Scott Swanson
City Council and Planning Commission members met last week to discuss the plan for Sweet Home’s downtown, and heard from members of the public in the process.
Blair Larsen, the city’s community and economic development director, said the purpose of the March 25 meeting was to “kind of kick off the public process for our downtown streetscape and parking plan.”
“Streetscape,” he noted, is simply landscaping – “the stuff we can take care of” in the public right-of-way in the area between the junction of Highway 228 and 15th Avenue. Elements of a streetscape plan could include trees, lighting, signage, public artwork, furniture and more, Larsen said.
“Maybe it’s just lovely landscaping and plants and trees that gave you nice shade,” he said, defining the types of things that make people want to visit and spend time in a specific location. “Maybe it’s nice benches to make it comfortable to sit at tables for you to eat, that kind of thing. Those are the amenities we want to explore.”
He said Dougherty Landscape Associates in Eugene has been commissioned to put together a plan that, Larsen said, would include identifying “the inadequacies, I guess you could say, in our downtown.”
“The goal of this whole project is to have a plan in place so that we can gradually make these improvements, and we can have improvements that are consistent throughout the downtown so we don’t have one style of curb or landscaping in one area and on one corner and then the opposite corner was done at a later time and it’s got some other kind of venture or style. We want everything to be kind of consistent, so we have an enjoyable place to be.”
He said the public meeting was an “introduction” to that process, and emphasized that everything that would be presented was simply “ideas.”
“Nothing is written in stone, it’s only written on paper, and it’s only ideas that we’re talking about so we’re not committed to anything that comes up tonight,” Larsen said.
“Tonight is the time to spur this conversation and gather feedback from the public and from the council, and from the planning commission and get all these ideas out in the open, so that we can work our way through them.”
He said later public meetings would be held as more “concrete” proposals are developed, before the council votes on a plan.
He said opinion surveys will be available on the city’s Facebook page and “ways to be heard on social media.”
David Dougherty, principal of the design firm, noted that he’s had previous experience in Sweet Home, starting with a downtown plan that was developed in 2003. DLA has also developed landscaping plans for the remodels at Sweet Home High School and Sweet Home Junior High.
“We’re no strangers here,” he said.
Responding to concerns from the audience about design elements that don’t fit Sweet Home’s culture, he said that although his firm is located in Eugene, a lot of its work is done in small towns.
He promised that pedestrian safety will underlie all of the design – “we want to make a safe, walkable environment for folks,” which includes good lighting for visibility, furnishings and other possible amenities, adequate parking and “attractive” streetscapes that might include public art.
Gathering spaces are another need, he said. Those include possibly identifying “a larger public plaza place” as well as smaller pocket parks and other areas where small groups could meet, “enjoy lunch and socialize.” DLA is looking at how to use alleyways owned by the city for pedestrian movement, he said.
Other focuses are 13th Avenue between Main and Long streets, which, he suggested, could be closed down and utilized for a festival or block party.
He said both 13th and Long Street are wider than they need to be, which provides opportunities for widening sidewalks to allow for “outdoor activity – landscaping, street trees, benches, outdoor dining, that kind of thing.”
For example, he said, a bulb-out on the corner of 12th and Long could be landscaped and would provide an area for patrons of Mr. Lucky’s Deli and All Star Pizza to eat outside.
Another area that could be improved for public use, he suggested, is the pocket park between The New Era and Figaro’s Pizza.
He said the community needs improved lighting for pedestrians, and displayed some various style options.
Planning Commission Chair Jeff Parker spoke up, expressing concerns that design elements be appropriate for Sweet Home, such as bulb-outs not excessively protruding into traffic lanes, and urged Dougherty to ensure that parking spaces were sized properly for typical Sweet Home vehicles.
“There’s nothing against you, coming from Eugene and everything like that. But you don’t have smaller cars, we have larger cars,” Parker said. “And we’ve had a thing where they got painted and they had to be repainted because nobody could park in them. So it’s just something going forward.”
