Starr Hill Neighborhood Plan

Transcription

1 Starr Hill Neighborhood Plan

2 Acknowledgments The 2006 Neighborhood Plans were developed through a collaborative effort of our neighborhood residents, city staff, the City Planning Commission, UVA students and a design team from the Charlottesville Community Design Center. Professional services were provided by Site Works. Facilitation and process design was provided by Becky Clay Christensen. NEIGHBORHOOD LEADER Lisa Wilcox CCDC DESIGNER & STUDENT TEAM Sally Holt and Maria Sanchez-Carlo CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Karen Firehock, Chair John Fink, Vice-Chair Craig Barton Michael Farruggio Cheri Lewis Bill Lucy Kevin O Halloran David Neuman, ex-officio NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT SERVICES PLANNING STAFF Will Cockrell Special Thanks to the Charlottesville Community Design Center, Katie Swenson and John Semmelhack.

3 Starr Hill Neighborhood Existing Conditions The following is a brief profile of the neighborhood, including community facilities and demographics. The maps exhibit existing conditions of the neighborhood through the lenses of the Guiding Principles, as adopted by the Charlottesville City Council in the spring of 2005.

4 NEIGHBORHOOD SETTING Starr Hill is located in the center of Charlottesville between the University and Downtown. The well-defined neighborhood is situated on a hill and bordered on three sides by commercial corridors: Preston Avenue, West Main Street and Ridge/McIntire. Several churches are located in Starr Hill, including Ebenezer Baptist Church and First Baptist Church on West Main Street. Historic Jefferson School functions today as a school and community center. The school was built in 1927 and was the first African American high school in Charlottesville. The City Yard occupies most of the property between residential Brown Street and Preston Avenue. The City Yard property was once the site of the City Jail. Starr Hill was historically integrated, and remains integrated today. In the early part of the 20th Century many African American professionals and their families lived in Starr Hill. During the first half of the 20th Century the Union Station property on West Main Street was the transportation hub of the Charlottesville community. Many railroad workers lived in the neighborhood. Starr Hill is located just to the west of the Vinegar Hill neighborhood. Vinegar Hill was home to many African American owned residences and businesses including Inge s Grocery Store, on the corner of W. Main and 4th Street. The Vinegar Hill neighborhood was razed during Urban Renewal in the 1960 s. Historic Buildings The Union Station property includes the historic Union Station building. West Main Street is an historic corridor, which runs through Starr Hill Jefferson School was constructed in 1927 to serve as Charlottesville s African American high school. Ebenezer Baptist Church and First Baptist Church on Main Street. Mt. Zion African Baptist Building Community Facilities The Greyhound Bus station Amtrak Station, at the Union Station building, serves as the railroad depot Starr Hill Park The City Yard is headquarters of the Public Works Department. Municipal Parking Lot next to Albemarle Hotel Jefferson School/Carver Recreation Center Neighborhood Churches Ebenezer Baptist Church First Baptist Church on West Main Transportation West Main Street is a major path for both vehicles and pedestrians. The West Main Street Bridge is a gateway into the Starr Hill neighborhood Ridge/McIntire is a major path for vehicles traveling north/south through the area. 4th Street NW is a minor path for vehicles and pedestrians Land Use Starr Hill contains a diversity of land uses including commercial activity on West Main Street, single and two-family residences in the central core and educational uses at the Jefferson School. Demographics Starr Hill Demographic Data % Change Population % Pop Density % Median Age % Households % Per HH % Homeowners n/a 36.1% n/a Renters n/a 63.9% n/a

5 Neighborhood Boundaries NEIGHBORHOOD BOUNDARIES The Starr Hill Neighborhood is the 47.7-acre area bounded by Preston Avenue to the north, Ridge/McIntire to the east, the CSX Railroad to the south, and the Norfolk Southern Railroad to the west.

6 centers G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E S Supporting safe neighborhoods with identifiable centers and strong social fabric. Valuing and providing quality education for all ages, vocations and abilities, promoting an intellectual climate that values the arts and culture. Enjoying a strong diversified economy with opportunities for entrepreneurship and a diversity of jobs. What Are Centers? Centers are spaces of concentrated activity that are highly utilized by residents within a neighborhood. Centers are places that provide services, employment, community support or recreational, cultural and educational opportunities. Examples of centers are schools, commercial areas, libraries, places of worship, recreational facilities, parks and pools.

