Arlington: Downtown plan is up to merchants
Published 9:00 pm Monday, May 21, 2001
By Brian Kelly
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — Ready when you are.
That’s the message the city council sent Monday night to downtown business owners. The council unanimously approved a renovation plan for Olympic Avenue, the main street in Arlington’s historic downtown.
But the adoption of the plan doesn’t mean construction crews are ready to tear up the town’s main drag. Now, it’s up to downtown property owners to do some heavy lifting before the reconstruction effort begins.
That means money. The city has committed $1 million to the renovation, which will eventually cost approximately $3 million, but property owners will need to cover one-third of the costs.
That’s roughly $1 million, which would be paid through formation of a local improvement district. Property owners who benefit from the renovations will make up the district and will make annual payments to retire bonds issued to pay for the project. Payments would begin one year after construction is finished.
The city is waiting for property owners to begin circulating a petition to form the improvement district. As a start, the petitions need representation by the owners of 10 percent of the property along Olympic before the city will take the next step.
"If the people say no, it doesn’t happen," council member Craig Hedlund said.
Arlington has been working on the reconstruction plan since last September. City officials hope the project will highlight the downtown’s turn-of-the-century character and foster economic growth in the business core.
The preferred approach includes utility upgrades; a new roadway with curbs, gutters and sidewalks; curb "bulbs" at intersections and mid-block pedestrian crossings; and patterned concrete sidewalks and crosswalks. Other components include decorative cobra-head street lights, three drinking fountains, three decorative phone booths, six benches, 12 trash receptacles, 60 hanging flower baskets, 72 trees and new street signs.
A feasibility study recently completed by a city consultant estimated the potential benefits to downtown property owners would be about $1 million in increased property value.
Although many support the renovation — including the Greater Arlington Chamber of Commerce — there is some doubt that the city can complete the project without seriously impacting downtown businesses during construction.
The recent reconstruction of Division Street on the town’s northern end has heightened those fears.
At Monday night’s meeting, downtown businessman Gary Legler gave the council a stack of petitions signed by more than 1,600 people that called for the removal of the roundabouts on Division Street. Those who signed the petitions also want something done about the proliferation of stop signs in town, which many feel are making shoppers avoid downtown.
The city announced last week it would conduct a neighborhood-by-neighborhood study of the traffic-control devices and said that some stop signs may be removed.
The council did not set a deadline for petitions, but they must be submitted within the next few months so the project can be reflected in the 2002 budget.
You can call Herald Writer Brian Kelly at 425-339-3422 or send e-mail to kelly@heraldnet.com.
