An Attractive Community Starts with Us

About 4 years ago, the Planning Department conducted a series of community visioning initiatives. These included public meetings at all the elementary schools and various surveys requesting feedback from the community. All this information what compiled and a master list of goals were created. The purpose of this initiative was to identify what the citizens and residence of Elizabethton desired in their community and what they wanted their community to look like in 10 to 20 years.

One of the goals that came out of this initiative was to improve building frontages and appearances throughout the city – essentially, people wanted a more attractive city. So, the question becomes how do we do this? How do we make a more attractive city and what will it cost? Well, unfortunately, this is going to be an unpopular answer but it is through regulation.

It is our citizens, residence, local businesses, and elected officials job to determine what we want our city to look and feel like. It is then up to our elected and appointed officials to ensure that we are working to create that look and feel in our community.

Many of the developers and businesses we see come into Elizabethton don’t live here. They come in, want to know the cheapest way they can build what they want to build, build it, then turn around and leave the community having a check from the business or development mailed to them. And, quite frankly, I don’t blame them! That’s part of their goal, to invest as little as possible and maximize how much money they make. But the point is that they don’t have to look at the development daily or live with a negative reputation in the community, because if they receive that check they’re not setting foot in our community.

When I first started there was one statement I made that I thought was extremely pivotal in how we think through a potential development. The statement is, “Do not give in on what your standards are just because you think a business or development won’t build here. The developer will be here today, collect their money, and be gone tomorrow, but you and your fellow citizens will have to live with that decision every day. Make sure it’s something you can live with.”

If we desire a more attractive community, we need to create regulations that require developers to make buildings that are more attractive. Maybe we require them to use traditional Appalachian building materials for the facades to make Elizabethton unique. Maybe we require more trees and less parking spaces. Maybe we require that they install a bike rack and sidewalks so that others without vehicles can easily visit their business, because that’s the type of community we desire. There are many things we can do, but our citizens must support and stand behind elected and appointed officials when we enforce these requirements. They must be willing to say to a developer, “If you don’t want to create something that will make our community attractive, then maybe our community isn’t for your business.” Let’s talk about it!

2018 Planning Preview

As we start a new year, it reminds to look forward and set goals for the next 12 months. There are a variety of projects the Planning Commission and our Department have been working on towards the end of last year that will culminate in 2018.

The first project that will probably see completion is the Major Thoroughfare Plan. The Planning Commission started the project towards the middle of last year and gathered a lot of public input on the proposals. Along with the adoption of this plan will come the implementation portion which calls for new roadway designs, Milligan Highway improvements, and the new Southside Road improvement between Mary Patton Highway and US 19E.

The other project that you may begin to hear about is the Land Use Plan. The Planning Commission has been calling for a new Land Use Plan for the city for the past 4 years and we are now reaching the point where we can dedicate the time to undertaking such a project. The Land Use Plan will provide guidance to the Commission, city staff, and to other departments in the city about what types of land-uses or development should be located where in the city and the planning region in the county. This allows utilities to prepare the appropriate infrastructure in different areas and guides the Commission when a rezoning or development request comes before them. The Plan will also provide guidance for changes to the City’s development regulations such as parking requirements, aesthetic requirements, and setback and building height requirements.

Additionally, our department has been working on three different economic development initiatives that we anticipate implementing this year. The first and certainly most talked about is the Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Plan for West Elk Avenue. In partnership with the County, we anticipate this initiative will be fully implemented in late winter or early spring opening up opportunities for redevelopment in the area behind Walmart and around the Bemberg Building.

We have also been working on the implementation of a new downtown loan program in order to help small businesses and building owners make improvements to their buildings with low interest loans. We hope that this will encourage new businesses to move or start up in downtown and improve the quality of the buildings that are currently in downtown.

Similarly, we are also working on two new entrepreneurship programs that we also hope to implement one early in 2018 and the other in summer of 2018. Both of these programs are geared to help local small businesses get started, be successful long-term, and help provide guidance and assistance in obtaining capital needed. These programs could also drive new small businesses into downtown and elsewhere around the city.

2018 is already shaping up to be a busy year, but many of the initiatives and activities that we will be undertaking are and have been needed in our community. We are excited and looking forward to measuring where we stand as a department and a city at the end of 2018. And, most importantly, we believe these activities will help enhance Elizabethton and make it more like a community you want to live in. Let’s talk about it!