Blueprint
2000
By DAVID TWIDDY
Tallahassee Democrat
A blueprint for growth
With
the Tallahassee city skyline as a backdrop, the $809
million improvement project -- Blueprint 2000 and Beyond
-- was unveiled at Cascades Park. Almost every part of
the community is touched by the series of projects
proposed in Blueprint 2000, a citizen-developed plan to
rebuild and rethink public infrastructure in Leon
County. And with a price tag of more than $809 million
-- which proponents hope will come from an extension of
the 1-cent sales tax -- it's an initiative sure to touch
all wallets as well.
City, county to review Blueprint
2000 today
Last year, as a band of Leon County
neighborhood activists and business leaders tried to
figure out how to beautify a neglected downtown ditch
and control flooding, John Buss spoke up.
Buss, Tallahassee's stormwater management director,
offered some suggestions for paving over the ditch
running down the middle of Franklin Boulevard and
creating a rolling stream of park-like holding ponds
linking a decontaminated and rejuvenated Cascade Park
with the Munson Slough to the west.
"It's something I've had in the
back of my head," Buss said last week. "I've
been to other cities and seen what they've done."
Pro-business members liked it because
a "river walk" attraction could help efforts
on nearby Gaines Street to attract upscale businesses,
restaurants and homes. Environmentalists welcomed
anything that would clean pollutants out of stormwater
before it empties into Lake Munson to the south.
Last week, the group, named the
Economic and Environmental Consensus Committee, released
its updated "Blueprint 2000 and Beyond," an
$809-million list of proposed public infrastructure
improvements, which city and county officials are
scheduled to discuss this afternoon.
Group members consider the $90-million
downtown ditch plan the crowning project of the
Blueprint and will likely ask city and county
commissioners today that it be one of the first projects
tackled, possibly with the help of extending the 1-cent
sales tax.
"We consider this a signature
project for Blueprint 2000 because it factors in all the
facets we've talked about -- holistic infrastructure,
doing things right," said Mark Mustian, an attorney
and former chairman of the Tallahassee Area Chamber of
Commerce. The chamber created the committee two years
ago to work out the differences between neighborhood
groups and those pushing for more development.
A dose of reality
When the report was released last
week, city and county officials generally reacted
favorably to its recommendations. But in the weeks and
months ahead that goodwill will be tested by political
realities.
For one thing, both governments have
their own lists for what they'd like to ask voters to
approve in a referendum in November.
The current sales tax, which has
collected more than $210 million since 1989, is
scheduled to end in November 2004. Voters would have to
approve extending the tax beyond that date for a new
batch of projects.
Officials estimate that they can raise
$728 million in 15 years or $1.1 billion in 20 years.
When taking inflation into account -- a billion dollars
will be worth half that in current dollars by 2024 --
the tax is not expected to cover the cost of all
Blueprint 2000's proposals by itself.
The county already has plans to put up
to $18 million of the sales tax to repay the costs of
removing silt from Lake Munson and Lake Jackson. County
leaders borrowed that money last summer.
City officials won't say what their
priorities are, other than to say they, too, have wishes
not covered by the committee's recommendations.
An added wrinkle is that most of
Blueprint 2000's transportation improvements involve
state-owned roads, such as Capital Circle, Mahan Drive,
Woodville Highway and Crawfordville Road. Both
commissions have been reluctant to spend money on what
they consider state responsibilities without a promise
of getting paid back, and the state Department of
Transportation has maxed out the amount it agreed to
refund to local governments for work on Thomasville Road
and an in-town section of Mahan Drive.
But the committee, which sees its
mission as changing the way officials plan for roads,
stormwater ponds and other infrastructure, wants those
officials to take a look at the big picture. Knowing
that its list is expensive, the group's members have
recommended that Blueprint 2000 be done in phases.
A look at the big picture
If the sales-tax extension is
approved, the group suggested that the city and county
borrow $200 million immediately and tackle three items:
the downtown ditch, widening Capital Circle Northwest
from Interstate 10 to Blountstown Highway and using the
leftover money to buy greenspaces and future road rights
of way.
"This isn't about projects, it's
about doing things differently," Mustian said.
Then there is the fear that the
November ballot could become overloaded with issues for
voters to wade through.
