NORRISTOWN ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION STRATEGY UPDATE Final Report June 2009 prepared for MUNICIPALITY OF NORRISTOWN prepared by URBAN PARTNERS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. 1 II. Executive Summary.......................................................................................................... 2 III. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 7 IV. Community Profile ........................................................................................................... 9 V. Goals and Vision for Norristown...................................................................................... 28 VI. Policy Framework for the Revitalization Initiatives......................................................... 29 VII. Norristown Economic Revitalization Strategy 2000 ........................................................ 31 VIII. NERS 2009 Plan Organization......................................................................................... 34 IX. High Priority Initiatives.................................................................................................... 35 X. High Priority Initiatives Map............................................................................................ 72 XI. Summary of Tables of Action Items for High Priority Initiatives.................................... 73 XII. Medium Priority Initiatives .............................................................................................. 86 XIII. Summary of Tables of Action Items for Medium Priority Initiatives .............................. 100 XIV. Low Priority Initiatives..................................................................................................... 104 XV. Summary of Tables of Action Items for Low Priority Initiatives..................................... 109 XVI. Appendix A: Detailed Breakdown of the Anticipated Roadway Repairs, 2008-2022 ..... 112 Norristown Economic Revitalization Strategy – Update 2009 (Final Report) Page 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This Economic Revitalization Strategy is the outcome of an historic partnership between the County of Montgomery and the Municipality of Norristown. In 2000, this partnership was responsible for publishing the Norristown Economic Revitalization Strategy (NERS) that shaped the scope and pace of revitalization activities in the Municipality for the past eight years. This update of the NERS 2000 was commissioned to evaluate the implementation status and the current priority levels of the original initiatives, as well as to put forward new revitalization priorities for the Municipality. Some of the initiatives in this plan are in response to new issues that have risen in the intervening time period, but many of the initiatives proposed in NERS 2000 have been reinforced as continuing priorities. Norristown is an older urban community nestled in the center of a prosperous suburban county in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. While historically many suburban regions have turned their backs on their historic urban cores and their concentration of “urban” issues, Montgomery County has instead joined with the Municipality to commit the time, energy, and funds to a set of targeted projects and programs that can continue to propel Norristown’s resurgence as a community of choice. More than just bricks and mortar, these projects and programs are also part of a larger redevelopment vision addressing a full range of quality-of-life issues affecting Norristown’s neighborhoods and business areas. Most important, this vision results from a consensus building process involving County and Municipal officials, the local business community, civic and neighborhood groups, and local citizens. The vision also builds on substantial prior work, which is embodied in various plans examining issues ranging from riverfront parks to transportation to public safety. The Economic Revitalization Strategy recognizes that the future development of the Municipality is hampered by its poor image and the disproportionately large concentration of the County’s low income population. In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 17% of Norristown families live below the poverty level, compared to just 3% of the families in Montgomery County as a whole. Additionally, 40 to 50% of the County’s Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) are used in Norristown and approximately 25% of the total assessed value in the Municipality is exempt from real estate taxes. The high number of tax-exempt uses located in Norristown significantly impacts Municipal government finance through lost property taxes, which translates into increased per capita education and public safety costs. However, as urban communities with strong public transit connections have become increasingly desirable, there are now opportunities to achieve a greater economic diversity that will stimulate further investment needed to revitalize the entire Municipality instead of helping just one family at a time. The Lafayette Street Extension Project represents a great opportunity to connect downtown Norristown to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and thus ending the decade long isolation of the Municipality from the region’s highway system. The initiatives contained in this plan represent a roadmap to fulfill this vision of a thriving Norristown. *** Norristown Economic Revitalization Strategy – Update 2009 (Final Report) Page 2 This Executive Summary provides an overview of the implementation strategies which are categorized in terms of High Priority, Secondary Priority, and On-Going Priority. High Priority Initiatives that are the most critical in revitalizing Norristown and warrant the highest priority in terms of resource allocations. Secondary Priority Initiatives are subordinate to the High Priority list in terms of resource allocations but are nonetheless crucial components of revitalization. Lastly, On-Going Initiatives represent programs and projects that the Municipality must continue to implement as supportive elements of revitalization. The initiatives are further organized into one of five subcategories: Physical Development; Key Vacant Facility Concerns; Supportive Services and Civic Engagement; Infrastructure Initiative; and Commercial and Business Development. This new categorization deviates from the original NERS document in an effort to group initiatives according to their nature of activities instead of geographic locations. The process of preparing this update of the NERS involved four phases. The first phase included a thorough review of the original document, as well as other plans and studies—including, but not limited to, the Downtown Norristown Strategic Development Plan, The Reinvestment Fund’s Assessment and Strategic Investment Plan, the Lafayette Street Study, the Norristown Weed and Seed Revitalization Plan, the Open Space Plan, and the Riverfront Redevelopment Plan. Suggested initiatives and action items contained in each of these plans were compiled into a master list. The second phase involved the status review of previously recommended initiatives and the collection of suggestions for additional or new development activities that should be considered as project priorities. These tasks were completed through planning workshops with the Community Revitalization Task Force convened by the Municipality, one-on-one interviews with key stakeholders, and a community forum that was opened to the general public. The following are the members of the Community Revitalization Task Force: - Congressman Jim Gerlach - Senator Daylin Leach - State Representative Matt Bradford - State Representative Mike Vereb - Mr. Paul Bartle, Esq., Redevelopment Authority of Montgomery County - Charles J. Tornetta, Tornetta Realty Corp. - Council President Cathy Lawrence, Municipality of Norristown - Councilman Bill Caldwell, Municipality of Norristown - Councilman Gary Simpson, Municipality of Norristown - Mr. John Nugent, Redevelopment Authority of Montgomery County - Mr. Greg Nester, Sewer Authority - Mr. Barry Thompson, Sewer Authority - Mr. Matthew Edmond, Norristown Planning Commission - Mr. James Williams, Assets Montco - Mr. Mark Chalphin, Greater Norristown Corporation - Denise Ashe, Opportunities Industrialization Center - Chief Russell Bono, Municipality of Norristown - Ms. Jean Holland, Montgomery County Planning Commission - Mr. Gerald Birklebach, Montco. Economic and Workforce Development Norristown Economic Revitalization Strategy – Update 2009 (Final Report) Page 3 - Ms. Kathy Pfifer, Montco. Housing and Workforce Development - Mr. David Forrest, Municipality of Norristown - Mr. Steven Nelson, Montgomery County Commissioners Office - Mr. Christopher Fazio, Norristown Public Works In the third phase, the Community Revitalization Task Force was asked to prioritize the initiatives into one of three categories – High Priority Initiatives, Medium Priority Initiatives, and Low Priority Initiatives. The Task Force identified: Twelve (12) High Priority Initiatives; Nine (9) Secondary Priority Initiatives; and Nine (9) Low Priority Initiatives. The following sections contain brief descriptions of each initiative in the three categories. HIGH PRIORITY INITIATIVES (IN ORDER OF DESCENDING IMPORTANCE): #1. Downtown Initiative: leverage the existing historic quality and the large employment base to revitalize the Main Street commercial corridor