Council member Angelita Sanchez also expressed concerns: “Our town is a logging town. We have big log trucks that go through on Highway 20 – a lot,” she said. “I’m also a truck boss and a truck owner and a truck driver. It’s so tight in there. We have those big trucks. If you’re going to try to have those pop outs, or try to take away some of that extra room on the side, it’s going to be pretty dangerous for other rigs and bicyclists, so I just want you guys to keep that in mind.”
Dougherty said the plan isn’t “touching the width of Main Street, because there’s really not a whole lot to gain.”
Mayor Greg Mahler said he’s concerned that bulb-outs would reduce parking opportunities.
“One of my frustrations with Sisters, which is beautiful, but has all these fancy little bulb-outs. Go ahead and try to park in Sisters.”
He noted that any changes to Main Street would require ODOT approval, “and that’s a whole different challenge.”
Councilor Lisa Gourley suggested that any bulb-outs could be raised mounds of greenery, noting that on a recent visit to Sheridan, Wyo., “all the green spaces are bermed, and it elevated all the greenery and just made it feel rich.
“You just wanted to stay there,” she added, spreading her hands to indicate a height of about a foot.
Dougherty said “crowning” or “mounding” such areas improves drainage and contributes to plant health.
Difficulties in dealing with the Oregon Department of Transportation was a major theme of comments from attendees.
Pam Nickolisen of McMinn-ville, who was there with her mother, longtime resident Joyce Geil, said traffic moves too fast on Main Street.
“I think the biggest problem with Highway 20 is the speed, which I realize nobody takes responsibility for because it’s really easy to say ‘It’s the highway, it’s ODOT, not us.’ But the fact is, I wouldn’t want to be on a bicycle on Highway 20 in Sweet Home. It’s too fast.”
She also said that she agreed with Dyann McCollum, who earlier spoke to the need for more public restrooms in the downtown area.
“I think any town that is worth its weight in gold has public restrooms,” Nickolisen said, acknowledging that keeping them clean is “a problem.”
Multiple speakers brought up the need for more traffic signals, particularly at 22nd Avenue and at Pleasant Valley Road.
A clearly frustrated Mahler said, “the problem is we’re non-stop battling ODOT, and ODOT balks every time we come in trying to put these stoplights in, or we put speed lights in, or do anything.”
He noted that the city has been trying to get sidewalks in between Shea Point and Foster for nine years, and has experienced constant roadblocks.
Thomas Baham, who owns the Rio Theater, said he tried to negotiate with ODOT “about five years ago” to install flashing lights at the crosswalk in front of his building.
“They said they will never put it in there because it will slow the traffic down on Main Street,” he said.
Nickolisen asked “why is it that ODOT can be so disrespectful to a city?
“What has happened here, or how do we go about speaking to them and saying, ‘This is a real need,'” she asked, noting that Gaston on Highway 47 “has a speed limit that’s observed and it’s really, really small.”
She said the highway crossings are a problem that need attention.
“I fear every time somebody starts to cross the highway. You hope that the second lane will stop, you hope the third lane, after they get to the meridian, will stop.”
She asked what the city could do to get attention.
Councilor Dave Trask responded: “If you ask Blair how much of a pain in the neck it is to deal with ODOT, or the mayor, or this whole council, which has been on it for a few years. It is not easy.”
Dougherty interjected, saying that his firm has represented other small towns in dealings with the state agency.
“It’s really important to have a good relationship with your district ODOT manager,” he said. “Find out who that is. And maybe this is an opportune time, once we’re finishing up with this conceptual design, to engage them, plant the seed of knowing, that, ‘You know, there’s real safety concerns here and here’s some suggestions that we’re proposing,’ and try to engage them.”
Sanchez recounted how she personally witnessed a near-collision between a vehicle and pedestrians in a crosswalk in Sweet Home that day. She noted that Mahler has appointed her to the district Transportation Committee, which has an ODOT representative.
” If you want to give me some of your concerns, I’d be happy to speak to the ODOT lady on that panel about them,” she said.
Project Manager Luzanne Smith encouraged participants in the meeting to weigh in with feedback on sample design options posted outside the council chambers. Larsen said the samples would be posted on the city’s Facebook page for public review and input.