Coucil looks to improve downtown Logan
Discussion on renovating downtown Logan was one workshop item discussed at Wednesday’s City Council Meeting.
Jay Nielson presented background on a study on the benefits of downtown revitalization, the results of which can be found on the Internet on Logan City’s home page at www.LoganUtah.org.
Nielson said the city has been working with the National Main Street Center, a division of the Trust for Historic Preservation, in order to maintain Logan’s downtown.
The results of the study, Nielson said, are in a rough-draft phase but provide a long-term vision for development which includes 23 specific goals and 100 tasks to be completed in the next five years.
“This document also provides the framework to make decisions about development,” Nielson said.
Nielson presented case studies from five other communities, each a college town similar in size to Logan, to show the benefits a downtown renovation can have.
In Murgressboro, Tenn., Nielson said 1,069 new jobs were created in 11 years through renovation. Vacancy rates went from 25 percent to 0 percent over the course of 12 years in Holland, Mich.
Nielson addressed the concerns about a governmental approach and said he hopes that will not detract from the project itself.
“I hope our effort isn’t diluted. It is now that the right thing ought to be done,” Nielson said.
Budget Workshops were also set up for May 8, 22, 29 and 30 and June 4, 6, 12 and 13 from 5 to 7 p.m. on every day except May 22 when the meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m.
Numerous citizens representing “Friends of Fourth East” voiced their concerns about a new development program which they said they felt would not solve problems, but actually create new ones.
Kevin Hansen, Public Works director for Logan City, said he is encouraged and heartened to see the public want to provide input.
“We’re really trying to listen better than ever before. We’re bending over backwards to make the process as open and inclusive as we can,” Hansen said. “We don’t have an answer and we will listen.”
Council Member Stephen Thompson presented a preliminary study on a new airport layout as a member of the Airport Authorities Board, along with Sarah Ann Skanchy.
The new plan, which Thompson referred to as “merely a dream,” included freight and passenger terminals as well as expanded runways to better serve customers.
“In a perfect world, if we had $50 million to spend, it perhaps could look like this,” Thompson said.
Nielson also presented a comparison study for the 1000 West development project, citing examples from similar areas at 200 East, 100 North, 400 North and 600 West to prove 1000 West had the capacity to handle more traffic.
Density and traffic were lowest on 1000 West, according to zoning ordinances and the Utah Department of Transportation’s average daily traffic numbers, Nielson said.
Council Chair Karen Borg said she was still concerned that one major piece of the puzzle had not yet been addressed.
“Will increasing traffic on 10th West decrease traffic on Main Street? The bridge has not been built and that major question still remains unanswered,” Borg said.
Nielson said one main goal of creating an alternate route to Main Street would to be for large trucks to avoid downtown Logan and make Main Street more habitable.
Thompson said he did not see a problem with heavy trucks, and asked where the myth had come from.
“I guess if you say it enough, people start to believe it’s a problem,” Thompson said.
Borg said, “Besides, those with a knowledge of the area aren’t dumb enough to use Main Street.”