The Big Questions

SDAT final report, finally

This just in. (I'm told the delay was in production at AIA, not on the part of the team.) As it turns out, that means it's coming out at the beginning of our having a comp plan board. Could be worse.

I will have comments as soon as I get to read it.

Sustainable Design Assessment Team, AIA, final report for Albany

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Cover letter from the city:

As you probably remember, in January 2007, Albany, N.Y., submitted a proposal to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for a Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) to assist the city and its citizens in addressing key isustainability ssues facing the community. The AIA accepted the proposal and, after a preliminary visit by a small group in April, the SDAT members arrived in Albany on August 6. For three days, the team members, working closely with local officials, community leaders, technical experts, and citizens, studied the community and its concerns. During those three days, the team came to understand the issues and used its expertise to frame a wide range of recommendations, which were presented to the community in a public meeting on August 8 2007.

On behalf of Mayor Jennings, I am pleased to provide you with this electronic copy of the final Albany Sustainable Design Assessment Team Report.  We look forward to working with the newly appointed Comprehensive Plan Board and the people of Albany to incorporate this report, and elements of sustainability in general, into the development of Albany's first comprehensive plan.

We have a comp plan board! (belated post)

As Richard Conti so helpfully posted in the comments, the Comp Plan Board was selected on 4/21/08 (text of the resolution below), right in the midst of a number of things that kept me from finding out about or being at the meeting. Alas. But now that this means the process is moving forward again, I shall get back in the saddle and try to keep on top of it.

RESOLUTION NUMBER 40.42.08R
RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL APPOINTING ADDITIONAL MEMBERS TO THE CITY OF ALBANY COMPREHENSIVE PLAN BOARD

WHEREAS, on May 7, 2007 the Common Council adopted Resolution 25.31.07R (as amended) establishing the “City of Albany Comprehensive Plan Board” with the charge of developing a comprehensive plan in accordance with section 28-a of the NYS General City Law; and,
WHEREAS, such Board is to be comprised of 30 members to be appointed by the Common Council; and
WHEREAS, Resolution 25.31.07R (as amended) designated 10 ex-officio members, one of whom shall be a member of the Planning Board; and
WHEREAS, upwards of 100 individuals expressed interest in appointment to one of the remaining 20 openings and a joint committee representative of the Executive and Legislative branches of government interviewed nearly 50 applicants; and
WHEREAS, such committee through consensus has identified a diverse and representative slate of nominees for appointment to the 20 openings on the Comprehensive Plan Board.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the following named individuals are hereby appointed members of the “City of Albany Comprehensive Plan Board” as established by and in accordance with Resolution 25.31.07R (as amended):
Matthew Baumgartner
Samantha Bosshart
Kathleen Cloutier
Elizabeth Doran
Maxine Fantroy-Ford
Jeffery Gritsavage
Christopher Hawver
Helen Klaeysen
Herbert McLaughlin
Louise McNeilly
Jeffery Mirel
Sandra Misiewicz
Dennis Mosley
Brenda Motley
Robert Schofield
Gene Solan
Joseph Stellato
Karen Strong
Scott Townsend
Arlene Way
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that Ryan Hancox is appointed a member of the “City of Albany Comprehensive Plan Board” representing the Planning Board.

"Forgotten Cities"

One of the things that I think is crucial for those of us trying to figure out how to plan for and grow a better Albany is not to work in a vacuum. While every city is unique, we also share a lot of things in common, and there are great lessons to be learned from creative people overcoming what seemed like insurmountable obstacles in similar cities. These stories are  useful for generating ideas and learning lessons, and also a good response to nay-sayers and cynics.

One great report in that vein that I recently had the pleasure to copyedit is Voices From Forgotten Cites: Innovative Revitalization Coalitions in America's Older Small Cities (pdf file). It comes out of a seminar series at MIT, and is peppered with quotes from real folks doing revitalization work on the ground. It describes a small handful of places making some really great turnarounds, and gives some analysis of why.  The tantalizingly hopeful and yet difficult conclusion they offer is that the most important thing to do is  gather a wide coalition together to do something well. Almost anything, as long as it's meaningful and people might not have expected it to go well.  Then capture that excitement and keep going.  Sounds easy. Isn't. But isn't impossible either.

Perhaps as, or even more, important, the report is also particularly good at making those of us in "older small cities" feel not alone. It travels through the psychological effects on a place that has lost clout and population over the past several decades, and doesn't pull any punches when it talks about the dysfunctional patterns in local government that that leads to. Much as it's fun to glorify in Albany's seedy machine history, I actually found it comforting to be reminded that a lot of what happens here is not that unusual.

