Plannng Board

City of Trenton Planning Board Conference and Public Hearing Thursday, April 13, 2023 Via Microsoft Teams or phone: 609-436-9298 The Conference ID is 412 046 968# Members in Attendance: Charles Romanow, Chair Randy Baum, Vice Chair Jonathan Conner Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed Anthony Santora Members Not in Attendance: Markus Green Jeff Halpern Joseph Harrison Wanda Swiggett Staff in Attendance: Michael Kolber, Senior Planner George McGill, Planning Board Attorney PUBLIC HEARING Current Planning Board Membership (as of 4/13/23) Class Term Ending Date Board Member I (Mayor’s Representative) Mayor’s Term Markus Green II (City Employee) 12/31/23 Anthony Santora III (City Council 12/31/23 Joseph Harrison Representative) IV (City Resident) 12/31/26 Patricia Ni’ma- Mohammed IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Randy Baum IV (City Resident) 12/31/25 Jeff Halpern IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 VACANT IV (City Resident) 12/31/25 Jonathan Connor IV (City Resident) 12/31/26 Charles Romanow ALTERNATES IV (City Resident) 12/31/23 Wanda Swiggett IV (City Resident) 12/31/24 VACANT The meeting was called to order at 6:10pm by Mr. Romanow. He read the Open Public Meetings Act and a quorum was verified. 1 Motion to approve the March 9, 2023 minutes. Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow X Randy Baum X X Jonathan Conner X Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed X Anthony Santora X X Motion to approve the March 23, 2023 minutes. Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow X Randy Baum X Jonathan Conner X Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed X X Anthony Santora X X Memorialize resolution for 226 South Broad Street Project# 2023-9 22-P-226 SB Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow X Randy Baum X X Jonathan Conner X Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed X Anthony Santora X X Mr. Kolber announced that the DRAFT Land Development Ordinance is in its Public Comment period. The DRAFT can be seen and commented on at www.Trenton250LDO.com Comments will be accepted until May 1st and Planning Board members are encouraged to submit their comments via the website along with the Public. PUBLIC HEARING Item #1 Redevelopment Area Plan – CHOICE Neighborhood Donnelly Homes The City Council of Trenton has authorized the Planning Board to undertake a preliminary investigation to determine whether vacant and/or abandoned properties and the Trenton Housing Authority Properties within the proposed Donnelly Homes study area qualify as an area in need of condemnation 2  redevelopment. The Trenton Housing Authority, utilizing their consultant Wallace, Roberts, and Todd, LLC, seeks authorization from the Trenton Planning Board to commence this investigation. The establishment of this redevelopment area plan is an identified action within the North Trenton/Battle Monument CHOICE Neighborhood Plan, which was adopted as an element of the Trenton 250 Master Plan on June 9, 2022. Mr. Wu Kim of Wallace, Roberts,and Todd and Ms. Christy Huff, of the Trenton Housing Authority. Mr. Kim introduced himself and the study area for the Donnelly Homes. He described the CHOICE Program and what it is intended to do and the duration of time it is supposed to cover. Via a screenshare, Mr. Kim reviewed the timeline for the work and the plan to present the results of the ‘blight study’ of the study area. He noted that the governing body, Trenton City Council, has directed the Planning Board to complete the study. He showed a rendering of what Donnelly Homes can look like along with Junior 1 school. He reviewed the two grants the City has received to do the work, including an action grant that is allowing the City and the Housing Authority to invest in the MLK corridor. The study area does not include the Assunpink Greenway. It was noted that there are 376 units in Donnelly Homes and approximately 340 are in use. Some of the 3-story walk-ups have not been re-rented after a tenant has vacated it. The Steering Committee has not been formed, but recommendations for how it should be formed are welcome. The CHOICE Plan does have a concept proposal connected to it that provides an understanding of the density of public housing lots. Mr. Kolber indicated that the DRAFT LDO for the City has been adjusted to incorporate the CHOICE Homes Development Plans. He also noted that it is not out of step with the Trenton250 Master Plan. Authorize the investigation of the study area for Donnelly Homes to be done by the Trenton Housing Authority and Wallace, Roberts, and Todd LLC (WRT) and report back to the Board as necessary. Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow X Randy Baum X Jonathan Conner X X Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed X X Anthony Santora X Item #2 Presentation: Trenton Vision Zero Vision Zero is a strategy to end all traffic deaths and serious injuries. Between 2016 and 2020, 31 people lost their lives on Trenton’s roads. 13 people in 2021 and 11 people in 2022 died in car crashes. Crashes that cause death or serious injury are not "accidents" because crashes are preventable. Humans make mistakes, but a mistake on the road shouldn't cost us life and limb. The road can and should be designed to do more to protect us. The forthcoming Trenton Vision Zero 3  Action Plan, facilitated by DVRPC, will provide analysis and data-driven strategies to help Trenton city government and outside partners eliminate severe crashes on Trenton’s streets. Creating a High Injury Network (HIN), or a map of all crashes between 2016 and 2020, revealed that 75% of all crashes resulting in death or serious injury occurred on just 16% of Trenton streets. By tackling these specific streets, Trenton can drastically reduce serious crashes and save lives. Ms. Kailin Phillips, DVRPC Office of Safe Streets, Ms. Marissa Volk, DVRPC Office of Transit Biking and Pedestrian Planning, Mr. Cassidy Bolin, Assistant Manager of the DVRPC Office of Transit, Bicycle, and Pedestrian Planning, Mr. Kevin Murphy, DVRPC Manager of the Office of Safe Streets introduced themselves and reviewed the Vision Zero work they are engaged in. Mr. Murphy described what Vision Zero is. He indicated that Trenton is on the national map for having one of the deadliest intersections in America because of the fatality data. There was a large increase in 2021. He noted that over half of the fatalities involved pedestrians. 