CITY OF GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO
ORDINANCE NO. 4486
AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE GRAND JUNCTION NORTH AVENUE WEST CORRIDOR PLAN
AS AN ELEMENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE AREA GENERALLY LOCATED ALONG NORTH AVENUE WEST OF 12TH STREET
Recitals.
The North Avenue area is experiencing deterioration due to aging and dilapidated structures, movement of businesses to the western areas of Grand Junction and high turnover in area businesses. Because North Avenue has been primarily zoned for commercial use, the result has been sporadic disinvestment, underutilized buildings, old strip malls and vacant property.
To remedy this and to reinvigorate the area, the City has undertaken a planning effort in two phases, one for the east end of the North Avenue Corridor, and one for the west end. The first phase occurred when the City Council adopted the North Avenue Corridor Plan (for the east end of the corridor beginning at 12th Street) in December 2007. The second phase is the North Avenue West Corridor Plan, which includes that area from 12th Street west to I-70B.
The North Avenue West Corridor Plan has been developed based on input from focus group meetings with property owners, residents and Colorado Mesa University representatives and input received through an online survey, a questionnaire, two open houses and a Technical Advisory Committee made up of representatives from CDOT, Grand Valley Transit, and City staff. The Plan was developed during a year of extensive public involvement and deliberation. The City Planning Commission has forwarded a recommendation of adoption of the Plan for the future growth of lands within the North Avenue West Corridor Plan planning area.
The Grand Junction North Avenue West Corridor Plan does the following:
1. Focuses on the Comprehensive Plan’s vision for the community “To become the most livable community west of the Rockies”;
2. Identifies four Guiding Principles that will shape the planning area’s growth. Those Principles are:
• Safety – establishing a multi-modal approach to pedestrian, bicycle, transit and vehicular safety.
• Aesthetics – creating standards that support the vision and corridor as a destination and a crossroads.
• Placemaking – envisioning North Avenue as a corridor that is a destination itself, not simply a street to travel through.
• Neighborhood Impacts – minimizing impacts to existing neighborhoods as growth occurs in the corridor.
3. Recommends the two block area of 3rd Street between North Avenue and Sherwood Park as the neighborhood core area for the neighborhood center established with the Comprehensive Plan.
4. Recommends a future street cross section for the entire length of North Avenue that includes narrowing the travel lanes, adding bike lanes on each side and expanding pedestrian amenities on both sides of the street.
5. Includes an Implementation Plan that recommends creating and establishing an Overlay Zone district to include the entire four miles of North Avenue.
6. Respects individual property rights.
The Grand Junction North Avenue West Corridor Plan will amend the Grand Junction Comprehensive Plan and completes the corridor planning for North Avenue that was started with the 2007 North Avenue Plan encompassing that area of North Avenue east of 12th Street which is also an element of the Comprehensive Plan.
The Planning Commission is charged with the legal duty to prepare and recommend for adoption to City Council master plans for the City.
The North Avenue West Corridor Plan was heard in a public hearing by the Grand Junction Planning Commission on July 26, 2011 where the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council adopt the Plan.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GRAND JUNCTION:
That the North Avenue West Corridor Plan, City of Grand Junction, Colorado, in the form of the document attached hereto, and as recommended for adoption by the Grand Junction Planning Commission is hereby adopted.
The full text of this Ordinance, including the text of the North Avenue West Corridor Plan, in accordance with paragraph 51 of the Charter of the City of Grand Junction, shall be published in pamphlet form with notice published in accordance with the Charter.
INTRODUCED on first reading the 17 day of October, 2011 and ordered published in pamphlet form.
PASSED and ADOPTED on second reading the 2nd day of November, 2011 and ordered published in pamphlet form.
/s/: Tom Kenyon
President of City Council
ATTEST:
/s/: Stephanie Tuin
City Clerk
RECOMMENDED STREET CROSS SECTION
