A Bold Vision for Boone

Lawrence Group Presents the Results of Weeklong Planning Charette

Story by Kathleen McFadden

Another conceptual plan showing the variety of development possibilities in Boone is this multistory residential development situated on the corner of Water and Howard streets downtown. “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

So cautioned Craig Lewis of the Lawrence Group at the closing presentation of the Boone 2030 planning charrette last week.

What Lewis meant is that the collective vision of what Boone can become won’t be accomplished in one fell swoop or even in the next several years. The vision is a long-term one, looking ahead two decades from right now, and the only way to reach it is in incremental steps.

Those incremental steps are the “good” that Lewis referred to, with the “perfect” being the ideal vision.

Almost 200 people attended Lewis’ wrap-up, many of whom had participated in the daily planning sessions throughout the previous week where Lawrence Group planners gathered input on every aspect of life in Boone—from its walkability to its affordable housing crisis.

One of the possibilities for development in Boone that planners from the Lawrence Group suggested during last week’s Boone 2030 presentation is this retail-housing structure in the K-Mart parking lot. Among the design concepts this development incorporates are mixed uses with a minimal street setback, pedestrian scale construction, and sidewalks separated from the roadway by a landscaped buffer. After the planners collected, synthesized and organized the input, Lewis threw it all up on the screen at the closing presentation and commented, “This is much more than a land use plan. We knew that going in. The result is truly a vision for you all to start charting the next 22 years.”

Lawrence Group planners identified key citizen priorities that emerged throughout the week:

• More efficient transportation patterns and parking opportunities
• Predictable development regulations and approval
• Protection of natural resources
• More opportunities for community interaction (events, centers, groups)
• Variety of safe and affordable housing options
• Economic opportunities/jobs
• Design guidelines

Based on these priorities, they developed six broad recommendations for transportation improvements, natural resource enhancement and infill development that address these issues.

1. Improve Circulation for All Modes
Along with maps detailing specific road, transit (bus), bicycle, pedestrian and Greenway improvements, the planners also took a fresh look at the long-discussed, long-belabored Daniel Boone Parkway—and rejected all four of the DOT’s proposed routes for the Boone bypass.

“We go into shock when we see a road that bypasses everything in the community,” Lewis said. “And it’s expensive—$250 million and climbing.”
The Lawrence Group proposal is to use existing roadways for the first leg of the bypass by improving and taking out some of the turns in Bamboo and Wilson Ridge down to the hospital. Then comes a stretch of new roadway that would connect Highway 321 from the Deerfield Road intersection to Highway 105 via a road that would run behind the current high school property and connect with 105 near the high school stoplight.

“We view it as a true parkway with limited access,” Lewis explained. “This solution would be much less expensive and much less invasive [than the DOT proposals],” he added, and would provide either four or two automotive travel lanes, along with sidewalks or paths and bike lanes.

2. Protect and Improve the Environment with Every Decision
During his presentation last week, Lawrence Group principal Craig Lewis pointed to the property across from the Holmes Convocation Center as a signifiantly underutilized tract with its current strip of bars and restaurants, and showed this conceptualization as one possibility for a more attractive and more dense alternative development. Many of Lewis’ environmental examples focused on Kraut Creek. “Nature is desperately trying to be there,” he said. And the creek—much of it currently underground in pipes—can serve as a backbone for the community, Lewis explained.

Lewis presented a strategic plan for daylighting large sections of the creek, with a variety of options for riparian stabilization and creekside development. In addition, he presented a conceptual plan for a linear park along Highway 321 in the location currently occupied by the Red Carpet Inn and the Scottish Inn. Daylighting Kraut Creek along that strip, Lewis said, would not only provide environmental and esthetic advantages, but also a model location for office and retail development.

“You’ve probably ruined [the creek] as much as possible,” Lewis said, “so look for little successes. The one parking lot you can open up can have a big impact.”
In addition to the esthetic appeal, Lewis said, daylighting and restoring portions of Kraut Creek will also mitigate the flooding problems in Boone.

3. Focus on Downtown at the Center
Craig Lewis of the Lawrence Group facilitated the week-long planning charrette for the Town of Boone and gave the closing presentation at the Broyhill Inn to almost 200 people last week. Photo by Kathleen McFadden “You have a great structure already,” Lewis said, adding that short-term downtown improvements do not have to be prohibitively expensive.