The Leon County School Board, for
instance, is considering calling for a sales tax of its
own to renovate older schools. The county may ask voters
to approve a home rule charter, designed to give the
county the same rights as a city.
Informally, the committee has asked
representatives of the County Commission and School
Board to drop those initiatives and give the sales tax a
better chance -- an invitation neither group has thus
far accepted.
"I think we've all agreed that
the ballot can really only support one thing,"
Mustian said. "We now have to agree on what that
one thing is."
Committee lays out ambitious goals
Blueprint 2000 group recommends
broad infrastructure improvements.
A
six-lane Capital Circle to the west. Protected
floodplains for the St. Marks River and Lake Lafayette
to the east. Two new industrial parks to the south.
Safer intersections in the north. And an urban water
park designed to cut through and revitalize some of the
most run-down areas of downtown.
Almost every part of the community is
touched by a series of projects proposed Wednesday in
Blueprint 2000, a citizen-developed plan to rebuild and
rethink public infrastructure in Leon County.
And with a price tag of more than $809
million -- which proponents hope will come from an
extension of the 1-cent sales tax -- it's an initiative
sure to touch all wallets as well.
"If we expect local government to
solve the problems, we've got to make the commitment to
provide the resources," said Kathy Archibald, a
member of the Economic and Environmental Consensus
Committee, which created the report and released it
Wednesday. "Everything has a cost associated with
it, including the cost of doing nothing."
The committee, a Tallahassee Area
Chamber of Commerce-sponsored blending of business and
neighborhood leaders, has worked on the plan for two
years. After presenting its initial findings last April,
the group has spent the last nine months with city and
county staff putting numbers with its ideas.
The group's main focus is getting
government to adopt a new approach to transportation,
water quality protection, parks and economic
development.
Rather than the piecemeal,
project-by-project process that critics say has led to
overburdened roads and stormwater ponds, as well as the
disparity of development toward the northeast and away
from the south side, the committee wants officials to
plan improvements on a large-scale basis.
This philosophy is best shown in the
10 project packages that make up the bulk of the report.
Most road projects call for the government to buy wide
swaths of right of way, planning for future growth or
even mass transit systems. Stormwater ponds are designed
to treat pollution from a wide area, which group members
said include many developments built before the current
stormwater regulations.
The report identifies more than 11,700
acres of flood-prone and environmentally sensitive lands
that need to be preserved, either by buying them
outright or negotiating agreements with the owners never
to build on them.
A series of bike and walking trails
could eventually allow outdoors enthusiasts to ride from
Ox Bottom Road to the coast along bike paths and trails.
The report doesn't simply benefit
drivers, walkers and environmentalists but also includes
projects to create jobs and attract development.
For example, an ambitious project to
build a series of park-like stormwater ponds through
Cascade Park and north of Florida A&M University is
designed to complement efforts to attract new
development to Gaines Street. Group members compare it
to similar economic-development winners like the San
Antonio Riverwalk in Texas, which brought upscale
restaurants and stores to urban centers.
| |
WHAT'S
NEXT? The report is not
binding on city and county officials, who have
their own staff-built plans for crowded roads,
needed parks and stormwater pollution. They
could develop their own lists of projects to go
on a November ballot to extend the 1-cent sales
tax.
But several city and county
commissioners said if they decide to have a
referendum, they would use Blueprint 2000's
recommendations.
The key involves a set of
projects and expenditures both the city and the
county, and the voters, will support.
The first step toward a
consensus comes Monday when the two commissions
meet jointly at 2 p.m. in City Hall. |
Also, plans to widen Capital Circle south
of town include requirements for two 250-acre industrial
parks -- which some said put teeth in the "Southern
Strategy," a long-held but thus far unrealized plan
to attract development to southern neighborhoods.
"We really will begin to spend
money to make sure that all of the community grows and
is benefited by these infrastructure changes," said
City Commissioner Charles Billings.
In addition to the projects, Blueprint
2000 proposes several changes in how the city and county
plan for development. For example, it calls for creating
16 development plans, each tailored to specific areas.
Another idea revisits the
"Southern Strategy" and calls for officials to
create incentives to attract new development and keep
people and businesses from moving out. The group also
wants the city and county to begin researching new ways
for people to travel around town in the future.
