Riverwalk Village: The Site Plan

I was able to get a copy of the site plan today for Riverwalk Village and it looks pretty darn good.  I'm seeing a lot more pros than cons as I dig in.  It utilizes the land and geography nicely and puts appropriate development in the appropriate place.  Here's the plan overlaid on Google Maps.

There are 16 different sections broken out into 7 different categories, each with a slightly different intent and purpose.  I think they have largely gotten these right.  Here are the descriptions for each according to the site plan along with my commentary.

• A1-A2 - Office District - This area is well located along the western edge to place it closest to 400 which was an intentional decision by the developer to keep the residential and retail further away from the highway.  I'm curious about it being further south on the site though as there will be a lot of commuters driving through to get to the offices.  That could be a positive for the retail and it would be great to be able to get out of the office and walk to the river during lunch break.
• B1 - Medium Density Residential (Townhomes & Single Family) - The residential is toned down from the East Roswell/Charlie Brown proposal from 2007.  In fact, there are roughly half the number of units coming down to 1500+ from 3000.  I don't see any single family on the site plan but the description calls for it.  We'll see if that happens.  I really like that this B1 parcel it is situated close to the river and what will eventually be more parks and trails in Riverwalk Village.
• C1-C8 - Mixed Use Development District (Residential & Non-Residential Uses, Such as Retail, Restaurant, Civic, Office, Multi-Family, Entertainment) - This one is a bit tough to envision but the obvious main point is that it will front what appears to be a Main Street that bisects the new development.  This could create a great walkable street on the east side of town that currently has nothing at all close to a walkable urban street.  Or.. It could end up looking plasticy and contrived like Town Brookhaven.  It will hopefully take its inspiration from Serenbe, Downtown Woodstock and Glenwood Park.  I like that there will be a small bridge crossing the lake.
• D1 (with alternate) - School or Alternate Residential District - This one is well played.  The developer has to expect that their largest opposition is going to come from Martins Landing.  This part of the property abuts 21 single family homes along Trailmore Dr & Trailmore Pl.  So, they place a school that will cater to children with disabilities on the adjacent property.  If for some reason, there is enough objection to the school, they have prepared option two which will be townhomes and multi-family from what I can tell. The one thing that seems a bit ridiculous is that the multi-family and the townhomes each have their own entrance/exit on to Old Alabama.  There should be street connectivity between the properties.
• E1-E2 - Entertainment District (Restaurant, Retail, Grocery, Multi-Family) - Everyone loves entertainment.  The lone rendering which I shared in my first post on Riverwalk is, from what I can tell along the lake in what looks to be E1.  They've done an excellent job putting this area next to the lake and it appears they will utilize the water in an urban fashion actually building right up to it which differs significantly from most modern development which caters to the environmental memes of water quality protection at all costs.  (One reason we can't develop much at all along the Chattahoochee).  I'm thinking the water in the lake won't be as blue as the rendering depicts though. Whatever they've done, it sure does attract a lot of Rendering People though.  Be prepared to be Entertained!
• F1 - Hotel District (Hotel, Civic, Multi-Family) - The articles and PR releases floating around are calling for a ~200 key hotel.  That would give this new hotel 28 more rooms than the Doubletree.  It will be positioned directly on the little lake.  Once again, well thought out.  Roswell needs this.  Period!
• Greenspace - (Parks, Trails, Landscaping) - This is a huge plus for this development and I sure hope they get it right.  There is a real opportunity to differentiate the development from virtually any other in Atlanta.  Mixed-Use with a connection to the Chattahoochee River and the Roswell Riverside Trail.  Wow!  I'd like to see the city jump on the opportunity to finally connect the Big Creek Greenway to the River by somehow extending the trail from Big Creek Park down through this project and to the River.  There aren't many details yet on the greenspace but given what they are doing with the rest of the property, I'm thinking this will be a win.

Our next post will take a look at transportation and potential traffic issues and after that, we'll hypothesize on what this means for Roswell and in particular, the Historic District given that it will have Avalon, Alpharetta City Center and now Riverwalk Village to compete with.

WTF Roswell?

I've been wondering a few things lately.. I'm just going to get this all out in one post.

Why don't we partner more with non-profits such as the Trust for Public Land & the PATH foundation?  We could make a lot of things happen a lot faster if we decided to partner with these organizations.  The PATH Foundation would be a great partner for the Rowell Loop and the TPL might have some interest in helping us add park land along the River.  I'm just sayin.

