On Wednesday night, Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department held a town hall meeting outlining a plan to enhance the aesthetics and safety of the Monroe-Adams corridor.
The meeting was held in the Community Room at the City of Tallahassee’s Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Affairs Administration Complex at Myers Park to discuss the vision titled, “Southside Sense of Place.”
This was the third in a series of meetings that started in January where members from several organizations and local residents brainstormed, and conjured visions of what they would like to see done to the city’s south side area.
Dan Donovan, a member of the TLCPD, headlined the meeting to discuss and explain to everyone what plans and ideas they had so far.
According to Donovan, the overall plan is geared toward commercially zoned properties and it does not include any residentially zoned areas.
Each goal was designated to a specific group of ideas compiled together by residents at the last meeting when they were split off into groups and filled out surveys.
* Goal 1: Implement a pilot Placemaking project, which would be Palmer Ave.
* Goal 2: Inform the public of business incentives and redevelopment assistance programs
* Goal 3: Identify ways to support local business and bring in new business
* Goal 4: Improve the appearance of streets, buildings, yards, and parking lots.
* Goal 5: Support urban infill and mixed-use buildings for live, work, and play.
* Goal 6: Create a walkable and bikable community
* Goal 7: Recognize, enhance, and link new and existing streets and public spaces.
The action plan also includes a projected time frame that determines whether or not each step would be long term or short term, which ranges from one to 10 or more years. As well as an estimate cost of each plan, about $0-$100,000, according to the action plan.
The reason behind the plan?
“We are trying to enhance the area,” Donovan told the roughly 25 attendees.
“We want to attract businesses and visitors, being that the south side area is the gateway to Tallahassee from the south of Florida. This would bring in significant revenue to the South Side area and spruce it up as well with the inclusion of better and safer pedestrian walkways, trees and plants, lighting, and many other aspects.
One of the major highlight of the plan is to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety along the busy corridor, by building a pedestrian bridge.
“While there isn’t a final design for the pedestrian bridge there are plans for one to be built,” Horne said.
According to the Monroe-Adams Corridor Placemaking Action Plan, the bridge will be strategically placed in Cascades Park.
“Its almost shocking that there are no sidewalks”, said Cherie Horn also with TLCPD.
The ideas that the TLCPD, the citizens of Tallahassee, and other organizations who are apart of the action plan will be presented to the City Commission on April 27th.