7 neighborhood community centers community building commercial area place of worship school building school district areas school property park

8 connectivity G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E S Accessing safe public transportation, alternative modes of transportation and interconnected pedestrian and bicycle access. Achieving mixed-use development that promotes 24-hour activity, pedestrian connectivity and transit use. What Is Connectivity? Connectivity refers to the network of pedestrian, bicycle, motor vehicle and transit systems. Connectivity determines how hard or easy it is to get from one place to another. Increasing connectivity includes incorporating bike lanes, sidewalks, traffic calming, transit options and pedestrian friendly spaces.

9 neighborhood road edges bike routes bus routes bus stops school property park

10 housing G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E S Providing housing opportunities with a diversity of style, scale, price, financing and location. What Is Housing? Housing refers to the diversity of residential dwelling units, including their style, scale, price, financing and location. Housing types range from single to multi-family, duplexes, townhouses and mixed-use buildings in which housing is combined with commercial activity. There are a variety of approaches that make housing available to people of various income levels. The unique mix that is Charlottesville can also be protected through historic preservation and design control districts.

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12 environment G U I D I N G P R I N C I P L E S Protecting and promoting trees, parks, green space, streams and biodiversity that add to the appearance and livability of the City. Balancing the natural and built environments and practicing sustainability. What Is Environment? The environment includes the natural resources that support our daily living, such as water, air, energy and vegetation. The environment also provides recreational, social and green spaces, such as parks, yards, trails and wooded/vegetated areas. The protection and preservation of these resources is essential for sustaining diversity and quality of life.

13 neighborhood vacant lots watershed boundary stream/river school property park

14 Starr Hill Neighborhood Plan

15 NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN DAY On October 8, 2005, community residents and professional designers, planners and student volunteers participated in Neighborhood Design Day. The event was the kickoff for the five-year update of the neighborhood area plans. The City s Neighborhood Development Services Department designed and facilitated the multi-location event in partnership with the Charlottesville Community Design Center. The City of Charlottesville undertook this new and innovative neighborhood planning process in order to allow residents to envision and design the future of their neighborhoods. In order to help participants express their vision, they were provided with detailed maps representing the City s 11 guiding principles, broken into four major categories (Centers, Connectivity, Housing and Natural Environment), as well as a toolkit of creative solutions addressing each of these four areas. The participants examined existing conditions to identify key ongoing issues, neighborhood assets, and future programmatic, policy and design opportunities. The following text and maps are the outcome of Neighborhood Design Day as reviewed and finalized by residents at various follow-up events.

16 centers The Starr Hill neighborhood has a large number of centers for a small neighborhood. The centers are The Jefferson School, W. Main St., Ebenezer Baptist Church, First Baptist Church, Music Resource Center, and the bus station. One of the biggest centers in Starr Hill, The Jefferson School could become, among other options, an adult education center or part of the library system. The more centers that can be created in other neighborhoods, the more Starr Hill s centers can cater to its own population s needs. For example, the aging population has been served well by Ebenezer Baptist Church. Child care is not a current need but could be in the future. There needs to be a discussion on the future use of Jefferson School and the impacts of that use on the neighborhood. An issue with The Jefferson School is the homeless population that sleeps in the entrance to the school. The broken glass around the neighborhood is not the work of the homeless but of the kids who come around and break the bottles lying around. The church that occupied the corner of 5th and Commerce has moved away and the hedges there and at the school get overgrown. The bigger the hedges get, the more cover the homeless sleeping in the school entrance have. A comprehensive look at parking and the lack thereof is needed for the neighborhood. Businesses are growing along Main Street, trying to compete with the Downtown Mall, and parking is a problem. Ebenezer Baptist Church has remained active church, attracting former residents to services. This area was traditionally the higher-end of Vinegar Hill. The church is expanding and will be building classrooms for its Sunday school. Establish better connections to several neighborhood centers. First Baptist feels like it is not in the neighborhood as it sits on the other side of Main Street. The Music Resource Center is also far away from the center of the neighborhood. Continue to improve the bus station. There needs to be a dialogue between the Neighborhood and the City about the future of the City Yard. Any future development of the site will have to take into consideration contamination in some spots. There is an aesthetics problem with the yard and a problem with mosquitoes. A center worth highlighting is the other Main Street traditionally for African Americans, which is Commerce Street. There was a footpath crossing through Starr Hill including Commerce Street, crossing McIntire and continuing on to downtown. This route is used today by the residents. Development on Commerce Street should be pedestrian scaled. Another important center created by the community itself is Joker s Barber Shop, which has been there for a long time and even sponsors neighborhood activities.