What in the world was the city doing redesigning the city green plan behind the scenes? This one really bugs me.  We have a plan.  It's a really good one.  There are almost 600 supporters of the plan.  

Why in the world is the city having an internal charrette to look at alternative designs?  The DDA hired JB+a to do conceptual design work.  These are the same guys that designed Suwanee's Town Center.  No offense to staff, but I think the JB+a guys have a pretty good track record at desiging urban parks.  

Why wouldn't the city get significantly more involved in the architecture of the new school?  They get into intricate nuances on irrelevant buildings but but the city seems to be indifferent when the largest building to be built in Roswell in the last 10-15 years comes along.  It's run of the mill architecure that looks just like a handful of other schools recently constructed or currently being built in Fulton County.  I'm shocked that we didn't even ask if we could get some different colors that might be more fitting for Roswell.  It's mind bottling.  

Why do we give business owners on Canton St shit when they want to add harmless accents to their shopfronts?  Seriously guys.  A couple tasteful shutters by an entrance, some colorful shade curtains.  I happen to love the Mac McGee paint job but man.. how did they get that done when people who have all but made Canton St what it is want to make small, inconsequential tweaks have to go through hell and then can't do what they want to do?

Why can't we figure out the HBR/400 SE quadrant?  Someone grow a pair and just call it what it is.  It is the most valuable piece of land in Roswell that is going to be developed at some point and guess what.. there will be traffic and tall buildings and transit and all of the things that those loud people over there just can't stand.  

Why do we have over 1300 dead ends or cul-de-sacs in our city?  Seriously... that's whole lot of cul-de-sac.  What it does is force essentially EVERY driver on to Holcomb Bridge Road.

WTF is up with Stormwater?  If we can't figure this out, we are going to see development really slow down in the historic district.

WHY.. WHY..  WHY.. can't we get the damn sidewalks between the square and City Hall fixed?  This is the heart of our city and the sidewalks along the main thoroughfare are abysmal.

Does anyone here not understand that Alpharetta is about to eat North Fulton's collective lunch?  Hey Milton, Johns Creek & Roswell..  Alpharetta is going to eat your lunch.  Just thought I'd let you know.

I bet you thought I'd gripe about road signs.. I'm resigned to the fact that our governments will continue to treat all citizens as if they are complete and utter imbeciles.  

There.. I've said it.  I can now get on with my life.

East West Alley Master Plan - Public Input Wanted

The public meeting for the East West Alley Master Plan is next week on 6/17.  Activating our alleys is an incredibly efficient way to expand the vitality of our Canton Street area.  There are numerous examples of successful alley conversions worldwide but I really like some of the concepts illustrated by the Alley Network Project.   They are small tight places that make you feel cozy.  They can be fantastic places for art installations.  And most importantly, they enhance connectivty and thus walkability and provide opportunities for creative reuse of space. So, if you want to add more vitality around Canton Street and continue to build our downtown, try to attend.  

My one piece of feedback is that we need to make these the first examples of active "Shared Space" or Woonerfs in the metro area.  

Here's the flyer.

East Roswell Development Update

East Roswell has gotten a little busier lately.  A couple projects caught my eye as interesting.  They are both essentially at the Scott Rd intersection.  The first is the Centenniel Walk development that previously went bust in the mid aughts due to the great recession.  It has been resurreced by John Weiland Homes and is now slated to have 29 townhomes and 80 single family homes. I like this project because it is filling in an area that is prime for a walkable development.  It could use a little more mixed-use but will have a small retail component at the Eves Rd/HBR corner.

The second is a yet to be named subdivision that is just across HBR from Centenniel Walk.  The entrance will create a 4 way intersection at Scott Rd and it the new road will connect to 6 Branches Drive in Martins Landing.  This will create an additional connection and whittle just a little bit off the existing superblock.  This development will have 44 townhomes and 46 single family residences.  

Here's what that area could look like in a couple years.

West Roswell Elementary Update - Community Meeting Monday 3/3

It's been a while since I've seen or heard any info on this one but it looks like Fulton County is about to get the ball rolling on the new elementary school.  There will be a community meeting on Monday, 3/3 at 630pm at Roswell North Elementary School to discuss school construction and design.  Below is a letter to parents of Esther Jackson Elementary School parents from principal Jennifer Cassidy.

