Willo Historic District Online

UPCOMING WILLO NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETINGS

Thursday, September 9, 2010
No meetings in July or August
Board meeting starts at 6:30 P.M.
Fairfield Inn & Suites
2520 N. Central Avenue

WILLO NEIGHBORHOOD CONSERVATION PLAN UPDATE

In the ongoing effort to preserve the integrity of our neighborhood, your Willo Neighborhood Board is in the process of updating the Conservation Plan and we would like to have suggestions from you–our neighbors and fellow homeowners–for ways we can improve and update the Plan.

Zoning in the transition zone may be the most important consideration. (This area is roughly defined as the first 200 feet or the first three houses west of First Avenue.) The vacant lot at First Avenue between Virginia and Cambridge has already been "upgraded" to C-O (commercial-office). Perhaps we can prevent future zoning upgrades by amending the Plan.

The Neighborhood Conservation Plan, circa 1986, is accessible on the Willo Web site or on the City of Phoenix Web site. Please take a look at the Plan and contact Chris Wertheim with your ideas at 602-944-5340 or via email.

WILLO STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENT PLAN UPDATE - AS PRINTED IN THE MARCH 2009 ISSUE OF INSIDE WILLO: NEIGHBORHOOD CONTINUES WORKING TO IMPROVE 3RD & 5TH AVENUES WITH A STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

DOWNLOAD WILLO STREETSCAPE IMPROVEMENT PLAN

Download plan - 61MB PDF

For those of you that are new to the neighborhood, you might have heard about our ongoing “streetscape” project. Here is a bit of background. For the last decade and more, the Willo neighborhood, through its Board, has been working with the City of Phoenix to calm traffic cutting through the neighborhood on 3rd and 5th Avenues. The streetscape improvement plan, approved by the Willo Neighborhood Association in early 2005, is designed to calm traffic on 3rd and 5th Avenues, while providing shade and a more pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. The plan is funded with revenues from our annual home tours and involves moving the curbing at anywhere from one to four corners (likely only one or two) at specified intersections to physically and visually narrow the road. The improvements should discourage speeding traffic and allow more space to plant trees and other landscaping. The plans call for moving the curbing only a few feet. Nothing would change in terms of the traffic pattern and bike lanes, we would just eliminate the extra space that was created when the third traffic lanes were abandoned years ago.

Before letting us make these improvements, the City staff has asked us to go through a process similar to what the City uses for speed humps. It requires the neighborhood to gather petition signatures from neighbors living near the affected intersections -- in this case, residents or owners on Edgemont and Almeria streets. To date, the necessary signatures have been obtained from our Edgemont neighbors and we have the City’s approval to proceed in this area. We still need signatures/approvals from Almeria. If we do not get the signatures from Almeria, we will probably look to improve different intersections - possibly Palm Lane at 3rd and 5th Avenues instead of Almeria. We hope to improve Almeria, however, since that is the first/last neighborhood street, and is designated as a gateway intersection to/from Willo.

Street Improvement Chair, Tracy Gromer has been leading this effort, spending much time and energy to move this enhancement project forward for our community. She is currently awaiting a third and final estimate so the Board can select a design firm to draft technical drawings in compliance with the City’s requirements and get the plans approved (via the City’s planning department). She is also working to get the final signatures needed from our neighbors on Almeria.

The entire streetscape plan is available for review on the Willo website, and residents can contact Tracy with any questions at tagromer@msn.com. Note that the actual finished result may not look exactly like the plan, since, for example, the City will not let us put a median in at the gateway intersections. But the idea is very simple – slight curbing changes for slower traffic and more shade, for a more pedestrian-friendly neighborhood.

Many thanks to Tracy for her endless commitment to this project. We all will soon benefit from her energy and knowledge and enjoy the results of this huge undertaking.

Please check back here periodically for updates.

JASON BLISS, WILLO BOARD MEMBER, NEEDS YOUR ASSISTANCE!

We (the Neighborhood Association Board) are trying several new committees this year, one of which is "community relations." For now, community relations means going to other historic neighborhood association meetings, listening, meeting other board members and residents, and reporting back to Willo. We think there is a lot to be learned from what other neighborhoods are doing, and we think that attending meetings and listening is a good way to start.

I am chairing said committee. I am, however, but one person, and it turns out there are a lot of historic districts with a lot of meetings, as well as ancillary events and meetings we may have interest in.

So I could use some assistance, including with attending historic district neighborhood meetings. There are no formal requirements, you don't have to (for example) take notes at the meetings - just show up, then contact me, and let me know what happened.

I recently went to Del Norte's meeting, and it was very interesting. Among other things, it was clear to me that other historic districts look to Willo as a leader among districts, and the residents had a lot of questions about how we do things, how we have addressed issues in the past, etc. Overall, I found it to be a very enjoyable experience, and I think you will too.

Let me know if anyone has interest and availability to assist. Attending even one meeting would help us out, so whatever your time permits would be appreciated. Thanks much.