Worth a read. I'll collect a few other resources in another post soon. (And I haven't forgotten that I owe you my own elevator pitch. Though ya'll said it so well, I'm not so sure what I have to add.) 

The pieces we need to stitch together

Because everyone keep talking about them, for your background reading, here are some links to existing plans or the starts of plans in Albany:

Neighborhood Plans: South End/"Capital South," Arbor Hill, Midtown, and Park South
There are also a number of older neighborhood plans not listed on this site. I'm not sure if they're available in electronic format or not. I'll work on that.

Special area/projects: Harriman Campus, Albany Pine Bush Preserve Management Plans

Economic development/downtown: Capitalize Albany and ReCapitalize Albany

Sustainable Design Assessment Team (inital PowerPoint, not final report)

Not a plan, but relevant: Albany Convention Center

Which ones am I missing?

"Albany has the assets to succeed"

I am a bad blogger. This is because I no matter how much I poke around, I do miss news stories on topics I'm interested in. For example, I missed this op-ed by Barbara Smith from late August. It's worth a read.

And now, a word from the planning department

For those of you not on the SDAT participants mailing list... (I'm just back from a week off and trying to get caught up on many things. I have a backlog of posts I'll try to get to over the coming week.)

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Sent 9/7

Hello SDAT Participants,

 

The team members are working diligently on the final report.   As final reports are generally issued approximately 90 days from the charrettes, the report is projected to come out by the end of the year.  The team is using this time to thoroughly research their respective sections and integrate your input to fine-tune Albany-specific recommendations.  Once each team member has finalized their research, their individual reports will be woven together by the team leader and the program manager. When the American Institute of Architects (AIA) issues it, we will post it on the City's website www.albanyny.gov as well as on www.albanysdat.com and send you notification.

 

Because you were interested in the summer charrettes, you may also be thinking toward the Comprehensive Plan.  The Common Council is still openly accepting applications for membership on the Comprehensive Plan Committee, and I strongly urge you to submit your resume for consideration.  A representative and knowledgeable committee is critical.  In terms of the future of City planning and zoning, this is the most important committee on which you can serve. Submit your application and resume, or find out more information by contacting:

 

             Cashawna Parker

             Common Council Staff, City Hall Room 206

            434-5087

             434-5081(fax)

             [email protected]

 

 

I look forward to seeing and sending out the final report, and hope you consider serving on the Comprehensive Plan committee.

 

Sarah

 

Sarah Reginelli, Senior Planner
[email protected]

The presentation given by the SDAT team is now accessible online, here.

It's clearly intended to go with a soundtrack/presentation as it were, so some of it is a bit out of context. It may not be immediately clear at first, for example, that the slides saying "location," "urban fabric," etc. are describing some of Albany's assets.

I especially point you to the questions for the future on page 65 and the principles on page 69 (expanded upon in the following pages).

Here's an update, from the horse's mouth, about how the Comp Plan Board selection process will proceed. Reading between the lines, it sounds like if you represent, ahem, a group/location/constituency that is likely to be under-represented among the applicants, it's definitely still worth getting a letter of intent and a resume in.

---

August 20, 2007

To:    Council Colleagues

Fr:    Richard Conti,    President Pro Tem

Re:    Comprehensive Plan Board selection process

Earlier this year the Council adopted Resolution 23.31.07R establishing a Comprehensive Plan Board and charging it with the responsibility of developing a comprehensive plan for the City of Albany.

In response to our “Call for Nominations” over 70 individuals have expressed interest in appointment to one of the 20 available seats on the Board.  Ten of these appointments are by the Council upon recommendation of the Mayor.

The interview and selection process for appointment to the Board will be lengthy.  The process needs to be co-ordinated with the executive branch and we need to select and recommend the appointment of a Board which is balanced in several ways.  In order to accomplish this, candidates will be interviewed by a joint Council-Executive committee comprised of the following individuals (listed alphabetically):

Council
Richard Conti, President Pro Tem
Dan Herring, Chair Planning Committee
Carolyn McLaughlin, Majority Leader
Shawn Morris, President   

Executive
Phil Calderone, Deputy Mayor
Joe Cavazos, Commissioner of Admin. Services
Megan Daley, Deputy Commissioner of Planning
Mike Yevoli, Commissioner of Planning

The interview committee will review the pool of applicants who have submitted their resumes and seek to develop consensus-based recommendations.  As we move forward through this process we may need to do additional outreach to assure we have a representative pool of applicants, therefore the opportunity to submit additional names remains open.  This process will be a joint process (not separate ones) which hopefully can be completed by the Fall with formal Council appointment of the remaining members of the Board.

