Weaving the Tapestry of the City THE LAWRENCE GROUP TOWN PLANNERS + ARCHITECTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH KIMLEY-HORN & ASSOCIATES ROSE & ASSOCIATES DRAFT COLEJENEST & STONE 06.14.2007 partanburg SDowntown Acknowledgements Spartanburg City Council Lead Agency for the Master Plan Mayor William Barnet, III City of Spartanburg Economic Development Mayor Pro-Tem Joe Spigner , District 1 Julie Franklin, Director Council Member Renee Cariveau, District 2 Cate Ryba, Coordinator Council Member Robert Reeder, District 3 Anna Poole, Assistant Council Member Junie White, District 4 Council Member Kenneth Smith, District 5 Council Member, Linda Dogan, District 6 Downtown Plan Advisory Committee Philip Belcher, Mary Black Foundation Linda Bilanchone, Preservation Trust Royce Camp, Cantrell Wagons Shannon Emory, Carolina Gallery Freddy Foster, Sonny’s Brick Oven Pizza Darrin Goss, Wofford College We would like to thank the City of Ben Graves, Johnson Development Associates Spartanburg and the hundreds of citizens, Mike Henthorn, Beeson Henthorn Development property owners, businesses, and institutions Albert Jolly, Jr., Jolly & Associates Steve Jones, Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium who participated in this exciting downtown Julia Lyons Brooks, United Way of the Piedmont planning process. This Plan, as a reflection of Rev. Lewis A. Mills, Greater Hopewell Baptist Church the community’s aspirations, is intended to Harry Price, Price’s Menswear guide the visionary leaders of Spartanburg for Lee Raines, City of Spartanburg Police Department generations to come. Ricky Richardson, Citigroup SmithBarney Tim Satterfield, Spartanburg Downtown Association Project Team Ron Smith, McMillan Smith & Partners Architects Betsy Teter, Hub-Bub The Lawrence Group Mary Thomas, Spartanburg County Foundation Craig Lewis, AICP, CNU, LEED AP Betsy Fleming, Converse College Dave Malushizky, AIA, LEED AP David Walters, RIBA Downtown Plan Staff Team Paul Hubbman Mark Scott, City Manager Beth Weast, LEED AP Evelyn Tice, Deputy City Manager John Cock, AICP Ed Memmott, Assistant City Manager S. Chad Hall Stephanie Monroe, Planning Director Amanda Huggins Susan Schneider, Strategic Marketing & Outreach Frank (Trey) Akers, III Mitch Kennedy, Community Relations Director A. Tony Fisher, Public Safety Director Kimley-Horn & Associates C. Steven Grant, PE, City Engineer Stephen Stansbery, AICP Les Mitchell, PE, Assistant City Engineer Jonathan Guy, PE Roger Dyar, City Traffic Engineer Ken Fink, PE Buddy Bush, Building Official Larry Harmon, Parks & Recreation Director ColeJenest & Stone Mandy Merck, Special Events & Festival Manager Jane Alexander, RLA Robert Mullins, Manager T.K. Gregg Center Kevin Ammons Steve Raff, Director of Public Works Rose & Associates Kathleen Rose, CCIM Weaving the Tapestry of the City i partanburg ii SDowntown Table Of Contents Executive Summary 1 Introduction & Analysis 7 Civic Dialogue & Participation 45 General Recommendations 59 Transportation & Circulation 105 Development Opportunities 127 Development Impact Analysis 177 Implementation Strategies A1 Development Codes A2 © 2007 by the City of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and The Lawrence Group, Inc. Reproduction Permitted with Credit in Print Weaving the Tapestry of the City iii partanburg iv SDowntown 1 Executive Summary Executive Summary 1: executive summary partanburg 2 SDowntown stablished as a city in 1880, Spartanburg has a rich The extensive development of regional railroads in Eand vibrant history. Though it has frequently changed the latter decades of the nineteenth century placed its physical form, from hamlet, to village to a small but Spartanburg “on the way to almost everywhere” (Racine, growing city (it had 3,200 citizens in 1880) the downtown p. 63) and cemented the community’s reputation as the has functioned over time much as it did from its earliest “hub city.” These same decades saw the beginnings of days, providing the hub for social interaction, religious the city’s extensive textile industry, fed by the extensive observance, institutional care and governance for the area. cotton crops from surrounding farms. The first two mills, And, at the center of it all, lies Morgan Square, the oldest Spartan Mill and Beaumont Mill, were begun in 1888 and and most prominent public space in the city. 1890 respectively, and “by 1909, there were nine mills in or near” Spartanburg (Racine, p. 64), each with their own In 1789, “settlers decided to locate a jail and courthouse new mill village to house their workers. near a spring on Williamson’s Plantation. They placed these public buildings facing each other at either end of The early years of the twentieth century also left their a large rectangular plot of open land around which lots