Manassas hears comments on downtown plan

By Kipp Hanley

Published: May 20, 2008

The Manassas City Council held the first of two public hearings on the downtown sector plan Monday and for the most part, the input was fairly positive.

The overriding themes presented by the public at the hearing were keeping the Liberty Street and Douglas Street neighborhoods residential and slowing down traffic on Church and Center streets in Old Town Manassas.

In all, the city has eight goals as part of the two-year sector plan study, which range from improving the retail core, enhancing adjacent neighborhoods and encouraging the protection of the city's historic character.

Also included in the plan is a redesign of the land use map, which could make future re-zoning easier.

The plan currently calls for the Liberty Street/Douglas Street corridor to remain residential. Many representatives of the largely black community came to meeting to express their opinions and to listen to the overall plan presented Community Development Director Elizabeth Via.

The second issue residents brought up was making the city streets safer to walk. Part of the sector plan is to make Old Town more pedestrian-friendly in order to enjoy what the city hopes to be a burgeoning arts and entertainment district. The sector plan calls for installing traffic calming measures at various points in the downtown area and adjusting traffic flow to one-way on Battle Street.

During the hearing, Old Town residents Jeff Pickard and Diane Bodenhamer said speeds on both Center and Church streets are too fast, especially during rush hour when residents and visitors alike crisscross downtown to get to points both north and south of the city.

Pickard said Center Street has gotten more dangerous since parking was prohibited two years ago. The prohibition was done because the city wanted to widen the sidewalks from 4 feet to 8 feet and to keep trucks and vans from off-loading their products on either side of the one-way street.

"After you widened the walks and moved the parking, you have removed the visual clutter and that has actu-ally increased the speeds," Pickard told the council.

There are plans for traffic lights at the intersections of West and Center streets and West and Church streets, which will help slow traffic, Via said. However, money has not yet been budgeted for that project.

Grant Avenue resident Gene A. Maloy asked whether the city has considered the effect traffic-calming measures on Center Street might have on Prince William Street, which runs parallel with Center up to Grant Avenue.

"That's my concern because it's hard to get out of Grant Avenue now, out of my drive-way," Maloy said. "I need to know definitely what the plan is going to be, if it's going to affect [traffic on Prince William]."

Via said the city hasn't looked at that issue yet but that Maloy brought up a legitimate concern.

"I think I want to go back and look at specific improvements on Prince William Street," Via said after the meeting.

The second hearing is scheduled for June 16, the day the council is expected to vote on the plan. On June 5, the Land Use Committee will hold a work session at 5:30 p.m. in the second floor conference room at City Hall. The meeting is open to the public