Go Anywhere > Do Anything - is this really necessary?

Camp Jeep came to Nelson County - but also to downtown Charlottesville. The parking area between South First Street and Second Street SW was turned over (well, I presume some significant compensation was provided to whomever owns that parking lot) for the purpose of selling Jeep vehicles... and at the same time selling the idea of "Go Anywhere > Do Anything."
In these times of concern over global warming, protection of wilderness areas, preservation of streams, endangered species, and even just quiet areas and scenic and/or historic landscapes, I am disappointed that the idea of "Go Anywhere > Do Anything" is being promoted in Charlottesville, and that the city is at least in part participating in the event by closing South First Street so that Jeep marketeers can provide sales related material to the public.

The photo above was taken just after the close of the Downtown City Market (about 12:05 pm). This lot is (I believe) heavily used by market goers, but those who are buying local and in fact taking positive (and healthy) actions toward reducing environmental damage through long distance transport of food, and supporting our local farmers were not able to use that parking area so that Jeep could promote the Go Anywhere > Do Anything theme.

Having never driven a four-wheel drive vehicle, I took a ride. I selected a Super Wrangler or something like that, drove over a row of logs as though I was driving through a wilderness area, rocking uncomfortably from side to side; climbed the approximately 45 degree hill to roughly 30 feet in the air; descended to the pavement again and drove through the simulated river back to the starting point. I was impressed by the experience. But, unlike the impression Jeep is hoping for, I had my four-wheel drive experience, and clearly want no part of driving through sensitive wilderness areas ripping up stream beds, hillsides, or forested areas. I didn't see the fun in any of this.

I suppose other Jeep riders loved the experience and will soon be sending lots of cash to Jeep to buy an opportunity to Go Anywhere > Do Anything but I started listing the many places that I think should be off limits to these four-wheel drive machines. I think of the buffalo in Yellowstone, Caribou in the Alaska Wildlife Preserve, and the many other threatened species and landscapes being invaded by these vehicles in the summer and the go anywhere and do anything snowmobilers in the winter. Aren't there places we simply shouldn't be going? And if we do go there, do we have to drive vehicles like these into those fragile places. I think not. Fortunately, many people who buy these vehicles rarely go off-road and I suppose the money primarily buys the idea of freedom we don't realy need to exercise in the wild. I guess even the idea of freedom is worth the price to many.

Perhaps everyone needs to get the experience of driving a four-wheel vehicle once in their life. I lived 60 years (and Jeeps were around before I was born) until I had mine. Unless I am involved in some future life saving mission where only a four-wheel vehicle can do the job, I think I may have driven my last. I guess I can go where I need to go, and do what I need to do without a Jeep. How about you?

"Primping Preston" - I believe we need to do more than that.

I read with some interest the story in this weeks HooK entitled "Primping Preston." Having been involved in local transportation issues both professionally (as a transportation-environmental consultant) and as an interested citizen stakeholder, I could not resist sending in a comment hoping to generating a lively discussion about transportation and traffic matters in Charlottesville's past, present and future. I invite you to read "Primping Preston" and contribute your thoughts on the article. My comment is posted at the HooK, but I have also provided it below for your reading convenience.

----- My Comment -----

I found the comments in Dave McNair's "Primping Preston" to range between the enlightened and out of touch with reality. Perhaps this makes for good reading over coffee at Cafe Cubano (my favorite place to read the HooK), but I hope there will be a follow up to this story that delves into some of the transportation and traffic realities of the Meadow Creek Parkway (McIntire Road Extended in the city) and Preston Avenue.

I applaud Dave McNair including planning commissioner Bill Lucy's comment that "Preston Avenue has been badly designed." In fact, if my memory serves me well, Preston Avenue was to be continued with a similar road design westward to US Route 29 (Emmet Street) but opposition to that road stopped Preston Avenue widening in its current configuration. That extension, along with the Meadow Creek Parkway were all controversial in the 1960's and 1970's, but for some reason the Meadow Creek Parkway (McIntire Road Extended) projects outlived the Preston Avenue project. Had Preston Avenue been designed as something other than a connector road, I would think it might have better served the neighborhoods adjacent to it. Clearly, improvements can be made and I think it is a terrific idea to redesign Preston Avenue in a manner that allows Preston Avenue to better serve those neighborhoods.

I found the Elizabeth Meyer quote stating that a roundabout at the Preston/McIntire intersetion "would slow traffic coming off the Meadowcreek Parkway" to be in the 'out of touch' category. Roundabouts do not function well in high traffic flow conditions, and as best I can determine adding 20,000 anticipated vehicles per day on McIntire Road Extended, many of which are assumed to be traveling on existing McIntire Road into downtown Charlottesville will result in a highly congested situation at a Preston Avenue/McIntire Road roundabout. Given that VDOT is assuming over 2,000 vehicles per hour will be using the McIntire Road Extended in the peak hours, my conclusion is that any roundabout (or intersection for that matter) at Preston/McIntire will operate at such a poor level of service that slowing traffic will not be an issue. Traffic congestion and slow travel will more likely be the normal situation at that location.

