By Brenna Wiegand
Silverton Mayor Stu Rasmussen developed fresh insight on sidewalk width during a recent trip to “a slightly larger city.”
“I noted that 42nd Avenue in New York City, which is the theater district, had a 10-foot sidewalk on both sides,” he said. “…And Lexington Avenue had a 9-foot sidewalk.”
Other places, he said, varied from being much narrower than Silverton’s 9 feet to sidewalks as wide as 12 to 15 feet.
“But what made them work was that the width of the sidewalk and the number of people on it is what determines how busy it looks, so a wide sidewalk with three people walking looks deserted and a narrow sidewalk with three people on it looks two or three times as busy,” Rasmussen said, “and what we want in our downtown is the appearance of ‘busy’ – moving vehicles and moving people – so that you say ‘There’s some action there; there’s something happening;’ that tumbleweeds aren’t the only thing you see moving.”
What makes a downtown work was at the heart of the discussions at the June 20 Silverton Urban Renewal Agency meeting. Streetscape Concept 2, which the deliberations seemed most closely to follow, calls for an additional 4 feet on either side – 13-foot sidewalks – on East Main Street between Water and First streets.
While 42nd Street also had street trees, some of those in Silverton are “problematic,” Rasmussen said, probably due to being planted too high. The roots prohibit installation of ground-level grates in lieu of a large planting area that usurp walking space. Due to the extensive streetscape review process, the decision on whether the parking meters will remain still waits in the wings.
The Silverton City Council, in the role of the urban renewal board, reviewed design options presented by staff and public testimony.
Council President and agency board member Bill Cummins said he leaned toward adding 3 feet because of the Master Plan’s goal of making downtown more pedestrian friendly and plaza-like. Member Randal Thomas agreed.
In the end, the board compromised on 11-foot sidewalks by a 4-2 vote.
This is where the agency’s voting protocol comes into play: Those in the majority have the right to call for reconsideration of an action item in subsequent meetings. If there is a tie, those who voted against the issue have that right.
There will be trees, no matter what, but members were split – Laurie Carter, Scott Walker and Rasmussen in favor of keeping the existing trees; Thomas, Cummins and Judy Schmidt wanting to replace them. The absence of councilor and agency member Kyle Palmer, who was on vacation, was lamented because, as Walker said, his presence would “clarify a lot of things quickly.” Palmer is required to review the content of all that had transpired prior to the next meeting.
Carter was a strong proponent for keeping the existing trees due to the better air quality and greater carbon monoxide uptake of mature specimens. Walker added that the larger trees did a better job of hiding power lines.
Schmidt said she compromised on the 2-foot sidewalk extension figuring that replacing the trees closer to the sidewalk would add to walkway size and plaza look.
“We will have decent trees and we can keep them away from the buildings and add to the facades; make them look better,” she said.
Cummins was adamant that greater heed be given to a repeated refrain from downtown property and business owners to replace the trees.
Much debate and need for clarification ensued about whether to install pedestrian “bump-outs” at three of the four corners of Water and Main.
Silverton Public Works Director Gerald Fisher explained that these curb extensions for those wishing to cross the street would fall one foot inside the parking stall width.
“If your parking stall is 7 feet wide … you’ve brought pedestrians 6 feet farther out into the roadway where they can be seen and they have a protected zone in which to stand,” he said. “You’ve lessened the distance that they have to cross the street.”
The motion on bumpouts failed through a 3-3 tie.
As the night drew on to its 11:30 p.m. conclusion, Rasmussen suggested further discussion be postponed to await material from the staff to enable members to better visualize the options before them.
Walker and Carter preferred to go through as many elements as possible that night while Cummins expressed displeasure at the item-by-item turn the meeting took at its outset, reminding members that they generally set a time limit of 10 o’clock for meetings.
“The phase we are now entering into is diminishing the work we started … back in 2001-02 … We’re diminishing a real opportunity to provide a real benefit to the downtown core because we have a member missing and I don’t want to speak for one of the members but when we make a vote and then we think that we may have hindered the opportunity, say so; you have that chance … that is well within the protocol.”
“I feel that we’ve made a lot of progress, though, in that we’ve taken the community input; we’ve narrowed several options; we’ve eliminated many options,” Carter said. “I am sorry that we’re not proceeding; if the missing councilor were here it would help, but I still don’t feel that I should change my vote just because he’s not here.”
Walker echoed the sentiment.
Thomas moved for adjournment, which happened after several more minutes of debate over whether going item-by-item was simply refining a final plan – or adding a whole new concept to the extensive efforts already made.
The next meeting of the Urban Renewal Agency is scheduled for July 25, 7 p.m. at the Silverton City Council Chambers, 421 S. Water St.
