A Search for Common Ground

Can multiple stakeholders share one vision?

February 1, 2007 - "Growth issues can be contentious," suggests charrette facilitator Jennifer Hurley. "We propose there's a better way - that differing, even competing, interests can be served fairly by a single code."

The path towards that goal began Thursday with a series of meetings with stakeholders from the school board, city officials, developers, and landowners. The groups gathered to share concerns and perspectives and to explore how Lawrence's customization of the SmartCode could help satisfy their goals.

The day's meetings began with the school board and a discussion of how schools - especially in the lower grades - can be sited within neighborhoods to complement overall walkability and to add amenity as usable community space. (Read a complete summary of the meeting here.)

"There's been a move towards school consolidation and building on primary thoroughfares," said PlaceMakers principal Nathan Norris. "We'd like Lawrence to reconsider the prospect of walkable schools - something that the SmartCode promotes."

Next, elected officials and planning commissioners met with the team to discuss the city's expectations. (Read a complete summary of the meeting here.) "What we're hearing," said Hurley later in the day, "is that people want a process that's both predictable and fair."

The afternoon saw a steady stream of visitors dropping by the studio, sitting with the designers, asking questions, and sharing ideas. At 3:30 p.m., there was a standing-room only meeting focusing on construction and development. Among the key questions: Why, after enduring a lengthy process to develop the city's recently completed zoning ordinance, are there efforts to develop a secondary code?

"The reason," answered PlaceMakers' Susan Henderson, "is because the SmartCode is designed to legalize traditional forms and models of development that are illegal under your current code." Such models, she added, are "a wholly different animal" than conventional development and not something that can be addressed through revision of the existing ordinance.

The builders and developers were in a "show me" mood. The bottom line, according to real estate broker Laura Chaney, is, "Will this make our lives simpler or more complicated?"

"Simpler," answered Norris. But to get to a point where the SmartCode can be the preferred approach, the community needs examples of profitable projects enabled by the code. "The ability to touch, taste, and feel a real example is important," said Norris. "The best way to convince people is to show them."

Finally, as the day neared a close, members of the team met with property owners from the six planning areas. Perhaps in keeping with many of the sentiments voiced throughout this process to date, owners in undeveloped areas indicated a strong preference for maintaining its rural character.

Today, at the "pin-up" in the charrette studio in the Spring Hills Suites, citizens will get their first look at how the PlaceMakers teams are interpreting community priorities. It's a mid-charrette report, complete with early sketches of ideas in areas under study for master planning.

See you there.