How much of a say should developers have in the creation of the pedestrian-only alleyway — dubbed “C Street” by Heber City — planned for Heber’s downtown? That’s still up for discussion, but city leaders are narrowing in on a plan.
The neighborhood-friendly area to be built between 100 West and Main Street in Heber City is destined to reorient Heber City’s downtown center, making for more community space away from busier traffic. It’s part of Heber City’s Envision 2050 General Plan, which is acting as a long-term guide for making a more vibrant downtown focused on local development.
Picture restaurants with street-side patios, entertainment opportunities, shopping with local boutiques and stores and a pedestrian-only walking area. City leaders referenced the Old Town Square in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Boulder’s Pearl Street when talking about what they thought of as an ideal vision for Heber City’s C Street — both of which maintain their local character while providing recreational opportunities in town.
For Heber City Planning Director Tony Kohler, the best thing to do right now is to launch into planning earlier rather than later. Kohler said he’d like to gather help from a consultant who could draw up plans and renderings to give the community and developers a better idea of what Heber City can expect from C Street.
“Part of what concerns me is we’re getting excited about these two blocks, and I don’t want the development community to drive what we do and force us into making mistakes,” Kohler said. “I think we are behind the curve, and I want to get ahead of the curve so that we hand over to developers what we want to see.”
That’s not to say Kohler doesn’t want to include developers in the planning process, though. In fact, Kohler said he hopes to include both developers and property owners in the design process. That way, there can be a clear idea of what’s expected all around — if a developer wants to build in the alleyway, they’ll know how they need to fit into the space.
“That’s a real process for how this looks and the other reason for the property owners on the entire block to be involved is so that they can understand — and we can understand from their perspective — how this is going to be implemented, what it’s going to look like,” Kohler said.
Councilor Scott Phillips said, however, that he believes developers should be involved from the get-go. Phillips said asking developers and property owners their take from the start could produce better results.
“They might come back with something even better,” Phillips said about designs and plans for the alleyway.
Both Phillips and Councilor Mike Johnston also asserted that the city “needs to own” the alleyway.
“It’s part of this whole plan. Who owns C Street, right?” Johnston said. “Because I don’t think it’s going to work if every private property owner owns pieces of it.”
If there’s one thing city leaders agree on across the board, it’s that C Street should reflect the character of Heber City’s history. That’s part of why the design utilizes spaces and buildings that already exist — to renovate rather than rebuild. Kohler said that’s where having drawings and renderings could come in handy.
“I was hoping we could get some drawings that illustrate — and policy and procedures that say — hey, no, we’re not showing up with a bulldozer to bulldoze everything,” Kohler said, adding that they would accommodate structures that are already there. “There’s a lot of cool things you can do with old historic buildings.”
That’s when Johnston referenced Fort Collins’ pedestrian square.
“They celebrated it. They kept the old buildings the original color, and they went totally opposite. Everything new was dark,” Johnston said.
Financing C Street is still in the works, but city leaders came to the conclusion Tuesday that the city should explore hiring a consultant to help with initial design and grants to help with the cost of construction.