I am delighted that Dave McNair and the HooK have opened a discussion about traffic and possible improvements to traffic along Preston Avenue and McIntire Road, but I must suggest that the HooK consider publishing additional stories that include input from traffic engineers and other individuals familiar with the traffic implications of the proposed McIntire Road Extended and the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road. Only then will HooK readers get a fair picture of what possibilities exist for the neighborhoods in the vicinity of McIntire Road and Preston Avenue.

-Peter Kleeman-

Is a 315-unit development right for Coal Tower project?

A front page article by Seth Rosen in the Sunday, July 22 Daily Progress entitled "Coal Tower project nears start" states that this project is "believed to be the largest project in Charlottesville's history," and also that it is a 'by right' development meaning that neither the planning commission nor city council will have any opportunity to officially consider the potential impacts of this project. Planning commissioner Cheri Lewis questioned "if Water Street provides enough access for 315 units plus the retail and offices." She stated "that's a lot of traffic to add."

I have been impressed by Cheri Lewis' dedication to issues before the planning commission and on this issue I definitely share her concerns. If developments done by right can be of a scale that may overwhelm our downtown road system, I feel there may be a need to review what levels of development can be done in our city neighborhoods under our planning commission approved comprehensive plan soon to be considered for final approval by city council. Shouldn't our comprehensive plan provide safeguards against development that is too big for thee capacity of our road, sewer, water, stormwater or other infrastructure?

I commented to the planning commission during their July 2007 public hearing on approving the comprehensive plan that it is desirable to focus attention on elements of that plan during the five year life of the plan and to amend those elements as needed. Such ongoing review, element by element as necessary, could make our comprehensive plan a significantly better guide to growth and development in our city. I didn't recommend what I suggest as a first element or concept to explore at that hearing, but based on this news on the Coal Tower project I suggest that the comprehensive plan balance available infrastructure availability and growth with realistic limits on by right development in all of our city neighborhoods. I wonder how many other projects are possible that could exceed our infrastructure capacity yet can currently be built by right. A comprehensive review of this type would be a valuable improvement to our comprehensive plan.

I am impressed by the commitment of planning commissioners to address growth, development, transportation and environmental issues relating to matters brought before them. I believe a review of the just recommended comprehensive plan to identify and act to eliminate opportunities for other very large developments that put unreasonable demands on our infrastructure is neccessary. Yes, I guess there will be some significant opposition to eliminating what I consider to be 'development loopholes' in our comprehensive plan, but our quality of life in Charlottesville will be greatly reduced if supersized projects are allowed without any review of their scope by either our planning commission or city council.

I suggest that our planning commissioners consider this suggestion and take some action as soon as they take a sufficient recovery time after the lengthy development of the comprehensive plan now before council. Action of this type is better done sooner rather than later, however.

Thanks for the Feedback

I am delighted that some of you blog readers are posting comments to this Kleeman for Council blog. Thanks. I am very interested in reading your comments about the issues in this campaign and the broad range of general city council and community topics requiring our thought, ideas, and action. So, don't be shy. We all need to be part of a conversation on making Charlottesville a great place to be. Come join that conversation. - Peter Kleeman -

Cameras on the mall a topic for community discussion

Cameras are snapping us in so many settings, I find the idea of adding more cameras to the mall area a great topic for community discussion. Do cameras deter crime? Would better lighting be a superior solution for the cost? Wouldn't we need better lighting so the camera could actually provide usable images? Are there root causes of our apparent increase in crime that could be addressed more directly than installing cameras?

I don't pretend to have these answers, but crime is a community problem and I think a community discussion about what might be the best strategy for addressing crime is needed before a quick solution is implemented. Perhaps a discussion of what cameras can and cannot do, some identification of camera effectiveness and how our community can be sure using cameras will provide some - perhaps measurable - results. I think some police, city staff, citizen, and business community members could identify a range of possible actions that may or may not include adding cameras to our downtown area. The city has a variety of task forces in place like the strategic planning committee that could possibly serve as a core group to address crime as a strategic problem with added input from other stakeholders.

I had my camera with me on the mall yesterday and shot the photo above. As a frequent pedestrian on the mall, I pass the Fourth Street East vehicle crossing several times each day. Although I am not doing a scientific study, I am noticing a continued increase in vehicles crossing the mall at Fourth Street. It is a rare occurance that no vehicle is waiting to cross the mall when I cross Fourth Stsree on foot. In fact about half of the time lately there are several vehicles queued to cross.

