City Council

CITY OF FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA HON. MARY KATHERINE GREENLAW, MAYOR HON. WILLIAM C. WITHERS, JR., VICE -MAYOR, WARD TWO CITY COUNCIL HON. KERRY P. DEVINE, AT-LARGE HON. MATTHEW J. KELLY, AT-LARGE HON. JASON N. GRAHAM, WARD ONE HON. DR. TIMOTHY P. DUFFY, WARD THREE Council Chambers, 715 Princess Anne Street HON. CHARLIE L. FRYE, JR., WARD FOUR Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Joint Council-Planning Commission Work Session September 10, 2019 Areas 1 and 2 Plan with Streetsense DMO Proz Tourism Presentation The Council of the City of Fredericksburg, Virginia held a work session on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, beginning at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall, Large Conference Room. Council Present. Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw Presiding. Vice-Mayor William C. Withers, Jr., Councilors Kerry P. Devine, Timothy P. Duffy, Charlie L. Frye, Jr., Jason N. Graham and Matthew J. Kelly. Also Present. City Manager Timothy J. Baroody, Assistant City Manager Mark Whitley, Assistant City Manager Doug Fawcett, City Attorney Kathleen A. Dooley, Community Planning and Building Services Director Charles Johnston, Senior Planner Michael Craig, Community Development Planner Susanna Finn, Economic Development Director Bill Freehling, Business Development Manager Angela Freeman, Visitor Center Manager/Tourism Services Manager Danella Rose, Tourism Sales Manager Victoria Matthews, Economic Development Specialist Amy Perregoy, Budget Manager Deidre Jett and Clerk of Council Tonya B. Lacey. Planning Commission Present. Chairman Kenneth Gantt, David Durham, Thomas O’Toole, Rene Rodriguez, Steve Slominski. Planning Commission Absent. Christopher Hornung and James Pates. Others Present. Streetsense Managing Principle Heather Arnold, Director of Planning Collin Greene, Project Manager Beth Hessler, Erik Davis from Surface 678, Transportation Consultant Ein Banks and Bill Geise, DMO Prose. Areas 1 and 2 Plan with Streetsense. Mayor Greenlaw noted that the small area plans was one of the City’s most important works as far as planning was concerned. Mr. Craig said this was the fourth and fifth area plans to be done. The kick off of areas one and two gets the City to its halfway point in the area planning process. Area 1 was west of I-95 down to the mall and Area 2 was around Fall Hill Avenue. Mr. Craig reviewed that many changes to 1 the Area 1 changes. He said the Streetsense team and the staff would take a close look at technical background and look at what the community envisions in the future for this area. They will hold charrettes for this area. There will be three themes re-habitation, redevelopment and re-greening. Mr. Greene said Streetsense goal was to listen and understand what the Council wanted so they could work towards those goals. Mayor Greenlaw said as a commercial area the City was losing advantage of the I-95 frontage. She said everything backs up to I-95. She said her vison was an office park. Councilor Graham said the problem he saw was that the apartment complexes that were going up were generic, with no character. He said there was a lot of opportunity to build more mixed use to give a better quality of life. He said the areas need a sense of character and a sense of place to make people want to invest in the community and stay. Councilor Duffy said a sense of place was critical but other opportunities that were needed was a diverse economy and revenue stream. He said he was horrified by the number of apartments going up in this area. Councilor Duffy said if the City was going to build multifamily units let it be a part of an integrated community with access to parks, shopping and other things that are generated in other parts of the City. Councilor Devine agreed that the re-habitation, redevelopment and re-greening were all possibilities to this area. She also mentioned Parks and Recreation’s survey and there were requests for indoor facilities that were year around, and other facilities like skate parks, indoor pools. She said there also needs to be some affordable housing included. Councilor Kelly asked what communities the City should look at that have taken big box stores and redeveloped them. He said the City must maintain the vista of the river. He said the mixed use development had not been really focused on what it should be. He would like to know what the balance is between commercial and residential because this area was an area where the City could be imaginative in how it’s developed. Vice-Mayor Withers said the big box stores were not a big deal and they could be torn down and he said he would to see a real mixed use development. He said a neighborhood could be made by doing stacks and less traffic. Commissioner Durham said he was shocked at what was happening at M Street in DC and he suggested that’s what the City should look at. He said what was unique about this Small area plan was that it is has the opportunity to be dramatically different for the City but the City must look at the cost of infrastructure, schools and transit. 2  Councilor Frye said he would like to see more ownership to the mixed use. He said without ownership the area could become rundown. Councilor Graham said he would like to see the 15 minute neighborhood, which means you could walk where you want to go within 15 minutes. Councilor Kelly said he would like to figure out how to keep the citizens here because many of them are commuters. Commissioner Durham added that once they realize the direction of the City they will come. Commissioner Slominski said he liked the ideas and he agreed the City must do something different. If it is going to be bold it must have more constrictive rules to give the City what it wants as a community. Councilor Frye said he would like to see the area developed like the Stonebridge area in Woodbridge. Ms. Arnold summarized what they heard from Council and Planning Commission. DMO Proz Tourism Presentation. Economic Development Director Freehling began with breaking news that tourism was responsible for $196,000,000 in spending in Fredericksburg last year according to Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) data. This amount was up by five percent from the previous year and twenty-five percent in the past five years. Mr. Freehling showed a video that VTC released. Mr. Freehling introduced Mr. Geise with DMO Prozs whose firm was selected to do a study on Tourism. Mr. Geise presented a PowerPoint presentation and he discussed the following: timeline of tourism development, situational analysis, stakeholder views, destination marketing 2020, findings, recommendations/action plans. Council also received a copy of the draft Tourism 2020 Study which contained all the information discussed in the PowerPoint presentation. Mr. Geise recommended the following: Evaluate the importance of destination marketing in its community development strategy, encourage the FRTP to transition into an independent 401(c)6 non-profit organization, increase the City’s investment into tourism development, relocate the visitor information center and he suggested the EDT budget should be closer to $1 million and support staff of no less than 4 full-time employees to consist of Tourism Manager, Marketing & Communications Director/Content Manager, Group Business Development Manager and Group Business Services/Visitor experience Manager. Councilor Kelly said the suggested regional approach with the 501(c)6 was a good idea. He also asked if it made sense to have a more structured relationship with stakeholders in designing marketing efforts. Mr. Geise said there needed to be a process but those that were being hired 3 needed to make the calls. Mr. Kelly also asked what the salary should be considered for the Tourism Manager and Mr. Geise said for a million dollar budget the salary should be approximately $100,000. Mayor Greenlaw said the City was in a great place and the City must make the best of the opportunity. Adjournment. There being no further business to come before the Council at this time. Mayor Greenlaw declared the session officially adjourned at 7:11 p.m. _Tonya B. Lacey _______ Tonya B. Lacey Clerk of Council City of Fredericksburg 4