Town Center Vision Plan Murray Hill City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department Town Center Program Phase 1 Initiative Town Center Vision Plan Murray Hill City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department Town Center Program Phase I Initiative March 2004 Acknowledgements his document was prepared for the City John Peyton of Jacksonville Planning and Develop- Mayor Tment Department. It was developed City of Jacksonville through input from dozens of local participants. The development process spanned 12 months, Reggie Fullwood from March 2003 through March 2004. We are District 9 Representative grateful to the many community members who Jacksonville City Council participated in the neighborhood workshops and contributed their time, energy, and Visions Michael Corrigan to this report. District 14 Representative Jacksonville City Council Jeannie Fewell Director Planning and Development Department Jennifer Hewett-Apperson, AICP i A special recognition is due Town Center Program Project Manager JaxPride, a nonprofit coalition Planning and Development Department for visual enhancement, for their early and ongoing community visioning activities in Jacksonville. Their volunteer efforts have helped raise community awareness about the Sponsoring Organization importance of having a Vision for neighborhood Murray Hill Preservation Association improvement. Randy Mallory, President Consultant Team This document was prepared by: Prosser Hallock, Inc. 13901 Sutton Park Drive South Suite 200 with VIA Concepts, LLC Jacksonville, Florida 32224 904.739.3655 M. Victoria Pennington fax 904.730.3413 and Jean Dickson www.prosserhallock.com Murray Hill Town Center Vision Plan Contents 1. Overview........................................................................... 1 2. Community Vision ........................................................... 5 3. Focusing the Vision ..........................................................13 4. Future Visions ................................................................. 28 5. Implementing the Vision ................................................. 32 6. Maintaining the Vision .................................................... 38 7. Final Recommendations .................................................. 40 ii 8. Conclusion ...................................................................... 42 Murray Hill Town Center Vision Plan 1 Overview hat is a town center? The phrase While this description hints at the character of a conjures an image of Main Street, of Town Center, the specific form and function can Wactivity and livelihood, of a space vary greatly. This report represents an effort by that is historic, active, interesting, and inviting. the Murray Hill community to define and redefine A Town Center is typically an urbanized area, their Town Center with assistance from the City condensed and pedestrian oriented, with commer- of Jacksonville. To be part of the City’s Town cial enterprises that serve the local community, Center Program, a Town Center must be at least and other amenities such as parks and plazas. As 30 years old and must have been at one time an the hub of the community, Town Centers should established commercial district or corridor at the be attractive and well-maintained. heart of an existing community or neighborhood. “ neighborhood is, The Murray Hill commer- Afirst and foremost, cial district is a prime designed for people, and example of a Town not solely for cars. It Center that once actively 1 must allow for a range supported the commu- of housing options to nity but has experienced accommodate people in changes over time that all stages of life: families have lessened its func- with children, young tion. Despite some college students, empty decline, the Murray Hill nesters, single profession- community recognizes als, and employees of local businesses. It must the value of this area as a neighborhood and feature narrow, slow-speed streets where cars cultural resource. This Vision Plan is an effort to and pedestrians peacefully co-exist and restore and improve the Town Center through a residents can walk safely along tree-shaded community-based initiative and with the help and sidewalks. A true neighborhood must also resources of the City of Jacksonville. offer the pedestrian someplace worth walking to: a corner store, a cozy park, a nature trail, or a friend’s house down the street. The walk Background itself must be interesting, featuring land- The City of Jacksonville, through the leadership of scaped gardens, architectural details, and City Council member Suzanne Jenkins, developed places to meet informally with neighbors.” the Town Center Program as a means of providing (Welcome to Vermillion. 2000. Bowman support to local organizations for redeveloping Development Group. <http://www.vermillion- areas of town that have served the community and tnd.com/default.html>) that still retain some character, historically, aesthetically, or otherwise. The City also recog- Murray Hill Town Center Vision Plan nizes the role these Town Centers can serve as gather community ideas and opinions, and this Jacksonville grows: to provide shopping, service, Vision Plan is a direct result of that input. and entertainment alternatives, support small and local businesses, and create meaningful and memorable places that define the City as whole. Planning Process To generate a Vision, a Project Team was as- lder communities want their commercial sembled to guide the Vision from initial program- “Ocorridors that are the front doors to their ming through completion of the final report. The neighborhood to reflect the character of their Team included MHPA representatives, City staff, community...It’s about the community first coming and the project consultant. The Team developed together because the plan has to be put together by a streamlined process to encourage as much citizen the community--not done for them or to them, but participation and input as possible. Team leaders done with them.” initiated the planning process with a meeting to --Suzanne Jenkins identify key issues concerning the area and identify times and locations for workshops. The Project In the fall of 2002, Murray Hill Preservation Team then conducted a site visit to walk the area, Association (MHPA) applied for and received a discuss opportunities and constraints, and record grant from the City of Jacksonville for Phase I information. Follow-up site visits by the project Visioning as part of the Town Center Program. Specifically, this Phase I effort creates a Vision for redeveloping the Town Center located along Murray Hill, from INITIAL PROGRAMMING 2 College Street north to I-10 (see map on GOALS & OBJECTIVES page 4). Once a Phase I Vision is com- pleted, organizations are eligible to apply SITE VISITS and for Phase II funding that will enable DATA COLLECTION development of construction plans; how- ever, Phase I recipients are not guaranteed Phase II funding through the program. PUBLIC Phase III applicants seek construction WORKSHOPS funds to apply toward implementation. The Town Center Program is administered by the City of Jacksonville Planning and Development Department. VISION DEVELOPMENT Mission The mission of this project is to develop a Vision for Murray Hill that activates the DRAFT REPORT needs and desires of the local community while incorporating the realities of cost, condition, and other constraints. Neigh- CITY & ORGANIZATION FINAL borhood workshops were conducted to REVIEW VISION PLAN Murray Hill Town Center Vision Plan consultant provided supplemental information during the development of the Vision. With preliminary analysis and information collected, the Team conducted two public work- shops that were scheduled around community interests and located as close as possible to the Town Center. The workshops were carefully organized to allow direct participant input, at both a personal level and a communal level. This community response is detailed in the next section. The workshops concluded with presenta- tions of participant Visions and a prioritization of projects by the participants, allowing the Team to then develop a plan for Phase II and Phase III implementation, as presented in this report. It is important to emphasize that the recommen- dations in this report are conceptual in nature and as such serve as a guide for decisions to be made during a Phase II application, when the Town Center Vision concept will be transformed into Example of a new Town Center in Jacksonville 3 detailed construction plans. Phase II will provide (San Marco Square) the details, drawings, and design work needed to undertake construction. Plan Area The Murray Hill Town Center is the commercial corridor along Murray Hill, between College Street on the south and I-10 on the north. The concentration area, or focal point, is the corridor segment between College and Myra Streets. The plan area is shown on the following page. Example of an old Town Center (St. Augustine, FL) Murray Hill Town Center Vision Plan MurrayHillTownCenter STUDYAREA MLKPkwy I-10 A STUDYAREA JTB N 0 100' 200' ScaleinFeet 012 ScaleinMiles 2 Community Vision t the heart of this Visioning process are influenced or overshadowed in the open discus- the comments, concerns, and dreams of sion to follow. The following is a summary of Athe area residents. These are the people their responses to these questions. Their answers who know Murray Hill best, who live and work in guided our Vision concept throughout its devel- the area, who use the