WEST LAFAYETTE – With a vote possibly coming Monday on West Lafayette’s new downtown plan – one that’s expected to guide the city’s look, feel and growth over the next three decades and one that already has some property owners riled – some city council members indicated they were prepared to make compromises to get the 100-page-plus document on the books.
Case in point: The city council likely avoided one fight when Peter Bunder, the council president, last week backed away from adding language that would have done a better job of locking in several blocks as future parks in a downtown area that covers 262 acres between the Wabash River and the edge of Purdue’s campus.
The question of parks and greenspace among the growing number of high rises in West Lafayette became such a bone of contention during the process that the Area Plan Commission sent the city a plan that hedged, keeping development options open for property owners who were protesting.
Bunder had other ideas. He filed a proposed amendment early last week that would have erased that hedge. By Thursday, during a city council work session, Bunder pulled back, saying it wasn’t worth the fight.
“The amendment? It means I’m really serious about parks,” Bunder said. “Then I decided it was better to have an OK plan sooner than a greener plan three years from now. It’s all about compromise.”
With that in mind, this is what’s facing the city council Monday night, as it considers the West Lafayette Downtown Plan.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: The plan was born out of the city’s desire to map out a “new downtown” for West Lafayette. Planners came up with a guide aimed at generational changes, including a block-by-block map for the type of development – from dense commercial to residential to greenspace – the city could encourage. How fast that goes would be up to property owners, Mayor John Dennis has insisted. He said there are no plans to take land by eminent domain for new streets or other features in the plan.
READ THE PROPOSED WEST LAFAYETTE DOWNTOWN PLAN
WHAT IT COVERS: The plan includes 262 acres bound by the Wabash River and Grant Street, Tapawingo Drive to the southern edge of New Chauncey Neighborhood. That takes in the Chauncey Village area near Purdue and an area the plan calls the Wabash Riverfront, which includes Levee Plaza, Wabash Landing and River Market.
THE REACTION, SO FAR: Chilly – at least from some blocks. Several property owners told the council at its Feb. 3 meeting that they were skeptical about grid streets the plan sees eventually replacing strip malls and shopping center parking lots that dominate the levee area between the Wabash River and River Road. The idea, Ryan O’Gara, assistant director of the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission, said was to make the levee area look and feel more like a downtown and create a more seamless transition between Lafayette’s downtown and West Lafayette. The fact that lines drawn on a proposed map cut through current properties didn’t sit well.
MORE: West Lafayette’s ‘new downtown’ plan panned by property owners who see city muscling in
ABOUT THOSE PARKS: Initial versions of the downtown plan suggested designating a handful of blocks – including a block next to Tommy Johnston Park, the corner of State Street and Chauncey Avenue where a Chipotle restaurant sits and a triangle of land at Northwestern Avenue, Wiggins Street and Vine Street – for future parks. When property owners complained that would sink values and hamstring them – and leave them with no negotiation power other than to one day sell their land to the city – the APC scaled back. The new maps still outline the possibility of at those spots, while allowing for the potential for development, as well. With Bunder tempering his call for a strong statement on parks, that arrangement likely will stand.
MORE: Proposed parks near Purdue cause backlash for new West Lafayette downtown plan
WHAT ELSE IS IN THERE: The plan includes several plans to reconfigure Harrison Bridge, including two possible designs for a roundabout. It also suggests making the Village the city’s second historic district, calling for ways to highlight older buildings, including the Louis Sullivan-designed “Jewel Box” bank building at State Street and Northwestern, so they aren’t overwhelmed by pressure to build taller buildings blocks from Purdue.
CITY COUNCIL REACTION, SO FAR: The nine-member council took public comment in February, but council members haven’t had substantial public conversations about the plan.
Nick DeBoer, whose District 1 includes much of the downtown area, said he would have liked to see a plan “with more purple” – the color for blocks designated for the tallest, densest development.
“It’s a good plan,” DeBoer said. “There are a couple too few parks, a couple too few locations that could use densification. … But I bet you (planned developments) don’t go away. There will be negotiations on all of this as it goes forward.”
Council member Kathy Parker said she was “going to hold off on commenting about my vote until Monday.”
“We’ve all received several thoughts regarding the plan,” Parker said, “but I think there will still be some more discussion at Monday’s council meeting.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Bunder said he expected the council to vote on the plan Monday.
FOR MORE FROM THE PLAN: To read the full plan, go to jconline.com and click on the link to this story.
IF YOU GO: The West Lafayette City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the former Happy Hollow Elementary School, 1200 N. Salisbury St.
Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @davebangert.
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