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It’s a whole new image for Seminole
By KATHY FERGUSON
Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2005 |
SEMINOLE – City Council members agreed Tuesday, Oct. 18, to a three-pronged proposal that will eventually involve businesses, community organizations and the public to help decide how the city might look in the future.
Costs for the entire planning process by the Renaissance Planning Group could top $350,000. Although glimpses and involvement will be provided along the way, the entire development process could take up to a year to wrap up.
Originally hired in August, Whit Blanton and Clarence Eng of Renaissance reviewed the proposal last week that included milestones, timelines and costs. Streetscape guidelines, a city center and a city design strategic plan are the three key parts that, once executed, could take the city 15 years into the future. These projects target council goals developed in 2004.
Each of the three projects has a multi-tasked milestone plan that includes dozens of actions like data collection, assessments, interviews, focus groups, illustration creations, cost estimates, prototype development and map revisions, as examples. A final plan will be presented to the council for each component.
The first project, streetscape guidelines, involves a plan for beautification, signage and architectural identity.
“This will be the overall character of the city,” said Eng, project manager. “It is the easier, tangible component that people will be able to see and feel quickly, perhaps in six to eight months.”
A creative centerpiece of the idea gathering stage is the use of disposable cameras.
“Pictures mean more than words,” said Eng. Councilors and city representatives would take photos of design conditions that they like or hate for consideration. The photo travelogue would not be limited to Seminole but could include other destinations.
These photos would be used as a baseline for design ideas for public presentation and feedback. The consultants would do the same but in more depth throughout the city.
Councilor Bob Matthews was supportive of the proposal but wanted to add another public meeting in the March 2006, timeframe. That would mean three meetings, one of which would be open for businesses and community organizations.
Vice Mayor John Counts felt the same as Matthews.
“We need to make it easier for the residents east of the lake to get involved,” he said. The cost for this planning component is about $85,000 with a final presentation to the council along with an implementation manual in about June.
The second portion focuses on the development of a city center area that becomes truly the heart of the community activity and sets the tone for the city’s image. The area would be generally located around Seminole Mall between the intersections of Park Boulevard with Seminole Boulevard and 113th Street. The master plan would integrate land use, transportation, economic analysis and urban design.
When talking about new businesses that might move into the community, Eng said. “We need to find out what is needed and what we don’t want to have.” He added that they didn’t want to have a “If we build it, they will come” mentality. The price tag for this consulting piece is almost $135,000, although Eng said the cost was not fixed.
Wrapping up the overall project, the third part of the deal is to provide a city design strategic plan. This would help guide future development over the next few decades.
“This is all about setting and defining expectations and communicating and conveying them to the private sector,” said Blanton. The goal is to provide guidance for controls for the city’s future blueprint. The plan would also make recommendations about four of the city’s “gateway areas” to help further define entrances to Seminole.
This third segment would be completed in probably December of 2006 at a cost of about $78,000. “If you look at these three projects combined, you will have a real good template of every condition you may be facing,” added Eng.
Edmunds said that reaching out to key property owners was essential to the project’s success. “If we have community support along with elected officials’ support, there’s a whole range of possibilities for everyone involved.”
A comprehensive communication plan is designed to share information with the community from newsletters and flyers to meetings and a special link to the city’s Web site as the projects roll out.
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Article published on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2005
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