use practices favor automobile transportation. We cannot walk to out most basic destinsd3ns to conduct our most basic needs, such as purchasing groceries, banking, mailing • letters or getting to school. Almost everyone climbs into cars to do these things. We need compact and sustainable lard use fomLL Walking, transit and public safety (eyes on the street ' • • and park) require 5.8 dwelling uutits per acre, not the conventional 1.3 units. The most beautiful and beloved streets in America, tot his day, have cute 25.50 foot wide lob that support bungalow • • • a and cottage size houses with arrow sides fronting strata. We get twice the iefrtbactUm (toads, water, sewers, cables) for half the coat from such simple principles as buildng trsdidotW neighborhoods. These neighborhoods include "build-to-strset" set bacb, houses with pkket fences, sidewalks, trees, alleys, liberal amounts of put land mod open space and local scboola Mixed use development brings shopping and some commute trips back to local n6$hborhoods. Governments must take action to serve as initial developers of places, if urban infill projects are to work. Step Eight - CoUsbarate and Coaamraleste Communities that cannot figure out bow to communicate between agencies or levels of governments are doomed. This axiom is not an overstatement. Good government comes first A strong mayor, commission, city manager or other administrator must get a aerie of teamwork underway. Towns sad cities that do not communicate with counha mod regions will alwrp be working at cross purposes. Strong community and regional visions are needed If your town lacks this cooperation and coordination, start by rebuilding good town government fim then expand to the region and state. Examples abound of places that have huned round entire regional after fast building one "real" community that serve as a model for others. Step Nine - Expand to Reglonal sad National Issues Walkable communities cannot be developed in isolation. Much of current regional and rational thinking is still focused on moving vehicles, not people. The citizens of Portland, Oregon, not . only changed their city center, they are out to change the world Their motto is "Walk Locally, Think Globally." You must do the same. Let your state legislators and congressional delegation know you expect them to change not-sustainable policies and practices to those that make sense and save money. Before investing in the next mega-million dollar intersection or whatever, they should be approving budgets that reduce sprawl and auto congestion. Require every MPO (metropolitan planning organization) to adopt walking as a key component of both short and long range transportation planning. The scope of is immense... banking rules currently favor sprawl development Even rules for affordable housing (Federal Housing Administration) rules favor dropping sidewalks and curbs for two-car parking. We need to get back tot he concept of neighborhood-size schools, if we are going to have children walk to their places of learning and sport. Transit still goes a-begging everywhere. Step Ten - Don't Give Up Dozens of towns of all descriptions have made rapid and substantial change in the past ten to twenty years. If is possible to increase walking and bicycling petaeotsges of the entire trip mode count from 3-505 to 25.4014 for major sections of town. Places like Davis and San Diego, Califomia; Portland and Gresham, Oregon; Seattle, Bellevue sad Kirkland, Washington; are all examples of towns and regions that have made a diffe=e. Each one of them places set forth effective strategies to reclaim the urban core, bring back transit, change local and regional policies and develop collaborative teams. If you don't believe you can bring change, So out and • visit successful places that did it You will be inspired by the new things you see, by the joy of these places and by the special way that people look out for one another. Countay, community • and passion are found in America's most walkable places. 1 n • END OF, FILE i r I. asz~ 'R•r K3F, i4 ~ t .(1 k = t', ~ Z. , .~C . ' r.a 4k. `~f~t~~.•~a~,/i~` iq ~l.s 4'~' f~1~ y~', i• t ~ ' R'