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T O W N O F L A W R E N C E V I L L E V I R G I N I A D O W N T O W N C H A R R E T T E S E P T E M B E R 3 0 T H 2 0 0 8

Charrette Report

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T O W N O F L A W R E N C E V I L L E V I R G I N I A D O W N T O W N C H A R R E T T E

S E P T E M B E R 3 0 T H 2 0 0 8

CONTENTS:

I. Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….3

II. Introduction………………………………………………………………..4

III. Charrette process and methodology…………………………….5

IV. Previous studies and impetus for charrette………………….8

V. Public input……….……………………………………………………….9

VI. Recurring themes and Design Concepts………………………14

VII. Gateway Concepts…………………...……...………………………...19

VIII. Recommended implementation strategies…………………..20

IX. Appendix…………………………………………………………………….21

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OCCB Office of Community Capacity Building

I. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

T he Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development would like to

thank all of those groups and individuals that made the Lawrenceville Charrette

a success. The participation of local citizens and stakeholders will ultimately lead to

better planning and implementation of the Town’s Vision. A special thanks to the

Planning students who came to Lawrenceville, some from great distances, to volun-

teer their time and expertise. And to the Charrette planning team, a sincere note of

gratitude for your creativity, passion, and patience during this process. Finally,

thanks to Andy Wells for his tireless work on providing the maps for the charrette.

The following is a list of those individuals that made this event possible.

CHARRETTE SPONSORS: Town of Lawrenceville, Virginia

S.C.O.R.E., Inc.

Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development

Southside Planning District Commission

3

Sylvia Allen

Joyce Bland

Todd Cage

Cynthia Chambers

Shirley Davis

Robyn Fowler

Tim Heilman

Sarah Raible

Esther Sanderson

Ella Scott

James Simmons

Leslie Sullivan

John Sykes

Sandra Tanner

CHARRETTE PLANNING AND DESIGN TEAMS:

Bill Herrington

Roxanne Heywood

Ray Holmes

Mary Lucy

Billy Poole

Stephanie Puryear

Robbie Pecht

John Schmidt

Lora Taylor

Jenny Tetto

Ray Thomas

Eric Williams

Irene Wilson

Mike Zuchowski

Ramona Chapman

CJ Dean

Lee Anne Hindenlang

Doug Jackson

Jonathan Brown

Winfred Brown

Elizabeth Boehringer

Craig Carver

Geoffrey Knight

Victoria Price

Rishaunda Robinson

Adria Graham Scott

Chris Stevenson

Sean Surla

Kathy Wright

Ashleigh Zincone

[Charrette picture]

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CHARRETTE PARTICIPANTS

II. INTRODUCTION

T his document is a product of the 2008

Lawrenceville Charrette; a public plan-

ning process administered by the Virginia

Department of Housing and Community

Development on the days of September

4th and 5th in downtown Lawrenceville,

Virginia. The Charrette began as a collabo-

ration between the Department’s offices of

Project Management and Community Ca-

pacity Building. Both offices saw great val-

ue in combining resources in order to more

effectively address the revitalization goals

of the Town.

In the Fall of 2006, the Town produced

a Vision Statement that has helped in

framing the overall goals for the Town’s

future. This Vision of becoming a vibrant

“college town”, will take an active and en-

during effort on the part of all stakehold-

ers, including state and local institutions,

local businesses, and the general public.

The Charrette is a critical step in the overall

progression of Lawrenceville’s downtown

revitalization efforts. It is also an effective

tool for determining new land use policies

and capital investments that the town will

4

need in order to make the Vision a reality.

Effective land use policies demand strong

public support and creative planning. The

Charrette helped to achieve this by foster-

ing a collaborative environment within the

entire community, and used the expertise

of architects, artists, and planners to give

direction and clarity to the Vision.

The pages that follow reveal the char-

rette process, its goals, and its results. It

consolidates the many ideas that the pub-

lic and design teams have created and

frames them into specific guiding themes.

Each theme will have supporting details

that relate to the Town’s Vision as well as

the public input sessions. The report con-

cludes by offering some possible strategies

and immediate actions in order to jump-

start the implementation process. While

this document represents the conclusion of

a single planning event, in many ways it is

also a beginning of a larger process as we

move forward to a brighter future for Law-

renceville.

