Pedestrian Safety Board

January 2016 Meeting Agenda Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board Public Safety Building – Training Room 1 Monday, January 11, 2016; 4:30 – 5:45 PM The Morgantown Pedestrian Safety Board’s mission is to promote a walkable environment throughout the City by developing safe, attractive, and accessible walkways that connect neighborhoods and destinations. 4:30 pm Call meeting to order I. Introductions: a. Members - Matt Cross, Bill Reger-Nash, George Lilley, Jimmie Simmons, Jan Derry (jderry@nwvcil.org), Jay Redmond, Christiaan Abildso, Ella Belling, Lt McCabe, Dwight Harshbarger b. Guests: William Blosser, Andrew Costas (Andrew.costas@landmarkproperties.com), Frank Gmeindl, Bill Austin, Comments by chair:  Amy Boggs wants to attend our regular meetings  Kudos to Ella Belling for her good work II. Approval of December 2015 Minutes. George so moved, second by Jimmie, passed unanimous Voice Vote. III. Reports  -Mountain Line Maria Smith Not present  -Rail Trail Ella Belling Several proposals are being submitted to DOH for trail improvements. Also, the Mon County Schools have responded affirmatively to the letter sent to them about linking Suncrest Elementary to the Rail Trail.  -Greenspace Rick Landenberger Not present  -City Council Jay Redmond from 6th Ward. Stated that the concerns expressed about The Standard development are similar to Morgantown City Council and Planning Commission. Project challenged in a number of ways. Lots of variances. Requires annulment of Wall Street. Large bc it works for them financially.  -MPO Bill Austin (the recorder missed something here.) University Ave complete streets moving along. Draft report Feb 1.  -City Engineering Damien Davis Not present  -Police Officer Lt. McCabe Nothing to report  Traffic Commission Matt Cross IV. Old Business: o Reminder to report: o Sidewalks in need of repair: Go to http://com3.govtsystems.com/MorgantownWV/Request/. These issues are addressed and the person expressing their concern receives a response. o Sidewalk obstructions, such as vehicles illegally parked on the sidewalk. Call Police Chief Ed Preston’s office at (304)284-7496. V. New Business:-  Andrew Costas from Landmark Properties discussed a proposed 10-story development called The Standard, which is to be a 875-bed, two-acre development student housing (others can rent there also, but it is anticipated that occupants will 1  primarily be students) being proposed in the vicinity of Vic’s Garage. Landmark Properties currently has 13,000-15000 student housing beds across the nation. Each bed has in its own private room. The proposal includes parking accommodations for cars (80-85% of occupants—exceeds city requirements), access to the rail trail, kayaks, boat storage, bike storage.  In general, the discussion was quite positive. This would be a nice student housing addition to an area of Morgantown hat is currently run down and unsightly. Many, many positive attributes: adjacent to the Mon River, the Caperton Rail Trail, within easy walking distance to downtown shops, the WVU Downtown Campus, and to the PRT station. However, concerns were expressed as well.  Although Landmark Properties are providing a landing area for pedestrian bridge across University, they are not including funding in the project for this amenity. Strong concern was expressed in opposition to this lack of a safe means to cross University Avenue. According to Dwight Harshbarger, there will undoubtedly be more than 3,000 daily student crossings of University Ave from this proposed facility. This represents a huge risk to the students and liability to the building. Trip generation data for development doing done now using standard methodology. The city of Morgantown is giving the project significant resources. It was suggested that Landmark Properties needs to invest in a cross street bridge. Mr. Costas indicated that is the bridge were to be built, it would be outside of building and open to the public. The crossing bridge cannot tie into the parking garage because of the type of construction used in the parking garage. It was proposed to send a letter to the developer pointing out the added value of the bridge.  Parking entrance and exit from and on to University Ave will be confined to right turns only and will include lane dividers. William Blosser expressed concern about dividers, which will likely be run over by the large trucks which take all lanes when turning on to University Ave.  The project calls for annulling the Wall Street right of way. Several question what the city receives in return for giving up this land, if City Council approves the annulment.  Christiaan Abildso asked about retail resources facing the trail. This would be a nice amenity for the city. This is not in the design. Christiaan also expressed that a reconfiguration of the Fayette /University/ Beechurst intersection may alleviate pedestrian safety concerns.  Jan Derry emphasized that all sidewalks need to be in full compliance with ADA and Fair Housing Act regulations. With all the non-compliance we see in Mon County, it's critical to mention these standards so it gives the local community recourse, if needed. Andrew Costas assures us that the building would be in compliance.  Ella indicated that the trail in this area is heavily used. Need proper design so as to not compromise safety of trail. If large numbers of residents were to congregate on the trail, versus using the trail, it might present an obstacle to trail users.  The overall sentiment was supportive of the project moving forward as long as the expressed concerns are addressed.  George Lilley suggestion: Draft a letter to the developer summarizing the concerns about the project with a request that the developer respond. This draft letter should be presented to Ped Safety Board at the February meeting. Next meeting: February 1, 2016, Training Room 1, Public Safety Building, 4:30 – 5:30 pm Minutes submitted on January 12, 2016 by Bill Reger-Nash. 2