Title
Accept the Salinas Downtown Vibrancy Plan.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors accept the Salinas Downtown Vibrancy Plan.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Vibrancy Plan for Downtown Salinas is being presented to the Board of Supervisors. This plan was prepared by a partnership between the City of Salinas, the County and City downtown stakeholders to identify ways to integrate the downtown core of Salinas into a community with adequate parking and circulation that is friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists. The County's interest is rooted in the County Government Center including restoration of the East and West Wings. The County's participation in this partnership recognizes the opportunity to integrate the County campus as an important component of downtown Salinas.
In August of 2013, the County entered into a cost sharing agreement with the City to fund the Vibrancy Plan. At that time, Kimley-Horn was contracted by the City to provide the technical expertise in preparation of the Vibrancy Plan. The agreement called for the County to contribute up to one-third of the cost of the consultant contract, not to exceed $110,000.
The Vibrancy Plan development process engaged between 18 and 24 members of the Downtown Stakeholder Team (DST), who persevered through 29 meetings. A survey was completed identifying the desires and dreams of the citizens of Salinas for Downtown. The Survey results were shared with 80 community members in December 2013. A second community meeting followed, which targeted the needs of merchants. The County has been represented in each phase of the development of this plan. The City Council of Salinas accepted the Vibrancy Plan on March 17, 2015.
The Vibrancy Plan is not a plan binding on the County, except that it does identify strategies that affect County facilities. The impetus for the Vibrancy Plan was to make the downtown friendlier for alternative forms of transportation, p...
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