“You don’t have to spend a lot of money—we call it death by brick,” he said—the idea that beautification depends on bricking all the sidewalks downtown and making other expensive cosmetic improvements.

In the short term, Lewis said, low-cost improvements include new coordinated signage and wayfinding, new street furniture (trash cans and benches) and replacement lighting focused on the pedestrian scale. In addition, Lewis said, Boone should eliminate parking requirements downtown. “Parking should be a public utility,” he said.

Lewis also suggested getting rid of all the Bradford pear trees downtown and replacing them with “real trees” before the Bradfords begin to look even more hideous. “I’m not a fan of the Bradford pear,” he said.

Long-term opportunities involve significant investment but can be implemented incrementally:

• Create a redevelopment program to encourage downtown redevelopment through reduced fees and other incentives
• Develop a public green space in the front half of the Town Hall parking lot
• Build parking deck(s)
• Redevelop catalyst site(s)
• Develop the King Street and Howard Street streetscapes

To illustrate what downtown could become, Lewis showed several plans and computer-generated development possibilities.

4. Create a Partnership/Incentives Program That Facilitates Redevelopment
Lawrence Group planners identified about a dozen “catalyst sites” in Boone, places that are ripe for redevelopment or enhanced development and that will integrate transportation and stormwater management.

On of those catalyst sites is the current high school property, and Lewis showed conceptual plans for two very different uses: a research campus with public and private tenants and a mixed-use plan including a Target, Barnes & Noble, movie theatre, Best Buy and 400 to 500 housing units.

Some of the other catalyst sites include the K-Mart property, the hospital district, the area on Highway 105 at Poplar Grove Road, the intersection of Rivers Street and Highway 321, and East King Street after the DOT widening project is completed.

5. Housing, Housing, Housing—Particularly for the Workforce
“Think mixed use in every project,” Lewis said. “Look for opportunities for housing everywhere.”

Among the conceptual plans he showed were cottage housing developments off State Farm Road and the Highway 105 Extension, gateway development on East King Street, and a mix of housing, office and retail units surrounding the hospital.

6. Full Overhaul of the Unified Development Ordinance
At the conclusion of the Boone 2030 closing presentation last week, Watauga County Commissioner John Cooper added a comment about the proceedings. The planners asked participants to identify things they had missed and to make comments. Photo by Kathleen McFadden None of these goals is achievable under Boone’s current development regulations.

The town’s Unified Development Ordinance was adopted in 1997. Last year’s Smart Growth Audit, a review of the town’s Comprehensive Plan and development regulations to determine if they promote the principles of Smart Growth, clearly showed that the Unified Development Ordinance is not accomplishing the town’s long-range planning goals.

Consequently, the Unified Development Ordinance must be rewritten.

Next Steps
Within the next few months, the Lawrence Group will complete a full report and add details and implementation strategies. Plan review and adoption are anticipated in early spring. The next step is tackling the Unified Development Ordinance.

Lewis also suggested partnering with ASU in planning and design efforts and creating a Boone Design Studio.

Another suggestion was to prioritize capital improvements. “Make a big list,” Lewis said. “You don’t have it yet. Look at the top 10 every year and then get busy.”

Implementation will take 20 to 30 years, he said, and some parts will take longer. But he urged the group not to consider the timeline a deterrent.

“Boone stood out for us as a community that can make things happen and be a model,” Lewis said. “If you start now, in 20 years you will be shocked at what you’ve been able to accomplish.”

What Is the 2030 Vision for Boone?

This conceptual plan for daylighting a portion of Kraut Creek is in the area currently dominated by the Red Carpet Inn and the Scottish Inn on Blowing Rock Road. The linear park created by opening the creek would provide a model environment for office and retail development, according to Lawrence Group planners. The recommendations from the Lawrence Group are based on the following vision for Boone in 2030 that was developed during the weeklong planning charrette:

Boone is a friendly, vibrant, attractive community that is financially, socially and environmentally sustainable. We are a regional center for commerce, healthcare and education, with walkable, bikable and transit-friendly diverse neighborhoods, aesthetically attractive shopping areas, a successful downtown and high quality educational institutions. We honor our high country heritage through the promotion of our culture and the protection of our natural resources.

What Is Smart Growth?

