To: 20:20 Visionaries
The following is excerpted from VOTER (Winter 1995) The newsletter of
the League of Women Voters of Boise. If you want to know more about
"Neotraditional Town Planning", ie: What is it. Contact Tom Hudson in
Moscow. I am wondering if we could get some students to do a charette
for Moscow and Latah County, As a project, if they had guidance.
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Calendar
February 1 5:30 pm The Livable Community group planning meeting
DEQ building on Orchard St.
February 12-17 Urban Land Instituted team in Boise to advise on
Metro Plan
Our new position statements on Planning and Zoning were adopted at out
January Board meeting, with slight modifications from the statements
published in our last newsletter. Now we're ready to comment on the
revisions of the Boise Metro Plan and the Foothills Plan when they come
out. Members who would like to help with public comments should
contact Stephanie, Elinor or Marilee.
The Livable Community group, which put together our coalition to
sponsor the summer lecture series, has begun meeting the first
Wednesday of each month at the DEQ building on Orchard Street. People
who were intrigued by the lectures, and who want to get some of the
ideas of Neotraditionalist put into practice, are getting together.
Developers, architects, planners and interested citizens are continuing
the dialog. These meetings are a good chance to keep abreast of what's
happening with the various planning committees.
The Livable Community (TLC) group is also gathering support for an
Urban Design Modeling project, known as a "Charette" to build out a
graphic model of the alternatives for the future development in the
foothills and the Treasure Valley. Currently the Foothills Plan, the
Ada County Comprehensive Plan the Boise City Metro Plan are in various
stages of progress, from stuck to almost ready for public response.
But nowhere can we see, or imagine, a visual example of what the areas
would look like.
The Urban Land Institute is being hired at a cost of $75,000 to consult
with the various agencies and offices in the area to help coordinate
planning, assess how well Boise is developing, and offer guidelines for
the future.
We envision a Design Charette or Modeling Project, to come after their
visit, as a logical next step. This charette or modeling process is
one method of involving the community in a graphic participating
process. Instead of arguing about words in a document, the project
would show what is possible, to give a positive directions and purpose
to future efforts at detailed land use plans for the areas.
The modeling process would be led by a nationally recognized planner
and proponent of the New Urbanism, or Neo-Traditional concepts. It
would take several days and result in maps, sketches and detailed
plans. The public can have a part in creating the plans and can react
on a personal level.
The estimated cost for a charette to be from $20,000 to $50,000
depending on the number of planners we can afford. We are asking the
mayor and city council to help fund this project out of the $2.5
million budget surplus that they are now discussing. In addition we
are asking for support from all the groups who made the lecture series
on alternatives to urban sprawl so successful.. If you're interested
in future involvement on lending a hand, please call Lark Corbeil at
342-8213