TO: Mayor Collins and Town Council Members
FROM: Brian Dalke, Interim Town Manager
Dawn-Marie Buckland, Deputy Town Manager
Jeremy Knapp, Community Development Director
DATE: November 1, 2018
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
Staff Contact Paul Michaud, Senior Planner 480-348-3574
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AGENDA TITLE:
Title
Discussion of the Walk & Bike Plan
Body
TOWN VALUE(S):
☐ Primarily one-acre, residential community
☐ Limited government
☒ Creating a sense of community
☒ Partnerships with existing schools and resorts to enhance recreational opportunities
☐ Improving aesthetics/creating a brand
☐ Preserving natural open space
The Walk & Bike Plan meets the Town values of creating a sense of community by establishing a plan that aims to focus pedestrian and bicycle facilities onto collector and minor arterial streets. The plan seeks to have the Town do more outreach toward education and enforcement. This outreach specifically looks to improved partnerships with resorts and schools.
COUNCIL GOALS OR STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS:
Preparing the Walk & Bike Plan meets both an implementation measure of the Town’s 2012 General Plan and a Town Council Quality of Life initiative.
RECOMMENDATION:
No action will be taken at the Council meeting of November 1, 2018.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Update
Council discussed the Walk & Bike Plan at the September 13, 2018 study session. There were three options discussed in moving forward on this plan.
1. Provide minor edits, with a focus on policy points and accept the plan or adopt the plan via a Minor General Plan amendment of the 2012 General Plan.
2. Incorporate a few components of the draft plan via a Minor General Plan amendment of the 2012 General Plan.
3. Table the plan to a future date.
Most Council Members at the September 13th study session did not favor Option 3. It was directed to form a Town Manager subgroup to bring back to the full Council the best option in moving forward on this plan. This subgroup included Mayor Collins, Council Member Moore and Council Member Stanton. After meeting three times, the subgroup suggests moving forward with Option 1 to provide staff with minor edits to the plan. The subgroup noted that the policy implications may not be minor in nature even though an edit may be minor. The suggestion was to hold two study sessions. The first study session being the upcoming meeting. This study session is to focus on big picture policy points and direct staff to edit the draft plan. The second study session would an opportunity to review the revised draft plan. The aim is to take action on the plan at the December 6, 2018 Council meeting.
Policy points for discussion at the November 1st study session include, and are not limited to, the following:
A. Perceived Obligation. The perceived level of obligation primarily relates to the use of the word “shall” in several of the policies on pages 4-02 through 4-07 of the Walk & Bike Plan draft dated March 12, 2018. The Council subgroup noted that since this plan is a long-range policy plan there may be merit in lessening the perceived level of obligation based on the words chosen.
B. Amend General Plan. Get direction on whether the Council only wants to accept the plan via a resolution or accept the plan and approve a minor amendment to the 2012 General Plan. Amendment to the General Plan has the effect of striking Section 4.2, Non-Motorized Circulation; striking Section 4.5, Implementation Measures; and striking Section 4.6, Maps and Standards, to be replaced with the Walk & Bike Plan. The primary difference is that not approving the minor amendment to the 2012 General Plan will result in parts of the Walk & Bike Plan conflicting with the 2012 General Plan. In these instances, staff would reference both plans to the appropriate body to render a decision at that future date. For example, the Walk & Bike Plan removes the proposed bike lanes along McDonald Drive between Invergordon Road and 40th Street. Whereas, the 2012 General Plan has proposed bike lanes along the noted corridor. If the Sanctuary Resort applied for a major amendment to their Special Use Permit and there was not an amendment to the 2012 General Plan, both plans apply and staff would note the conflict in the action report.
