Sidewalks are not required along new and existing local and collector streets within industrial parks located outside of the city limits and served by city water and/or sewer, where the following conditions are found by the Transportation Director to exist: 1) The proposed development is within an area mostly consisting of existing industrial development, where no sidewalks are present. 2) The character, size and density of the developments are such that pedestrian demand is expected to be limited, and 3) No transit service or greenway route exists or is planned in that location.
Sounds reasonable enough at first blush, because why require a developer to build a sidewalk that no one is going to use anyway?
Where sidewalks are not required to be provided, the developer shall provide a graded area without obstructions, located adjacent to the right-of-way and sufficient to allow for future sidewalk construction meeting city standards. This graded area will be kept free from landscaping (shrubs, trees, fences, walls, etc.), including landscaping that would otherwise be required by ordinance. A sidewalk easement will be conveyed to the city where required due to insufficient right-of-way.
At second glance, the ordinance amendment reveals that the city anticipates at least the possibility of sidewalks being needed in the future near new industrial sites, with the public picking up the tab.
The request comes from Richard Beard of Simpson, Schulman and Beard Commercial Real Estate. The company manages Rock Creek Center in eastern Guilford County, which depends on the city of Greensboro for water and sewer services.
American Express has been circumspect about its plans to open a data center in eastern Guilford, and did not make a formal request for incentives from either Greensboro or Guilford County. Is this a backdoor incentives deal, then?
Council will consider the request at its regular meeting tomorrow night.
UPDATE 1: Transportation Director Adam Fischer says in a Nov. 11 memo that a local developer and a representative of TREBIC asked that the exemption be extended to industrial sites located inside the city limits. Concerns outlined by Fisher in response to that request include planning for future transit services, air quality, general attractiveness and safety:
... 3) Sidewalks in industrial parks not only provide a link between residential and commercial areas, but they in many cases provide a needed link to existing and future transit services.
4) Sustainable communities should include a mix of land uses and sidewalks in order to reduce motorized vehicular trips and reduce the carbon footprint. Mixed-use development should include industrial land use in close proximity to residential and commercial development (similar to the old 'mill village' model)."
5) The city plans to build 29 miles of sidewalk over the next 10 years in industrial areas to meet the pedestrian needs in those areas and to fill gaps in the sidewalk network. Some of the industrial areas targeted for sidewalk are located along Swing Road, E. Bessemer Avenue, Elm-Eugene Street, W. Market Street and W. Friendly Avenue.
6) Sidewalks and pedestrian amenities are an important element of community quality of life. Quality of life is often cited as an important determinant of an area's competitiveness in attracting and retaining economic activity including major corporate installations.
7) National safety studies indicate that a section of roadway without sidewalks can be expected on average to have 2.6 times more (walking along the roadside crashes) than street with sidewalks on both sides, and 1.2 times more such accidents than a street with sidewalks on one side (Design and Safety of Pedestrian Facilities, Institute of Transportation Engineers, 1998). Partly for this reason, ITE and the Federal Highway Administration recommend sidewalks on urban and suburban streets.
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