75% of those fatalities occur on 16% of Trenton’s streets. It is recognized that traffic deaths are preventable so the Vision Zero policy is to work on correcting the conditions that lead to drivers making mistakes that cause crashes. Ms. Phillips reviewed the Complete and Green Streets Ordinance and the role that it plays in the Vision Zero work. Trenton has been doing this work since 2012. There has been a Trenton Complete Streets Design Handbook has been created and published, which means that it must be used in the design of a project. The statistics presented have not been compared against other statistics in other parts of the State. Managing speed and educating drivers are related to improving safety, but additionally, having leadership making a commitment to the integrative work needed to implement a plan for Trenton is a critical place to start. Having Vision Zero start off works toward having a bike plan. To engage the public there are pledges that people can take and anyone will be able to take that pledge to support complete and green streets and the supporting the bike plan. People will be approached to take that pledge at the outreach events. Keys to the Action Plan will include a record of crash experiences, high injury network, and priority corridor analysis. This will all gear Trenton up for Roads For All grants through the IRJA. A leadership commitment also comes along with these Federal funds. There is a goal for zero crossing related deaths by 2035. They are requesting a letter of support and for the Planning Board to find that the Vision Zero is consistent with the Trenton250 Master Plan. Additionally, they want the Board to encourage the Trenton Business Administrator to release an administrative order to support the Vision Zero plan. Adopt a Resolution to incorporate the findings above and the requested support 4  Member Aye Nay Ab- Motioned Seconded stain Charles Romanow X X Randy Baum X Jonathan Conner X Patricia Ni’ma-Mohammed X Anthony Santora X X Wills Kinsley, Executive Director of the Trenton Bike Revolution, he described the varied conversation he is aware of around newer developments in transportation options. He has been looking for knowledgeable contacts for people on each project involved that he can be aware of how to educate everyone on each moving part and how, if $5M has been earmarked to make Complete Streets work, he would like people to be aware of who to speak to and encourage those people to keep communicating broadly. Item #3 Presentation: Our Streets: A Trenton Bike Plan for All The City of Trenton and Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission are seeking the public’s help to create a bicycle plan that is inclusive of all Trentonians. The plan, called Our Streets: A Trenton Bike Plan for All, proposes adding bicycle lanes and making design changes on certain streets within the City to increase safety for all road users. The presentation will review the work that has taken place so far on this plan. The board and the public will be invited to ask questions and provide comments. In addition, the public will have the opportunity to view plan recommendations and provide feedback at upcoming in-person meetings on April 25 and May 7, or online from April 26 to June 8, 2023. For more information about the bike plan and public engagement opportunities, please visit dvrpc.org/ourstreets. Ms. Marissa Volk indicated that the public engagement has been updated to occur from May 8- June 11th in order to give DVRPC to update everything online. She noted that with the City Council passing the Complete Street ordinance Trenton is required to add bike lanes to its streets. She reviewed the area the plan covers, what is proposed and what are the goals of the plan. There is a Citywide Bike Network planned. There was a mix of in-person and online surveying of 274 people. Some of the surveys skew towards County users instead of Trenton users, so the in-person events are intended to capture more Trenton use specific data. The survey evaluated barriers to cycling of both cyclists and non-cyclists. Traffic safety is the number one factor that prevents people from wanting to bike. There were design questions also in the survey that looked at things like biking surfaces in use. The plan is looking at the use of the Street space and parking consolidation. At the outreach events there will be bike giveaways, bike tune-ups, ice cream, and bike lanes for attendees to try out. The team continues to explore the maximum width of bike lanes Trenton can accommodate and how to adjust parking and vehicle volume to allow bicycles to be safely on the street. People are indicating that they want to bike on-road 5 instead of on trails so that is complicating the exploration and planning underway currently. DVRPC is trying to figure out how to display the map so those in attendance can visually see the cooridors and understanding how the bike plan will work. Item #4 Presentation: Trenton Trails Plan Several regional and national trails travel through the City of Trenton, making it an important hub for current and future trail users. Trenton also has a network of existing, upcoming, and conceptual local trails that connect to parks, neighborhoods, and other destinations. DVRPC staff has worked with city agencies, neighborhood groups, and other stakeholders to formalize this network in the Trenton Trails Plan. This plan, currently under draft, will serve as the foundation for future work on specific projects and engagement around specific projects. The Team at DVRPC working in this arena was not available so their colleagues read their notes on the presentation. The vision for the trails plan was shared and it was noted that wayfinding and possible strategies for collaboration were goals for the plan. Stakeholder engagement is critical to this planning and implementation. The groups met with were described. From the public engagement, a map of the existing, upcoming, and potential networks were shown. Mr. Santora described the City’s collaboration with ETC and how he intends to complement what DVRPC’s intentions are for the area. Meeting adjourned at 7:57pm Respectfully submitted Cherry Oakley, Planning Board Secretary 6