Complete Streets Complete Community

Urban Development Area Planning Grant - Awarded by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) in Fall 2017

Renaissance Planning Group has been chosen by the VDOT to assist the City. The City of Martinsville has been modernizing planning and zoning practices to encourage growth and development, in part by a Zoning Ordinance Update. Staff is active with the West Piedmont Complete Streets Coalition, which is working to instill Smart Growth policies in local government in the West Piedmont area. Walkability assessments have been conducted with help from VA Tech, and the City hopes it can utilize what has been learned to improve transit hurdles and create denser growth spaces to encourage development. In addition, the City hopes to expand opportunities for connectivity and enhanced multimodal infrastructure.

The City was chosen for Local Foods, Local Places technical support and many ideas have been voiced to make the Fayette Street/Memorial Boulevard area more pedestrian and biker-friendly, as well as conducting a road diet. This is centered on a new Traditional Neighborhood D-O in the Fayette area and would feature a food hub in a food desert.

Stakeholders and citizens shared stories with city staff, agency representatives, and planning consultants as part of the reimagining of the Fayette Street Corridor. The meeting helped honor the memory of the corridor’s history and character, and ensure that community values and goals are captured and understood. This meeting was an opportunity for residents and the whole community to provide feedback and for planners to listen and learn. A project overview was presented and interactive exercises are planned to help guide the conversation.

From Section 15.2-2223.1 of the Virginia State Code

Urban development areas [or similar designation; e.g. village development areas] ... incorporate principles of traditional neighborhood design, which may include but need not be limited to (i) pedestrian-friendly road design, (ii) interconnection of new local streets with existing local streets and roads, (iii) connectivity of road and pedestrian networks, (iv) preservation of natural areas, (v) mixed-use neighborhoods, including mixed housing types, with affordable housing to meet the projected family income distributions of future residential growth, (vi) reduction of front and side yard building setbacks, and (vii) reduction of subdivision street widths and turning radii at subdivision street intersections.

Documents

Media Coverage