C. Resort Loop Width. There is a policy issue on the width of the recreation path of the Resort Loop of whether to retain language in the plan for a path up to 10 feet in width. There is existing sidewalk along the entire length of this loop at 6-feet in width. The Council directed staff and the Planning Commission to evaluate where along this route the path could be 10 feet in width without requiring more right-of-way, affecting drainage or requiring retaining walls. The Council was provided a map at prior study sessions on where a 10-foot width was possible along with cost estimates for background information. However, the plan itself only provides a definition of recreational path on Pages 2-16 and 2-18 and a summarized version of the project cost estimate on Page 3-04. The reason for considering a 10-foot wide path relates to the safety of providing two-directional movement and the ability for persons to comfortably use the loop side-by-side. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) guideline is that the minimum paved width for a two-directional shared use path is 10 feet, with a reduction to 8 feet in rare circumstances. Wider pathways up to 14 feet are recommended in locations that are anticipated to serve a high percentage of pedestrians (30 percent or more of the total pathway volume) and higher user volumes (more than 300 total users in the peak hour). The Planning Commission retained the language “A recreational path is a 10-foot-wide off-street paved connection (may be narrowed to 6-feet where necessary)” in the definition since in the future the Town may wish to pursue this wider path.
D. Routes/Connections. Pages 2-01 through 2-03 provide a visual of the bicycle and pedestrian locations per this plan, with the Proposed Pedestrian and Bicycle Map on Page 2-01 showing the final build-out. The Projects & Costs described on Pages 3-03 through 3-06 provide a description of possible costs, scope of work and timeframes that could be made to complete the system. As noted at the March 2018 and September 2018 study sessions, the Planning Commission recommendation was forwarded to the Council seeking direction on the bicycle and pedestrian facilities for McDonald Drive east of Invergordon Road. The Council Statement of Direction was for bike lanes per the 2012 General Plan from Invergordon Road to the Town limits. The Planning Commission recommendation was to make no changes to the roadway except to add sharrow markings on the pavement, add a landscaped median at the Kiva school crosswalk and add the missing south crosswalk at the Mockingbird Lane/McDonald Drive intersection. An option for a 10-foot wide sidewalk on the north side of the street was left in on the street cross-section on Page 2-09, but proposed to be modified to 6 feet wide. Several places in the draft plan would need revision based on the policy direction given by Council.
E. Implementation. The Projects & Costs described on Pages 3-03 through 3-06 provide a description of possible costs, scope of work and timeframes that could be made to complete the system. Also, there are implementation measures listed on Pages 4-08 through 4-13. There was discussion by the Town Manager subgroup that some of this information may be better placed as an exhibit.
F. Noticing. Direction is needed for noticing on this plan. The Town Code and State Statute does not require any specific noticing provisions for this type of long-range plan. At the March 2018 Council study session and via e-mail correspondence to those persons on the notification list for this project, it was stated that citizen review and action will be taken in 2018. Prior noticing was done in the newspaper, Town website and to the e-mail list fifteen or more days before each public event and action meeting. Also, planning for a minor amendment to the 2012 General Plan, noticing followed the Town’s application policy for minor amendments to the General Plan.
Planning Commission Recommendation
The Planning Commission on February 20, 2018 forwarded to the Town Council approval of Resolution 2018-06.
2012 General Plan
A starting point in the project was the 2012 General Plan that was ratified by Town residents. It includes a map of bike lanes/routes and several goals and policies on non-motorized transportation.
Summary of 2018 Draft Plan
The 2018 Walk & Bike Plan is broken into four sections: Introduction, The Plan, Projects + Costs, and Moving Forward. The format of the plan is geared toward the online user. The Introduction summarizes the guiding principles developed through public input and the Town Council Statement of Direction process. The Plan section includes maps, typical roadway cross-sections, and a description of the Town’s preferred facilities and elements (or toolbox) related to its walking and biking system. The Projects + Costs section provides a worksheet template the Town Council or Town staff may use in prioritizing future capital projects. The Moving Forward section lists the six goals and related policies developed during the plan process.
BUDGETARY IMPACT:
Implementation of the Walk & Bike Plan has a budgetary impact since it includes the future construction of pedestrian and bicycle facilities. The plan does anticipate spreading out the cost of such improvements between the years of 2018 to 2030. Also, funding opportunities to reduce costs may exist through seeking grants, combining improvements with future projects, and/or stipulating improvement with approval of a future development.
ATTACHMENT(S):
1. Resolution 2018-06
2. Plan Process Summary
3. Compliance to SOD
4. Cost Estimates
5. Walk & Bike Draft Plan
6. Presentation
C: - Case File
Note: Past information on the plan, including public comments, are available at <http://www.paradisevalleyaz.gov/555/Bicycle-Pedestrian-Master-Plan>.