July, 2013 MayorAcknowledgments John A Diamond President of the Council Dan Hall Council Members Tri County United Way, Barbara Sweet Michael Busch Judy Villa White Scott Watson James Brock Ben Driscoll Veterans Home; Jeff Varmette Wait House; Dwayne Vaughn, Anne Fuller Community Challenge Focus Groups/General Meetings/Phone Conversations Warren Washington Hamilton Housing Coalition; Lisa Coutu Warren County Planning; Wayne Lamothe, Patricia Tatich Arts & Entertainment Focus Group Warren Hamilton Counties Community Action Agency; Lynn Ackershock Adirondack Theater Festival;Mark Fleischer, Tracy Long YMCA; Brian Bearor Aimie Dinner and a Movie;Sandy Metivier City of Glens Falls Councilmember; Ben Driscoll Art in the Public Eye; Liz Wilcox, Jennifer Kraft Chapman Museum; Timohty Weidner Student Participation from Glens Falls High School Public Policy Course Crandall Library; Kathy Naftlaly, Christine McDonald Ms Elizabeth Strader, Teacher Crandall Library Folk Lore; Todd DeGarmo Other Participants: Glens Falls Civic Center; Jeremy Huesling,Chris Lawrence Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce; Peter Aust Glens Falls Community Theater: Sharon Reynolds, Catherine Gericke Adirondack Trust Company;Kathie Duncan Glens Falls Symphony; Lisa Miller Business Improvement District(BID);Dan Burke, Arlene Girard Hyde Collectiion;Alice Grether City of Glens Falls Code Office; John Ward LARAC and Lapham Gallery; Ellen Butz, Jenny Hutchinson Coldwell Banker; Tina Foglietta North Country Arts Center;Jon Segan Glens Falls Hospital; David Kruczlnicki Shirt Factory Arts & Healing Center Eric Unkauf, Kate Austin Avon Glens Falls LDC-IDA, Judy Calogero, Roy Thomas World Awareness Children’s Museum;Jackie Touba, Beth Wales Glens Falls National Bank; Suzanna Bernd. David Kaiser Wood Theater; Erin Coon, Bill Woodward, Neil Akins Glens Falls Planning Board; Dan Bruno. Dr Kathleen Doyle. Jane Reid City of Glens Falls; Council President Dan Hall Queensbury Hotel ;Blair Lomyer Bike Walk Transportation Focus Group TD Bank; Don Roth Adirondack Glens Falls Transportation Council;Aaron Frankenfeld and Kate Mance Warren County Supervisor; Harold “Bud” Taylor Feeder Canal Alliance;Jeanne Williams Realtor Bob Sears Glens Falls Engineer and DPW Superintendent; Steve Gurzler Bob Schiavoni Residents of Glens Falls Glens Falls Fire Department;Chief James Schrammel,Assistant Fire Chief JD Ellingsworth US Department of Housing & Urban Department (HUD) Glens Falls Police Department;Chief Valenza Secretary; Shaun Donovan; OSHC Director; Shelley Poticha Glens Falls Transit System; Scott Sopczyk Region 2 Sustainability Officer; Jennifer Cribbs Warren County Safe and Quality Bicycling Organization,Lloyd Mott Grant Technical Representative; Naomi Friedman Downtown Stake Holders Housing Assistance Council ;Jeff Mosley Aeon Nexus;Omar Usmani Special thanks; Finch Paper;Joe Raccuia Crandall Library and Staff for their cooperation and use of their wonderful facility –Community Room Glens Falls National Bank;Tom Murphy City of Glens Falls Staff: Jackie Squadere, Bernie Gray, Donna Bartholomew Glen Street Associates, Peter Hoffman for their assistance and attention to details Kaidas Properties, LLC; Mike Kaidas Merlin Development;Bruce Levinsky MAKING GLENS FALLS A MORE VIBRANT AND LIVABLE CITY Union Square Properties;Tom O’Neill June, 2013 Ed Bartholomew Community Development / Economic Director Housing,Human &Community Services and Transportation Focus Group Glens Falls Housing Authority; Robert Landry Glens Falls Youth Center; Matt Congdon peter j. smith & company, inc. Glens Falls School System; Paul Jenkins Glens Falls Senior Citizens, Renee Clements NAACP Mary Goodin, Lee Braggs, Roy Thomas Contents (1) Executive Summary 1 Project Overview 1 List of Tables List of Figures Create. Innovate. Renew. 3 Table 1: Potential Build out of Plan 8 Figure 1: Study Area Boundary 1 Table 2: Implementation Matrix 17 Figure 2: District Plan 5 (2) The Strategy 5 Table 3: Potential Funding Sources 18 Figure 3: Proposed Plaza & Open Air Market 6 Vision & Development Plan 5 Table 4: Population 20 Figure 4: Enhanced City Hall Public Space 7 A Hierarchy of Streets 11 Table 5: Household Income 20 Figure 5: Fredella Avenue Photosimulation 7 Zoning for Physical Change 13 Table 6: Median Age 20 Figure 6: Vision & Development Plan 9 (3) Implementation 15 Table 7: Unemployment 20 Figure 7: Circulation & Streetscape Hierarchy 11 Table 8: Occupation 20 Figure 8: Gateway Concept 12 Development Plan 15 Table 9: Personal Consumption 20 Figure 9: District Plan Zones 14 Moving Forward 17 Table 10: Study Area Employment 22 Figure 10: Streetscape Beautification 16 (4) Community Analysis 19 Table 11: Retail Gaps 23 Figure 11: Regional Context 19 Understanding Our Context 19 Table 12: Household Income 25 Figure 