By Katie Milligan

Contributing writer

The City of Urbana is seeking input from local stakeholders on the North Main Street Corridor Plan, a land use planning effort in conjunction with prime consultant Burton Planning Services of Westerville, Ohio.

This project will focus on the major north-south corridor of U.S. Route 68, along North Main Street from Gwynne Street/Washington Avenue to Grimes Circle, which includes both portions of Urbana and Salem Township. The plan will address the housing demand, access management issues and historic disinvestment in the area, as well as agricultural, industrial, residential, and commercial land uses.

“The goal of the plan is to guide future development and redevelopment opportunities,” said Jacqueline Yeoman, Planning Manager for Burton Planning Services. “The plan process will result in recommendations for future land use, zoning code updates or revisions, and infrastructure improvements to support investment in the area.”

Back in 2019-2020, Urbana underwent a similar project – the South Main Street Corridor land use plan to guide private development and redevelopment – with Burton Planning Services (BPS) that was adopted by the City of Urbana Planning Commission and the Urbana City Council. Following the planning development process and public input in 2019, the plan was finalized in 2020. The success of this collaborative project on South Main catalyzed the same efforts on North Main, as community leaders saw additional development possibilities there.

“Council saw value in what we accomplished with the South Main Street Corridor Plan and what that effort accomplished,” said Doug Crabill, Community Development Manager for the City of Urbana, who emphasized that council championed the plan before the proposal was even written. “That document is still providing direction as development proposals come along for the south end of town.”

Based on the opportunities for similar development and success on North Main, Crabill presented the proposed project scope to Urbana City Council at their meeting on Dec. 20, 2022, and the proposal and the planning scope was approved on this date.

In response to the council’s enthusiastic support, the city and BPS hosted a kickoff meeting on Aug. 1, 2023 with BPS and internal city staff to finalize the project’s scope of work, lay out a schedule of milestones and deliverables, and nail down a communication management plan (including a project website and outreach to stakeholders).

Directly following the kickoff meeting, BPS is beginning to gather data about the corridor. The first is conducting relevant quantitative studies, such as the existing conditions study that is currently ongoing. BPS will also analyze three focus areas to understand the current trends of the corridor: 1) zoning and land use, 2) utilities (including water, sewer, natural gas, electric, and broadband), and 3) transportation network (including vehicular, pedestrian, bicycle, and rail).

As Crabill explained, the intent of the land use planning project (which has a total approved budget of $36,650) is to guide future private development and redevelopment in the area, meaning that it will aim to strengthen the core residential neighborhoods, major employers, and existing businesses that already anchor the corridor. Additionally, the corridor currently possesses much under-utilized asphalt space and deteriorating parking lots that could be revitalized to benefit the city.

Moreover, BPS would like to gather qualitative data from Urbana stakeholders as well. The BPS team will conduct up to ten interviews with local stakeholders (most of whom will not be a part of the Steering Committee) to widen their sample of visions, goals, and needs for the corridor.

Additionally, a community survey was recently launched to collect opinions and information from any and all Urbana stakeholders in the area – residents, business owners, employees who work in the area, etc. This survey is available online at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WFHBSC3.

Postcards featuring a QR code to scan and take the survey were recently mailed out to those within the affected area, and the survey will also be advertised on social media. The survey will close on Oct. 15.

“We’re excited to launch our survey for the North Main Street Corridor Plan. The Community Survey is designed to learn more about people’s experience in the area, including strengths and challenges of the area,” said Yeoman. “The survey is also one way the project team is able to understand the community’s vision for the area in the future. The goal is for as many City of Urbana residents and stakeholders to participate in the survey.”

Next, Urbana and BPS held the first Steering Committee meeting on Aug. 30, 2023. This committee is comprised of about 15 local stakeholders – residents, business owners, property owners, community partners, and city, county, and Chamber of Commerce representatives who will help shape the project and voice the community’s vision.

This first gathering served to allow the committee to become acquainted with each other, the project, and their role in it. The group conducted several brainstorming exercises to get stakeholders thinking about where they would like to take the project: color-coded plotting on a map of the corridor, word clouds, listing strengths and weaknesses, etc. The presentation materials from this first meeting are available on the project site here: https://www.urbanaohio.com/north-main-street-corridor-plan.html.

Going forward, BPS and Urbana will hold two additional Steering Committee meetings to bring the stakeholders together and discuss action items. Additionally, the project team at BPS will provide regular status updates to the City in the form of bi-weekly written summaries and periodic meetings.

Upcoming, on Oct. 30, the city will be holding a community vision charette, entitled “Re-Imagine North Main: A Collaborative Community Effort.” This meeting, open to the public, will be held in the Training Room at the Urbana Municipal Building (located at 205 South Main Street) from 6-8 p.m. All are welcome to attend this session and bring creative ideas for the development of the North Main corridor.

Crabill emphasizes that at this early stage in the North Main Street Corridor project, the city and BPS would like to hear from the community about their vision for the space.

“Ultimately, we want to receive feedback from stakeholders within the area,” he said. “We want them to engage now; that’s how you get the best benefit out of the planning process is having people most involved in the process. Long-term, this plan becomes a guide for future development and redevelopment.”

For more information on the North Main Street Corridor Plan, please visit the project site at https://www.urbanaohio.com/north-main-street-corridor-plan.html. To take the community engagement survey before it closes on October 15, please visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WFHBSC3.

Reach the writer at [email protected]