Dear Parents,

On Monday, March 3, 2014 at 6:30 PM a community meeting will be held to discuss the new West Roswell Area Elementary School. This new school will serve as the temporary site for EJ as our school is being rebuilt. The meeting will be held at Roswell North Elementary School.  If you would like to attend to hear information about our temporary site, please read the information below. At this time, there is not any specific information available about the design of the new building on our Esther Jackson site. The replacement building for EJ will not be discussed at this meeting. We will update our school website with new information about our site as it becomes available.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Cassidy, Principal

School construction and design to be discussed at community meeting

Construction and design information for three new elementary schools will be presented at specially held community meetings the first week of March. The schools are part of Fulton County Schools’ five-year eSPLOST capital program that is building new schools, funding renovations and additions, and supporting new technology in classrooms.

School system representatives will be on hand to discuss each school’s special features. Also present will be the school architects as well as system staff members representing construction management and facilities planning. The meetings will not focus on attendance boundaries or redistricting.

West Roswell Area Elementary School
March 3, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.
Held at Roswell North Elementary School (10525 Woodstock Road, Roswell)

The West Roswell Area Elementary School (official name to be determined) will be located at the intersection of Alpharetta Street and Thomas Drive in Roswell. The shopping center and residences currently at the site will be demolished to make room for the new school, which will initially open in August 2015 as the temporary home of Esther Jackson Elementary School. Esther Jackson Elementary is scheduled for replacement, and once it is demolished and rebuilt on its site, the West Roswell school will permanently open to students in August 2016.

Roswell Town Green Renderings

The DDA presented their vison for the Roswell Town Green to the City Council and what was probably an audience of 40+ citizens and city staff this evening.  Monica Hagewood and Dave Schmit of the DDA took the council and audience through the vision for the project and some of the key economic numbers that they feel justify the project. 

In all, the project would be completed in three phases and would cost an estimated $12.1 million.  This seems steep but when you weigh it against the expected private investment that the DDA feels it would spur on, it starts to look like a bargain.  They feel that this redevelopment could result in an additional $200+ million in investment in the core of our city.  These are estimates but they are being done by industry veterans and thus should have some credibility.  

The renderings were nice.  They illustrated the proposed vision but the DDA was careful to remind the audience that these are conceptual to illustrate the vision and that many of the fine details would need to be worked out as the project progresses.  Here are the illustrations.

images: Roswell Downton Development Authority

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Update on Wednesday, February 26, 2014 at 11:07PM by Michael D Hadden

I've added a petition in support of the Town Hall Green on Change.org.  If you are in support, let the Mayor and Council know!!  LINK

Be Afraid.. Be Very Afraid

The witching month is upon us and some local ghouls, pundits and politicians would have you believe that one of the most terrifying moments in Roswell’s history is looming.  They will have you believe the Unified Development Code (UDC) will cast a shadow of doom over our great city that will be wrought by our current crooked city council and their greedy developer cronies.  These oracles will try to convince you, the naive and credulous, that this new code will usher in smothering density, rampant apartments, skyrocketing crime, soaring infrastructure costs, high-rise buildings, dysfunctional schools, choking traffic and the most ghastly of all...  URBANISM!!!

The UDC does allow for increased density and apartments in certain areas.  Will it be smothering? Is Vickery Village in Cumming a smothering Place?  Are the Providence Townhomes on Canton St smothering?  How about the Bricks and Founders Mill?  What about Liberty Lofts?  I guess they’re right.  Density is unbearable.

Some local examples of Unbearable Density. Clockwise from top left; The Bricks, Founders Mill, Vickery Village, Providence

What about the apartments?  Our current apartment complexes are unmitigated disasters.   Most were not well designed, poorly maintained and thoughtlessly located.  They segregated residents by class and effectively created billboards of indigence.  Lessons have been learned, just take a look at the Canton City Walk plans.  We need new, well-designed apartments like these.

The latest renderings of Canton City Walk illustrate the power of a quality architectural scheme coupled with walkability.

Will we see skyrocketing crime? I have faith in the men and women in law enforcement here in Roswell and the laws we have in place to prevent criminal activity.  It’s just not going to happen.

Infrastructure Costs will soar. Hmm.. Developers pay a lot of infrastructure costs up front and a tighter development pattern reduces infrastructure maintenance costs.  The alternative is to continue a sprawl pattern of development which has proven to cost more to maintain in the long run.  