Communities across the United States are taking a hard look at past and current development policies and reevaluating the economic, social and environmental costs of the sprawl that has resulted. The communities are questioning the many costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city and having to rebuild it further out.

Taking a new look at existing infrastructure, redevelopment possibilities, demographics and environmental preservation has resulted in what is called Smart Growth, a new-old approach to planning that incorporates ten key principles:

1. Mix land uses.
2. Take advantage of compact building design.
3. Create a range f housing opportunities and choices.
4. Create walkable communities.
5. Foster communities with a strong sense of place.
6. Preserve open space, farmland, natural areas.
7. Direct development toward existing communities.
8. Provide a variety of transportation choices.
9. Make development decisions predictable, fair, cost effective.
10. Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration.

What Is Mixed-Use Development?

Mixed-use development is the practice of allowing more than one type of use in a building or set of buildings. In planning zone terms, mixed use can mean some combination of residential, commercial, industrial, office, institutional or other uses.

By allowing the proximity of different uses, alternatives to driving, such as walking or biking, become viable. Mixed land uses, because of increased density, can also provide a more diverse and sizable population, as well as a commercial base for supporting viable public transit.

Most zoning ordinances restrict mixed use. For example, ordinances may prohibit shops and businesses from being built within walking distance of houses. Or they may require setbacks that place buildings behind large parking lots and away from streets.

Traditional zoning regulations are typically designed to prevent disasters rather than to encourage excellent design. They tell developers what communities don’t want rather than present a positive model for development. Mixed use, on the other hand, does focus on positive models.

What Is Infill Development?

The Lawrence Group identified the current Watauga High School property as a catalyst site, one that presents a significant redevelopment opportunity. One potential use for the property is as a residential-commercial development, with a combination of large and medium size stores (Target, Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, a movie theatre) and 400 to 500 housing units. Infill development is the creative recycling of vacant or underutilized land in cities and suburbs. Every city, town and suburb has these types of properties. They range from the single vacant lot to surface parking lots to empty shopping malls.
Successful infill development is based on the scale of the pedestrian. Sidewalks, greenways and transit systems link housing to schools, services, parks and places of employment. Neighborhood design provides the setting for friendly interaction and public safety. In such a development, the private automobile becomes an option, not a necessity.

Children, the elderly, and others without cars can move about independently to conduct their daily activities.

Advocates state that infill development can reduce traffic congestion, save open space, and create more livable communities.

What Is the Land Use Master Plan?

Another conceptual development for downtown Boone is this multistory, mixed-use structure on the corner of King and Depot streets. One of the recommendations of the Lawrence Group planners is to develop downtown as a center, and such developments combining residential and retail would contribute to that goa Consultants from the Lawrence Group have been tasked with helping to develop a land use master plan for Boone.

The land use master plan is a blueprint for the town’s Comprehensive Plan. Like most blueprints, this detailed document addresses development, redevelopment and public investment on a parcel-by-parcel basis.

The land use master plan is composed of a land use plan map and land use category descriptions. The goal of the land use master plan is to provide a general pattern for the location, distribution and character of the future land uses in Boone’s growth area. The land use master plan is not a zoning document, but a reflection of the community’s vision of its future self.

Along with other plans, guidelines and directives, the land use master plan will include the following:

• Land development and redevelopment policies and map
• Transportation network enhancements and a multi-modal concept plan
• Urban design/urban infill plan for downtown and surrounding neighborhoods
• Financing strategies, public-private partnerships programs, and key parcel development analysis
• Strategic initiatives for environmental sustainability
• Strategies for providing affordable housing
• Key historic preservation initiatives

The land use master plan works together with the comprehensive plan and other plans and programs to provide for the Town of Boone’s long-range growth.

How Will the Land Use Master Plan Be Implemented?

The best master plans are always accompanied by implementation documents such as form-based codes.

These codes are heavily design based and emphasize urban design and architectural form. Conventional zoning codes, on the other hand, focus on land uses that tend to come and go.

Form-based codes focus less on uses in buildings and more on the massing, character and scale of the buildings themselves as well as the design of adjacent urban spaces. Together, these factors contribute to local character far longer than continually changing uses. Accordingly, form-based codes contain less text than conventional zoning codes and are richly illustrated to depict the desired urban form and spatial relationships desired by the community in varying contexts.