When a particular area or corridor within the city limits is identified as a location for additional study, City Council directs City Planning staff to initiate a Corridor Study to clarify, provide further detail, or provide a more in-depth analysis of the implications of proposed policy changes to an area.
Generally, the goals of a Corridor Study seek to:
- Involve the community in developing a long-term vision for that corridor
- Define policies and actions that will guide how the corridor should be maintained or changed in the future
- Identify future land uses in an overall communitywide context
- Recommend future infrastructure improvements to sidewalks and the street network
- Provide urban design guidance
- Provide implementation guidance for private and public investments and strategies that should be pursued to realize the vision for the corridor
A Corridor Study will lead to a series of recommendations that will be presented to City Council.
The recommendations of a Corridor Study may take the form of:
- Land use amendments
- Zoning amendments
- Plans for open space
- Updates to the Street Plan Map
- Updates to the Greenway Map
- Future transportation Studies & projects
- Capital projects
- Renderings and sketches depicting urban design guidelines for the area
- Items requiring further study
The backbone of any planning process includes frequent engagement of the community. The city uses a variety of channels to engage the community and collect feedback during the various stages of the process.
Some of those methods include:
- Visioning Workshop
- Citizen Advisory Council Presentation(s)
- Project Kick-Off Workshop
- Stakeholder Meetings
- Citizen Workshop(s)
- Presentations to Commissions and City Council
- Project Website
- Citizen Survey(s)
- Community ‘Newsletters’
- Draft Plan Review/ Public Comment Period
The corridor planning process begins with crafting a vision and setting goals for the study, along with collecting the necessary data. An inventory and detailed analysis of the data and goals then is undertaken. Based on the analysis, design alternatives are developed and vetted. From those alternatives, a set of recommendations, such as the ones listed above is selected to go forward for adoption by City Council. Once the corridor study is adopted, implementation can begin and take the form of updates to city policy documents and ordinances, capital project funding and construction, and/or additional studies.