17 neighborhood community centers community building commercial area place of worship school building school district areas school property park

18 connectivity Re-establish the older street system and include some Historic trails. There should be a formalization of historic pedestrian connections. There are informal sidewalks through the Staples parking lot, across McIntire, the Omni Hotel and on to the Downtown Mall. Another sidewalk for African Americans was up the hill from Fifeville along 4th Street, crossing Main Street and on to The Jefferson School and other African American sites on Starr Hill. There is an issue with the schedules for public transportation. Although residents can walk up to Main Street to catch buses, there are not that many using public transportation. Should The Jefferson School become an adult education center, public transportation may become an issue. There are not that many bikers in the Starr Hill Neighborhood. Speed is a problem on 5th Street. Street lighting on Commerce is needed, especially shining on the Jefferson School. It is more necessary for safety than for aesthetics. Porch lights are also part of street lighting which is an advantage in a small neighborhood. Whatever gets done on Brown Street will lead to lighting concerns. Fast traffic, corner of Brown Street and 6th Street The problem is not volume of traffic but the speed of the cars. A resident has taken to parking his truck right at the corner so that cars have to slow down. Although the safety concerns are not related to children (there are not many), they are related to the many cats in the neighborhood. Investigate the possibility of widening Brown Street. Stop access behind Jefferson School between the School and City Yard. It is suggested that sticky bushes be planted near the gate between the City Yard and the Jefferson School so that drug dealers, etc will be deterred from running through the neighborhood to escape on to Main Street. Create pocket communities. Keep limited access to the neighborhood. The parking lot at the train station needs to be maintained or paved. There is an issue with the significant amount of dust that falls in the neighborhood and could cause health problems.

19 neighborhood road edges bike routes bus routes bus stops school property park

20 housing Increase owner-occupied housing - Most of the houses are owner-occupied by either young couples who bought a year or two ago, or people who have lived there for over 30 years. Maintain residential zoning Although most of the neighborhood is commercial, the residents want to keep the City Yard zoned as R-1 as a potential for new housing. The edge of the neighborhood is more 4th Street than McIntire as there is no housing between 4th and McIntire. Although there is little space for development now, there will be when the City Yard moves. Need for smaller houses that are affordable. Keep the scale of the neighborhood. There is interest on the part of the residents to maintain the neighborhood s historic housing styles: stucco, porches, long houses. There are only a few housing styles. As for the future, the residents learned during the threat of the PUD that they could request architectural guidelines for the neighborhood from the City. The identity of Starr Hill must be preserved as the neighborhood is defined by its commercial area. Volume and no walled-off areas are important; density is not a problem. Commerce Street is completely different from the rest of the neighborhood with mixed-use buildings. There are two AHIP housing units. Unfortunately, Starr Hill no longer qualifies for CDBG which was used in the past to restore the stucco walls. Starr Hill is a low-profile neighborhood and the residents would like to keep it that way. The lots are small so it can better control its residential use. Someone trying to build a big building will have to buy several lots. The residents are doing well enough and have improved their homes. There is a fear that property values will increase so much residents will have a difficult time paying their property taxes.

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22 environment When it rains hard, a lot of water stagnates at the Yard and the tires lying around, creating a bad mosquito problem. The flat roof of The Jefferson School also accumulates water. Manage drainage. If a new parking lot is built, it must look carefully at the implications on drainage. Any new construction should include in the design guidelines drainage through a channel on to Schenks Branch. Water should flow to Schenks Branch through a park, buffering the stream, and opening its path to Moore s Creek. The area is heavily paved streets and parking lots - leading to drainage problems down the hill. The neighborhood would like to see some innovative techniques for improving drainage and water management. Increase porous paving and install rain gardens in the neighborhood. These could be installed from the commercial area on to Brown Street. Brown St. is cooler, but also more humid. Few houses have driveways. The neighborhood would like to protect its park. Do not allow the Park to become a parking lot. The Park needs improvements such as playground equipment, flowers and landscaping. There is an opportunity for the neighborhood to partner with the City to enhance the space. More police presence is needed at the Park. Create active parks that serve several purposes: hazard cleanup, recreation, drainage, and visibility. Porches help with the temperature and also act as part of the sidewalks. The commercial establishments could organize group recycling. Residents can easily walk downtown and to the farmers market. As to the greening of Starr Hill, some houses that have been restored have installed energy efficient windows, and most are gardenfriendly even though there are not that many trees. The unruly vegetation between Brown Street and the City Yard is much better than looking at the Yard.

23 neighborhood vacant lots watershed boundary stream/river school property park

24 City of Charlottesville Neighborhood Development Services S I T E W O R K S