Not only is there more vehicle traffic, but there is also an increase in the number of times a vehicle is stopped or even parked in the crossing. These vehicles block both crossing traffic and pedestrians. The vehicle in the photo was parked with its driver side door open while the driver was off doing some errand on the mall, I suppose. The driver was just returning when I had succeeded in digging my camara out of my bag and finding a reasonable angle for the shot. Perhaps this does not rise to the level of a crime, but it is clearly an issue that makes the mall less safe for all mall users.

Would a camera at the Fourth Street mall crossing be a good idea? I think so. Perhaps the police and neighborhood development services could collaborate in putting up a camera to do ongoing traffic counts and identify other traffic problems at the crossing in addition to providing some crime related benefit as well. If our community agrees that cameras on the mall is something worth doing, I hope we can put them where we can get the most value for our investment in as many ways as possible.

Perhaps there are already cameras capturing this area of the mall. My guess is that there are plenty of cameras already watching us as we walk the mall. If we knew how many cameras are already around, the few additional ones the city might consider adding might not add that much additional crime prevention and we could consider other actions to discourage crime in our downtown area. Shouldn't we have all the information about this issue available before we jump to a 'solution?'

Is race a factor in Charlottesville area mortgage loan rates?

At first I thought it might be a Friday the Thirteenth hoax, but I and many other Charlottesville area residents were surptised to learn that "black residents in the Charlottesville region are nearly four times more likely than whites to have a high-cost subprime mortgage loan, the largest racial disparity in the nation." This story was reported in the Friday, July 13, 2007 Daily Progress by Brian McNeill. I haven't had the opportunity to read the report thoroughly, but clearly this is an issue that needs immediate attention by Charlottesville, Albemarle County, and the other counties in our metropolitan area.

NAACP president, M. Rick Turner, presented a strong statement on the matter to city council at their July 16, 2007 meeting and encourage council to take action to eliminate all discrimination in mortgage lending within their power. If you have an opportunity to view a rebroadcast of the council meeting on Adelphia cable channel 10, I hope you will tune it in.

But, mortgage lending appears to me to be primarily in the hands of private companies and banks. City council and county board of supervisor members have little influence in the practices of these private companies. Here is clearly a moment for a public-private partnership to form with the goal of eliminating this discrimination.

I considered what I could do as a private citizen and concerned member of the Charlottesville community, and decided to contact our local Chamber of Commerce. I telephoned their Charlottesville office and recommended that the Chamber take an active role in working with their members to determine what the business community can do to address this troubling situation.

I look forward to seeing some action from everyone involved in the housing and local mortgage lending businesses to identify what the problems are in our community, and to work collectively toward eliminating any discriminatory practices. The time for action on this matter is now.

Dead End on the Downtown Pedestrian Mall

At a recent Charlottesville City Council meeting, Richard Berman commented during the 'matters from the public' period that the downtown pedestrian mall has become a "pedestrian obstacle course" because of all the vendor spaces, cafe spaces, signs, and other fixtures. But, on Saturday July 14, 2007 about 2:00 pm I was walking on the east end of the downtown pedestrian mall and could go no further than the barriers placed across the mall by the city hall entrance. I asked one of the folks behind the barrier why I couldn't walk further on the mall. His reply was that there was a concert that night and that the barriers were put up about 12:30 pm.

What is up with this? The concert wasn't until that evening. Some sound and stage equipment was being unloaded on the stage area while I was there, but there seemed to be no reason that the public space needed to be blocked as best I could tell - especially with so many hours until actual show time.

I commented on the use of this space as part of my May 21, 2007 Squeaky Wheel column entitled "Pavilion creep: Speak up about Mall takeover" in the HooK. Not only hasn't the use of that space been reconsidered now that the construction of the Transit Center is completed as planned, but it appears the hours that the mall is closed to pedestrians has been extended.

Charlottesville's comprehensive plan recently approved unanimously by the planning commission expresses the need to enhance pedestrian opportunities throughout the city. Allowing the pedestrian mall to be closed all afternoon for no apparent reason is clearly not consistent with enhancing pedestrianism.

The photo above was taken at about 2:00 pm and there was absolutely no activity behind the barriers that would be affected by pedestrians walking on the brick pathways or connecting to Avon Street to go toward Belmont. Does this imply that the east end of the mall will be closed to pedestrians for all of the weekend afternoons when there is a Pavilion concert that night? I hope not, and I will check that out as best I can with Pavilion management and city staff. Walking through an obstacle course is can be challenging, but being stopped at barriers on a sunny Saturday afternoon fo no apparent reason goes well beyond that for me. I was not the only surprised pedestrians. While I got my camera to shoot the photo, a pedestrian couple also seemed to be concerned that they couldn't walk beyond the barricade to their destination further east from there.