NEW VISIONS WORKING GROUP E

MEETING NOTES

 

DATE/TIME: Thursday, September 2, 2004 at CDRPC Offices, 10 AM to 12:30 PM

 

ATTENDANCE: Todd Fabozzi-CDRPC; Steve Feeney-Schenectady County Planning; Rich Harris-Hudson River Valley Greenway; Sandy Misiewicz-CDTC Staff; Kevin Novak-NYSDOT Region 1; Linda von der Heide-Rensselaer County Economic Development and Planning

 

DISCUSSION SUMMARY: The meeting began with a review of the Summary of Regional Smart Growth Incentive Programs paper prepared by CDRPC.  The discussion focused on what could be learned from other parts of the country regarding the size, strength and practicality of such programs in the context of the Capital District.  The programs reviewed were largely run by MPO’s and included the following:

 

·       Livable Centers Initiative, Atlanta

·       Transportation for Livable Communities Program, San Francisco

·       Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Incentive Program, San Mateo County, California

·       Community Design Grant Program, Sacramento

·       Transportation Enhancement Activities Program, San Diego

·       Smart Growth Incentive Program, Austin (non-MPO program)

 

There are many aspects of these programs that could serve as models for the Capital District, especially Atlanta’s Smart Growth Toolkit.  What was important to note is that CDTC and CDRPC are already doing many of the things included in these other programs.  Existing efforts, particularly the Linkage Program, need to be enhanced to promote sound planning principles in Capital District communities.

 

Following that discussion, the group reviewed the Assessment of the Linkage Program to Enhance Local Planning paper prepared by CDTC.  The paper highlighted potential changes that could be made to the overall linkage program that would allow for more strategic use of the funds and strengthen the program objectives to better meet New Visions principles and policies.  The group agreed with many of the ideas presented in the paper and offered the following comments:

 

  • Utilizing the urban service area boundary as a way to distinguish areas to target for linkage funds was not viewed positively by the group.  The boundary is too restrictive and potentially limits what is more important: influencing urban form. 

 

  • An evaluation matrix should be considered for use in project selection.

 

  • Utilizing a compact program similar to that of Dutchess County could be problematic for CDTC staff as pitching the idea to all of our local communities could be staff intensive.

 

  • Linkage program studies should be more closely tied to Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) money.  The idea for requiring adoption of the studies to access TIP money was raised.

 

  • CDTC should consider encouraging TIP project sponsors to use some portion of project funds on linkage type studies.

 

  • The question of what is planning and what is design should be clarified in the program guidelines.

 

NEXT STEPS: CDTC/CDRPC staff will revise the Linkage program objectives, guidelines and evaluation criteria for the group to review at the next meeting.  In addition, staff will complete a review of CDTC/CDRPC’s existing planning assistance efforts beyond the linkage program that could be further enhanced to support local planning.  This summary will be shared with the group prior to the next meeting.

 

The next meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, October 14, 2004 at 10 AM at the CDRPC office (One Park Place, Main Floor).