Evaluation of Urban Residential vs Suburban Residential development in Sarasota, FL. image: Urban3

They’re bringing high-rises.  It’s the ghost of Charlie Brown.  Seriously folks, we have to move on.  The parcel of land at 400 and Holcomb Bridge is too valuable not to redevelop.  The UDC will permit buildings up to 8 stories in that area.  Additionally, it will likely be a future MARTA station.  It’s coming.  Get over it.  It’s only 8 stories.  The next most towering height permitted is 6 stories at Hwy 140 & 9.  There are 6 story buildings all over North Fulton.  Several other areas permit a lofty 4 stories and the rest of the map allows up to 3 stories.  (Correction: 6 stories are permitted in most of the industrial areas North of Mansell along the hwy 9 corridor and east into the industrial areas.  I did not clarify that in the published column.)

Roswell East (aka Charlie Brown) is a little too intense for Roswell. The UDC isn't dictating that this type of development be built anywhere.

Density will destroy our schools.  Huh?  Transiency, poverty and social disorder kill schools not people.  If we build a place where responsible people want to live, regardless of whether they are renters or owners, we won’t have a school problem.  

We will Choke on Traffic.  Our Transportation Master Plan that was approved in September helps address these issues but I challenge anyone out there to name any thriving city that does not have traffic?  Cities and towns without traffic problems are dying cities and towns.  Detroit’s done a fantastic job solving its traffic problem.  

They’re mandating URBANISM!!! - Let’s set this straight.  Urbanism is a design philosophy covering the spectrum from low density to very high density.  Urbanism does not mandate Manhattan but it allows it, just as it allows single family residential. Urbanism promotes connectivity, proximity, mixed-use, walkability, bikeability, incremental change and value creation through effective and thoughtful land use.  

The transect outlines development patterns from Rural to Urban. New Urbanism does not mandate high density.

Canton Street, the Mill Village, Milton Crabapple, Historic Norcross and Marietta Square are all examples of good URBANISM.  So is Seaside which is the only place I can think of that consistently and genuinely has the idyllic “white picket fence” that seems to define the “small-town feel.”  So, how is it that the world’s preeminent model of ‘urbanism’ provides exactly the idyllic, small-town feel that these public agitators preach will be destroyed by said ‘urbanism’? Go sell your Revelations somewhere else preacher men because I’m not buying it.  (30-A stickers anyone?)

The process has been rushed!  I disagree.  Our 2030 Comp Plan was adopted in Oct. 2011.  Amongst other things, it aims to revitalize declining areas, add additional housing options and update existing codes to attract high-quality projects.  Our current codes could not easily accomplish this task and in May 2012 the city brought in Code Studio to assist with the mammoth effort of updating and simplifying them.  A stakeholder committee was formed and has worked diligently over the past 16 months to get to this point. There have been over 40 meetings since the process began and all of them have been open to the public. The process has been well documented and open to the public.

All legislation should have a clear purpose.  The purpose of the UDC is to aid the city in implementing the 2030 Comp Plan and its Strategic Economic Development Plan.  Those that proselytize against the UDC have no plan, they just don’t like this one.  Some of their concerns have some merit but to spout off every worst case scenario to sack legislation is immature and disingenuous.  The bottom line is that Roswell has a plan that was created through a very open process with SIGNIFICANT and UNPRECEDENTED community input and the UDC helps implement that plan.

The kicker is that almost everything the UDC allows could be done today but it would take a lot more effort between the city and developers, builders & property owners thereby wasting taxpayer money and sending a discouraging signal to anyone wanting to do business in Roswell.  The UDC will help Roswell execute on its vision by reducing red tape, clarifying the vision and enabling the private sector to more efficiently and effectively put capital to work.

The Devil’s Advocate likes to say the Devil is in the Details.. I say the Devil is in Delay... NO ONE IS EVER GOING TO AGREE WITH EVERYTHING IN THIS DOCUMENT.

Let your mayor and council know that you support the UDC by sending them an email at  RoswellMayorandCouncil@roswellgov.com

Thoughts on Our New School

It looks like this is the model for our new elementary school... right next to our Historic District. I'm not sure this is much better than the strip mall it's going to replace.  Here are some of my musings on our new elementary school...

View from Ison Dr. Imagine this view from Alpharetta St.

I'm not sure the side of the new school is much of an improvement.

School Architecture - A school should be more than a box where we house our kids during the day... it should inspire learning.  It should not look like a dorm or an office building or an apartment building.  When you see it, you should be able to tell that it is a school.  That's not something that we see much of these days. Milton High comes to mind as good architecture for a school.