The committee suggests these policies,
which could cost up to $8.4 million for consultants and
tax breaks, be paid for out of city and county budgets.
While officials who have read the
inch-thick report said they were largely happy with its
contents, they said the price tag can't be ignored. It's
more than $3,300 for every man, woman and child in Leon
County.
Committee members said their total is
a "worst case" scenario, saying local
government should try to attract state and federal
dollars to help pay for the projects. They also note
that land costs could come down if owners either agreed
to donate their property or sign conservation easements.
Still, Blueprint 2000 is only a
recommendation, one of many among the city and county's
own road and stormwater wish lists.
City and county commissioners will
meet on Monday to discuss the Blueprint 2000
recommendations, and it's at that meeting that several
officials say the beginning of a unified list of
projects should take root.
"Creating a strong partnership
where there's equal admiration and support is a critical
issue," said City Commissioner Steve Meisburg, who
didn't attend the press conference. "Left to the
devices of 12 elected officials, it could easily become
a feeding frenzy, and it's too important an issue to be
treated that way."
Proposed Projects
Click on a number to read about
the project
Fred George and
Ochlockonee River Basins: Purchase flood-prone and
environmentally sensitive areas, connect greenways to
the proposed Northwest Park and Old Bainbridge Road.
Build a stormwater-treatment pond to protect the Fred
George sinkhole. Cost: $11.9 million.
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to top
Capital Circle
N.W. (I-10 to Blountstown Hwy.): Widen Capital
Circle from I-10 to Tennessee St. to six lanes and from
Tennessee St. to Blountstown Hwy. to four lanes. Build a
series of access roads to businesses but cut down the
number of entrances and exits to the highway. Raise the
intersections with Tennessee St. and Blountstown Hwy.
Buy and restore the western arm of Gum Swamp. Install
greenways along Capital Circle and Appleyard Drive.
Cost: $128.8 million.
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to top
Capital Circle
S.W.: Realign Capital Circle so that it runs closer
to Lake Bradford Road, making the existing road an
access to the airport. Widen Orange Ave. from Lake
Bradford Road to Wahnish Way. Buy and restore Black
Swamp. Cost: $157.9 million.
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to top
Capital Circle
S.W.: Widen it to six lanes while widening
Springhill Road. to four lanes, making it a gateway into
Tallahassee from the airport. Build greenways along
Munson Slough down to the St. Marks Trail. Cost: $88.7
million.
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to top
Capital Circle
S.E.: Widen Capital Circle to six lanes from
Crawfordville Road to Apalachee Pkwy. and widen
Crawfordville and Tram roads to four lanes. Raise the
intersection with Apalachee Pkwy. Protect Campbell Pond
and install greenways along Capital Circle to the St.
Marks Trail. Cost: $ 131.7 million.
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to top
Old St. Augustine
Branch: Build a system of greenways and stormwater-treatment
ponds from Tennessee St. to Capital Circle S.W. It
involves covering the drainage ditch on Franklin Blvd.,
restoring Cascades Park and complementing efforts to
revitalize Gaines St. and help develop the northern edge
of FAMU. Cost: $90.5 million.
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to top
Lake Lafayette
Basin: Widen Mahan Drive from Dempsey Mayo Rd. to
I-10 to four lanes. Connect the Miccosukee Canopy Road
Greenway to Lake Lafayette and Alford Arm. Build a new
stormwater pond east of Weems Pond. Cost: $31.7 million.
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to top
Lake Jackson
Basin: Buy flood-prone and environmentally sensitive
areas and install a series of greenways along Lonnbladh
and Meridian roads. Cost: $31.5 million.
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to top
Lake Jackson
Basin: Build three stormwater ponds to protect Lake
Jackson, install greenways on Meridian Road and make the
intersections of Meridian Road with Bannerman, Ox Bottom
and Maclay roads safer. The idea is to reduce traffic
pressure to widen Meridian, a canopy road. Cost: $12
million.
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to top
St. Marks River (not shown):
Purchase more than 9,000 acres of flood-prone and
environmentally sensitive land. Cost: $ 24.8 million.
David Twiddy covers county
government. He can be reached at 599-2148 or trtwiddy@taldem.com
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