Prescott 2050

Smart Growth Interim report

MAYOR’S 2050 SMART GROWTH/DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
INTERIM STATUS REPORT

September 29, 2008

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The Mayor’s 2050 Smart Growth/Development Committee (2050_SG/DC) has been meeting every other week since the inception of the Mayor’s 2050 Vision effort began, earlier this year.  The core of the 2050_SG/DC vision will be to recommend the adoption of a SmartCode for the City of Prescott.

This approach, distinct from previous visioning efforts, is less about a specific design for what Prescott should look like at some predetermined point in the future, than it is the recommendation of a specific implementation strategy, aimed at supporting future Smart Growth development within the City of Prescott.

About Smart Growth
Smart Growth is a critically important goal for a viable City of Prescott in 2050 and beyond. Smart Growth is an interrelated set of planning, design, and connectivity principles that focuses on and advocates compact, pedestrian-oriented land use practices, including mixed-use development which ideally support a range of housing choices, economic and transportation opportunities.

Smart Growth is the best alternative to avoid the blight of urban sprawl.  A Smart Growth Community is a place where every citizen can fulfill his or her basic needs within any given neighborhood.  These basic needs include food, shelter, employment, entertainment, education, recreation, transportation, and other supporting services.

A Smart Growth Plan supports long-range, regional considerations of genuine sustainability over short-term goals.  With a Smart Growth Plan the City Of Prescott, deeply rooted in its pioneering and historical past, is a community retaining its unique sense of place, while moving dynamically into the future.

It is the Committee’s belief that the adoption of a SmartCode is the most effective means to actually achieve Smart Growth concepts in our area.

SmartCode Adoption
The adoption of a SmartCode would not replace the existing code structure, nor would it be mandatory.  Instead, the SmartCode would be adopted as a “parallel” code to the existing code, and then incentivized by the City, in order to encourage developers to build according to its principles.

For the City’s part, resources would have to be committed in order to adapt a boilerplate SmartCode for the City in a way that makes sense for the area.  In order to be successful, Planning and Zoning officials, city staff, developers, and even lending institutions would have to be educated.

The effective adoption of such a code would necessitate the commitment of funding and other resources on the part of the City, in order to initially implement the code, as well as some level of on-going resources, needed to then administrate the code.

Smart Growth/Development Committee Approach
Previous well-intended attempts to achieve similar results have failed largely because of two factors: 1.) there was no defined implementation strategy, and 2.) lack of public/stakeholder understanding and support. 

Therefore, the visioning approach taken by the Mayor’s 2050_SG/DC is in its essence, a two-part implementation strategy.  The first part will simply be an overview of the SmartCode itself, including a description of its characteristics and benefits.  The second part will be the recommendation of a comprehensive education and coordination effort, intended to both educate the various stakeholders involved, as well as a specific coordination effort with existing local and regional organizations (such as CYMPO, YCCA, etc.), in order to create the most effective and useful and SmartCode instrument possible.

Given the importance of the (perceived and) actual financial viability of any development code instrument, a key piece of the 2050_SG/DC document will be the identification of case studies from other communities across the country, highlighting the financial and economic benefits for both developers and municipal tax revenue streams.

Pre-Support Within the City
2050_SG/DC Chairman Matt Ackerman has been invited to address the City’s UDCC (Unified Development Code Committee) on two occasions to present the basics of SmartCode to the Committee members, and has received informal support from that group.

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Smart Growth/Development Committee Officers:
Chairman:  Matt Ackerman
Vice-Chair:  Ed Nicholson
Recorder:  Jessica Cavas