The school we are getting will be a cookie cutter version that Fulton County is using quite frequently these days.  It will be the same as Ison Springs Elementary and Lake Forest Elementary in Sandy Springs.  The architect architect was Collins Cooper Carusi and the builder was Evergreen Construction.  You can see some wedding day photos of their work here.  I call them wedding day photos because the school is never going to look any better.  They actually have some very nice work in their portfolio.  Unfortunately, our school probably won't be one of their best.

All that said, the interior design of the school will likely be very good.  Learning by Design rated that design as an outstanding project for 2011.  

At a minimum, the school design needs some work on the exterior to give it a distinct Roswell feel.

School Walkability - Roughly 50% of kids walked to school in 1969.  As of 2009, that number had dropped to roughly 15%.  Of course, in the same period, the number of kids who are driven to school in private vehicles has jumped from 12% to 44%.  Just one more thing contributing to the obesity epidemic in our country.  Will this school help reverse that trend?  I highly doubt it.  In this day and age, schools are designed to accommodate bus traffic, car traffic and then foot traffic.  

School Site & Size - This is truly what determines the walkability of a school.  Ideally, an elementary school is embedded into the neighborhood that it serves.  Unfortunately, we haven't done a particularly good job in this country planning for future school sites.  Compounding the issue are school site requirements.  In Georgia, site size requirements are as follows:

• Elementary Schools - 5 acres + 1 acre for every 100 full-time enrolled students
• Middle Schools - 12 acres + 1 acre for every 100 full-time enrolled students
• High Schools - 20 acres + 1 acre for every 100 full-time enrolled students

Given that a quarter mile walk is generally the radius in which someone will choose to walk versus jumping in the car, we are significantly limiting the number of students who would likely choose to walk and finding sites that meet these requirements in already built out cities is increasingly challenging (and expensive).  

With these size requirements, you might figure that size is a requirement to delivering a top notch education.  However, that's not necessarily the case.  Take Inman Middle School in the Virginia Highland neighborhood as an example.  It's a solid school with a 9 out of 10 rating on GreatSchools.org but it's situated on only 2.5 acres.  With almost 800 students, that's about 17.5 fewer acres than the state of Georgia would require if a new school were to be built.  

Our new school will be on roughly 14 acres along hwy 9.  The districting has not been determined yet so we can't say where the students would be walking from.  But, we can safely say that kids residing on the west side of hwy 9 will probably not be walking to school.  Those that have to walk along hwy 9 will also probably not be walking to school.  Any students living more than a half-mile walk from the front door of the school will also probably not be walking.  So, this rules out a sizable chunk of the potential students.  No wonder new schools create traffic concerns.  All the students have to ride or be driven and it's almost exclusively due to the site location and site size requirements.

If we want our new school to be a walkable, neighborhood school, we have a lot of work to do.

I'll also be writing a piece on the school in my Community Design Matters column for the Sept edition of The Current.

Overview of the Unified Development Code

If you are looking for a quick primer on the Unified Development Code that Roswell will be voting to implement later this year, this is a relatively quick video.  This will be a big win for the city.  The code even has woonerf as a street type.  How European of us...

Chuck Marohn Visits Roswell

Last week, RoswellNEXT hosted guest speaker Chuck Marohn of StrongTowns.org.  Chuck spoke at RoswellNEXT's Town Hall Roswell event and presented his Curbside Chat to an engaged audience.  The StrongTowns approach to fiscal responsibility when it comes to infrastructrue and economic development is one that every municipality in our country needs to hear.  

Chuck makes the point that the development pattern of the last 60 years has been wholly unsustainable and that with each life cycle of development, we have moved into a different, less sustainable method of financing it.  The first life cycle was financed with savings.  The second life cycle was financed with public debt.  The third life cycle shouldered an increasing and concerning amount of private debt on top of the increasing amount of public debt.  The obvious conclusion is that we are broke and the current way of financing our projects is not going to function as it has over the past 60 years.  The Federal and State aid programs that cities and counties have been able to rely on are goign to be increasingly less and less available.  

The main point of the argument and one of the biggest reasons that his message hits home to New Urbanists is that the traditional development model that was proven over centuries prior to the suburban experiment seems to be one of the most financially sustainable and resilient development patters.  Maybe our ancestors actually did know what they were doing.  

Here's a video of the talk.

Jonathan Copsey of NorthFulton.com had a nice recap of the event here.