12: Employment Clusters 22 Personal Economics & Spending 20 Table 13: Percent Spent on Housing 25 Figure 13: Building Occupancy 22 Commercial Market Profile 21 Table 14: Existing Housing Inventory 25 Figure 14: Regional Tourism Amenities 24 Retail Gap Analysis 23 Table 15: Single Family Home Values 25 Figure 15: Existing Land Use 28 Regional Tourism 24 Table 16: Gross Monthly Rent 26 Figure 16: Existing Zoning 30 Workforce Housing 25 Table 17: Area Median Sales Prices 26 Figure 17: Downtown Cultural Resources 34 Land use 27 Table 18: Existing Land Use 27 Figure 18: Building Conditions 37 Zoning 29 Table 19: Historic Structures 36 Figure 19: Facade Conditions 37 Historic & Cultural Resources 35 Table 20: Building Conditions 37 Figure 20: Historic Quality 37 Building Conditions 37 Table 21: Facade Conditions 37 Figure 21: Underutilized Parcels 38 Table 22: Historic Quality 37 Figure 22: Public Synthesis Map 40 (5) Public Outreach 39 Table 23: Public Workshop Survey Results 39 (1) Executive Summary Project Overview Summary Perched on the northern edge of New York’s Capital District, the City of Glens Falls had an inauspicious beginning as a settlement called the Corners. The population included a community of Quakers who fled the violence of the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolution only to be drawn back by the abundant opportunities of the region. Lumber, quarried stone and water fueled the economic engine that transformed Glens Falls from the Corners to a mid-19th century boomtown. The wealthy community became a cultural and social outpost in the Lower Adirondacks, a quality it retains still. While Adirondack Mountain communities’ economies based historically on milling, mining and quarrying have given way to recreation and tourism as their major industries, Glens Falls manages to straddle both worlds. It retains its downtown paper mill, Finch Paper, which has been there for almost 150 years. Finch supports Glens Falls families with more than 500 well-paying manufacturing jobs. The city and region are also home to a growing high-tech medical instrument manufacturing sector. Glens Falls is the gateway to nature and recreation tourism in the Adirondacks. Canny visitors also know that Glens Falls is the perfect headquarters Study Area Boundary for a ski vacation: Whiteface is two and a half hours away, Killington is less than two hours by car. Figure 1: Study Area Boundary Downtown Glens Falls Project Area The area is anchored at the center by Centennial Circle and extends The Vision and Development Strategy is focused upon a strategic along the radial corridors stretching from downtown. These project area encompassing the major commercial, mixed-use and corridors include Broad Street to the west, Glen, Bay and Ridge civic districts found in the downtown. This document establishes a Streets, to the north and Warren Street, to the east. Predominant concentrated effort to identify and facilitate improvements to the land owners, businesses and civic anchors include the Glens Falls Downtown that will strengthen its status as a major urban gateway Hospital, City Hall, City Park, the Glens Falls Civic Center, the Hyde to the Adirondack Region and improve the quality of life for those Collection Art Museum, Crandall Park and the Crandall Public Library. who live and work in Glens Falls and surrounding areas. Figure 1, above, depicts the exact boundary of the project’s study area. It should be noted that both analyses and recommendations extend beyond this boundary, as appropriate. 1 A Place for New Growth EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Historic Context Glens Falls’ outstanding qualities are its largely intact This plan is a strategy for leveraging that arts and culture excitement into economic revitalization for downtown Glens Falls, community of 19th century commercial buildings in a the city and the region as a whole. It is part of the city’s Community Challenge Grant project, a US Department of Housing and compact and walkable downtown and the thriving arts and Urban Development initiative to: culture community. These “brand” Glens Falls and serve as that important quality of life element that, like the quality of the schools and the community’s parks, can make or Develop strategies for workforce housing downtown with break a recruiter’s efforts to bring in a new company, a new appropriate connections to current, future modes of transportation doctor, a new executive and can convince an entrepreneur to open a new shop or restaurant. Glens Falls arts and culture destinations include performing and visual artists, galleries, three important museums and the Folklife Center at the Crandall Public Library, a community theater group Make recommendations for initiative to overcome regulatory and a downtown theater