I appreciate your patience during this process, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Turns out that in July, Councilman Richard Conti (Ward 6) introduced an ordinance that would fulfill one of the recommendations made at the presentation on Wednesday: increase the annual fee to owners of vacant buildings over the course of the first five years they stand vacant, from $250 the first year to $2,000 in the fifth and thereafter. (I'd question why we let it go flat at that point, frankly. Wilmington, DE, often cited as a model, jumps the fee up again at 10 years and then ever year after that. It is, after, the really long term vacancies that are the worst problems.)

Still, it's a good idea, used to good effect in other cities, and Albany should definitely move in that direction. The ordinance (after the jump), which needs a little rewording to be fully clear, is with the Law Committee, and Conti seems optimistic about its passage.

However, it won't do much good until the data collection and enforcement sides catch up with it. The building department is a year behind on its quarterly reports, and no one really knows what buildings are in the registry, should be in the registry, etc. Everyone in this field agrees: good information is step one. But while we've got step two proposed, it won't hurt to get it passed.

Original documents after the jump.

In case anyone wants to read the Recapitalize Albany report, here it is. Worth a read. I'll have my thoughts on it for you tomorrow.

SDAT final presentation, in the flesh, er, in the electrons

The presentation given by the SDAT team is now accessible online, here.

It's clearly intended to go with a soundtrack/presentation as it were, so some of it is a bit out of context. It may not be immediately clear at first, for example, that the slides saying "location," "urban fabric," etc. are describing some of Albany's assets.

I especially point you to the questions for the future on page 65 and the principles on page 69 (expanded upon in the following pages).

About that Comp Plan Board

Here's an update, from the horse's mouth, about how the Comp Plan Board selection process will proceed. Reading between the lines, it sounds like if you represent, ahem, a group/location/constituency that is likely to be under-represented among the applicants, it's definitely still worth getting a letter of intent and a resume in.

---

August 20, 2007

To:    Council Colleagues

Fr:    Richard Conti,    President Pro Tem

Re:    Comprehensive Plan Board selection process

Earlier this year the Council adopted Resolution 23.31.07R establishing a Comprehensive Plan Board and charging it with the responsibility of developing a comprehensive plan for the City of Albany.

In response to our “Call for Nominations” over 70 individuals have expressed interest in appointment to one of the 20 available seats on the Board.  Ten of these appointments are by the Council upon recommendation of the Mayor.

The interview and selection process for appointment to the Board will be lengthy.  The process needs to be co-ordinated with the executive branch and we need to select and recommend the appointment of a Board which is balanced in several ways.  In order to accomplish this, candidates will be interviewed by a joint Council-Executive committee comprised of the following individuals (listed alphabetically):

Council
Richard Conti, President Pro Tem
Dan Herring, Chair Planning Committee
Carolyn McLaughlin, Majority Leader
Shawn Morris, President   

Executive
Phil Calderone, Deputy Mayor
Joe Cavazos, Commissioner of Admin. Services
Megan Daley, Deputy Commissioner of Planning
Mike Yevoli, Commissioner of Planning

The interview committee will review the pool of applicants who have submitted their resumes and seek to develop consensus-based recommendations.  As we move forward through this process we may need to do additional outreach to assure we have a representative pool of applicants, therefore the opportunity to submit additional names remains open.  This process will be a joint process (not separate ones) which hopefully can be completed by the Fall with formal Council appointment of the remaining members of the Board.

I appreciate your patience during this process, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Step Two: Upping those Vacant Building Fees

Turns out that in July, Councilman Richard Conti (Ward 6) introduced an ordinance that would fulfill one of the recommendations made at the presentation on Wednesday: increase the annual fee to owners of vacant buildings over the course of the first five years they stand vacant, from $250 the first year to $2,000 in the fifth and thereafter. (I'd question why we let it go flat at that point, frankly. Wilmington, DE, often cited as a model, jumps the fee up again at 10 years and then ever year after that. It is, after, the really long term vacancies that are the worst problems.)

Still, it's a good idea, used to good effect in other cities, and Albany should definitely move in that direction. The ordinance (after the jump), which needs a little rewording to be fully clear, is with the Law Committee, and Conti seems optimistic about its passage.

However, it won't do much good until the data collection and enforcement sides catch up with it. The building department is a year behind on its quarterly reports, and no one really knows what buildings are in the registry, should be in the registry, etc. Everyone in this field agrees: good information is step one. But while we've got step two proposed, it won't hurt to get it passed.

Original documents after the jump.

To the Source

In case anyone wants to read the Recapitalize Albany report, here it is. Worth a read. I'll have my thoughts on it for you tomorrow.