distinctive mark on the downtown area, with the were laid out. Thus they formed a nucleus which drew construction of two dramatic “skyscrapers,” the Andrews business people of various kinds to settle near the public Building (1912) and the Montogomery Building (1923). buildings” (Philip Racine, 1999. Seeing Spartanburg: a The Andrews Building was demolished in 1977, but the 1: executive summary history in images, p. 23-4). Today, this area is known Montgomery Building still stands as a somewhat decayed as Morgan Square, named after Colonel Daniel Morgan, but still proud sentinel at the northern entrance into the hero of the Revolutionary War battle of Cowpens in 1781. downtown area. One hundred years later, in 1881, a statue of Morgan was placed in this space on the location of the first courthouse. The challenges that downtown faces are largely in its geography, as its assets are visually and/or physically Even in its most humble beginnings as a small village, separated in a manner that reduces the opportunities for the City fathers understood the value of public space and synergy. Synergy occurs in downtowns when uses in close the role that public buildings could play in activating proximity to one another increase the activity of each (e.g. that space. They understood that the creation of public an ice cream store located next to a small park). This gathering places would in turn attract lawyers, merchants, synergy between public and private activities provides the and artisans (Racine, p. 24). Fast forward to 2006 and context where people of diverse backgrounds can make Morgan Square is once again attracting the activities of the informal connections with each other, where commerce community. New restaurants, art galleries, large offices, can be transacted, and where governance can take place. and shops are complimented by a program of events that enliven the space and reaffirm it as a destination for the The role of downtown, therefore, should be to serve as community. the core of the city, economically, physically, socially, and emotionally. The future of Spartanburg is full of Yet, the Morgan Square area represents but a small opportunity and this master plan seeks to restore its fraction of downtown. The core area can count among historic prominence while adapting it for the new century. its numerous assets businesses both old and new, two nationally-recognized colleges, a busy performance hall This Downtown Master Plan, inspired by visionary and auditorium, a first-class conference hotel, churches leadership and girded by recent investment and success, with large and growing congregations, a new central serves to weave the basic assets of the city into a tightly- library, a variety of well situated parks, public art and a knit tapestry. well connected transportation system. These assets are coupled with an active and energetic citizenry, a diverse arts community, visionary leadership, and a strong philanthropic base. These positive attributes find their roots in the nineteenth century, while Spartanburg was still a small village. The two colleges downtown were founded in 1854 (Wofford) and 1889 (Converse), indicative of the community’s growth into a regional center. This modernization proceeded apace during the 1880s and 1890s, and brought the city “many of the trappings of the larger cities it emulated” (Racine, p. 61), with gas street lights (later electric), public water supply, a fire department, paved streets, sidewalks and streetcars. Weaving the Tapestry of the City 3 The following recommendations summarize the highest small middle-class within the city limits. The middle- priorities and goals of this plan. For a complete list of class represents the stable socio-economic base action items and timelines please refer to Section A1: from which retail sales are generated, high-qualified Implementation Strategies. employees are found, and new businesses are formed. 1: executive summary The success of regenerating neighborhoods like 1: CONNECTIVITY Hampton Heights with new and renovated housing Downtown Spartanburg has a generally well-defined street should be supported and expanded. grid pattern; however, not every street accommodates pedestrians and bicyclists. In truth, only Main Street High Quality, Affordable Housing: Fragile or provides a clearly defined pedestrian realm; all other threatened neighborhoods, such as the Spartan streets are heavily weighted towards the automobile. The Mills neighborhood, must be restabilized. New Downtown Plan suggests that each street should provide neighborhoods should be mixed-income and the greater balance between pedestrian and vehicular modes architecture and site planning held to the same of travel. In fact, the desired balance should actually high standards as every other neighborhood. The favor the