Final Staunton West End workshop comes to a close
STAUNTON – The third and final West End workshop brought the wide-net information-gathering stage of revitalization to a close on May 7.
Director of Community Development Rodney Rhodes told The News Leader about 20 citizens attended the workshop, less than half of the previous two. Staunton councilors Alice Woods and Adam Campbell both attended the workshop, similar to the January event.
“I consider myself a West Ender,” said Woods. She pointed to several places on a map, including her current home near the West End border highlighted on the map. When asked for a specific, achievable goal she would like to see, she pointed to pedestrians and lighting.
“They revitalized downtown Lewis Street, Central Avenue, and Churchville with lighting,” Woods explained. “You see the lights coming from the ground, you don’t have these big poles and all of that. If that could happen to a certain part of the West End, where the majority of the businesses are, starting on maybe Park Boulevard and up. Just building it up, that’s one of our interest corridors.
This is far from the only goal Woods or the city have for the West End. The results from all three workshops, two online surveys, and interviews with individuals will turn into a report – the West End Revitalizations Strategies guide.
The input did not vary wildly. Will Cockrell, one EPR, P.C. consultant hired by Staunton to work on the project, told The News Leader, “What surprised me was the consistency. The open house, the survey, we had an 87-page report from engagement, there was a survey from a few years ago, but we came up with the same conclusions. That was a little surprising.”
Vibrant, healthy, green, affordable are the four major goals
Putting all the feedback together, planners settled on four major goals:
“Vibrant Commercial Corridor.” This means bringing in and creating more local businesses along West Beverley Street and throughout the West End. The city could provide educational material about tax and loan programs, establish pop-up markets in empty lots, add signage to the entrance corridor to better highlight the businesses and attractions to tourists and motorists, develop an arts program for mural and other installations to beautify the West End, and bring the area into the Enterprise Zone, which offers business incentives and resources. “People want small shops on West Beverley,” Cockrell said.
“Healthy and Safe Connections.” This goal revolves around accessibility – the city would need to improve bike and pedestrian pathways across the West End, add sheltered bus stops and benches, create more lighting for nighttime pedestrians, adding bike facilities in both Gypsy Hill and Montgomery Hall parks, and making repairs the already present paths.
“Green Neighborhoods.” This goal is literally adding more green space to the West End. The city’s action items would be beautifying the streets with trash clean-up days, planting native plants, removing invasive species, providing more education about potential flooding, educating residents on native plants, and planting street trees on W Beverley Street.
“Reinvestment and Affordability.” This goal both wants to encourage home investment and maintain affordability for the current residents. The city could provide property owners and residents more education on the currently available resources for property maintenance and renter’s rights and establish neighborhood advocate groups for each neighborhood.
The full breakdown is available on the West End project page online.
A reoccurring action item in each goal is education. Cockrell explained several of the ideas residents provided on how to improve the West End were things the city was already doing.
“I think part of the problem is just awareness – this program does exist,” Cockrell said. “We just need to make that more accessible.”
Rhodes expects a draft of the West End Revitalizations Strategies guide by June, which will be presented to the public at the Staunton Planning Commission in July and Staunton City Council in August. More information about the project is available online.
Lyra Bordelon (she/her) is the public transparency and justice reporter at The News Leader. Do you have a story tip or feedback? It’s welcome through email to lbordelon@gannett.com. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
More: Shots fired in Stuarts Draft as suspect faces numerous charges
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Final Staunton West End workshop comes to a close