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III. CHARRETTE PROCESS AND METHODOLOGY

P lanning a charrette can vary according

to the size of the community and the

scope of the project. Lawrenceville’s

charrette was focused on its downtown area

that currently serves a relatively small

regional market. The charrette was

designed by the Office of Community

Capacity Building with a focus on bringing

together stakeholders and allowing them to

voice their individual opinions within a

structured, planning environment. A

charrette planning team was created and

began monthly meetings in May of 2008,

with a membership of five. The planning

team consisted of representatives from

Town government, DHCD, SCORE,Inc., and

Southside, VA PDC.. The charrette has 3

defined phases:

Phase 1: Research, Education, and

Preparation

During this phase the complete scope

and goals of the charrette were determined

by the team as well as a review of the

Town’s Vision Statement, which was

5

[Insert charrette schedule] developed in 2006. Key stakeholders were

then taken on a tour of South Boston,

Virginia to gain a better understanding of a

successful Virginia Main Street Town. Time

was spent on gathering existing plans and

information that the town was currently

engaged that may have an impact on the

charrette. These included the updated

comprehensive land use plan, an economic

restructuring plan created by VCU, a market

study, a “rails to trails” plan, as well as

examples of downtown overlay plans from

other small towns.

Phase 1 also included creating a

“charrette logistics” outline that would help

to organize the responsibilities of arranging

for event materials and food, securing a

venue, and promotion of the public events.

Phase 2: Public input and design session:

This portion of the charrette involved

engaging the public in a process that

informed them of the Town’s existing

conditions, provided them with various

design concepts, and dividing them into

As part of the education phase of the charrette, OCCB organized a tour of Main Street South Boston, Virginia.

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6

teams to produce their version of what how

Lawrenceville should look now and in the

future. The phase contained 4 interlinking

stages over 2 days:

Stage 1: Charrette fundamentals and Vision

review

Stage 2: Public “Wild Design” session

Stage 3: Stakeholder dinner

Stage 4: Charrette design team and public

review

During Stage 1 the charrette manager

presented to the public and key

stakeholders a slide show of what a

charrette is and what the goals would be.

Fundamentals included understanding what

the Vision is for the town, how to work as a

team, and to understand the importance of

public spaces in the development of the

town. The participants were then divided

into 5 groups and given a base map to draw

and write ideas upon.

In this 2nd stage, each team was given a

list of elements to include that was required

for the planning grant as well as a list of

items they may want to include that are

often found in successful downtown

revitalization efforts. Each team was

charged with coming up with at least 5

changes or additions they would like to see

in downtown Lawrenceville which they

would then present to the audience at the

end of the session.

With the conclusion of the public design

session, Stage 3 was a dinner held with key

stakeholders. Hosted by SCORE, Inc, the

dinner was attended primarily by property

owners, business owners, government

leaders and education leaders who could not

attend the day’s events. Afterwards, DHCD

staff led a discussion on the Town’s plans to

submit a Community Development Block

Grant (CDBG) application for downtown

revitalization funds.

The stakeholders were broken up into

small groups, each with an OCCB facilitator.

The main focus of discussion for each table

was to provide feedback about two potential

components of the Town’s proposed CDBG

application: a microenterprise program and a

façade improvements program.

A microenterprise program would provide

assistance to new businesses in the project

area. This assistance could take many forms

including matching funds for the purchase

of equipment; interior renovations; working

capital, etc. As a requirement of assistance,

[Charrette pictures]

charrette public input and design session

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the business owner must insure that they

will create, at a minimum, one permanent

full-time equivalent job per $10,000

borrowed. At least 51% of the jobs created

must be made available or held by low– and

moderate-income persons.

On the other hand, a façade improvement

program would involve the development of a

revolving loan program which property

owners could use to improvement the

exterior street facades of buildings within the

project area. Improvements made would

have to comply with design guidelines

established by the Town and maintained for

ten years.

As a result of the meeting, the Town could

start taking a gauge of the level of support for

the two programs. Additional input will be

gathered during the upcoming months at

public and community meetings as the Town,

along with the Southside Planning District

Commission, develops the CDBG grant

application. There is a great deal of public

support for attracting new businesses and

improving the front facades of buildings in

the downtown area in a manner that supports

a façade improvements program and the

Town’s Vision.

During Stage 4, a team of planning

experts and students of planning were then

brought in to consolidate the conceptual

ideas from the Vision and the public input

sessions, design feasible land use

strategies, and recommend 5 areas of focus

for the downtown as they consider the

details when drafting a downtown overlay

zoning district.

Phase 3: Plan implementation

The plan implementation phase of the

Charrette includes this report as well as

projects that utilize this report when making

future land use, capital improvements, and

public/private partnership decisions. More

on recommendations can be found in Part

VIII of this report.

IV: PREVIOUS STUDIES AND IMPETUS FOR CHARRETTE:

I n the Fall of 2006, the Town produced a Vi-

sion Statement that has helped in framing the

overall goals for the Town’s future. Many of

these goals were found within the recent update

of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan which the

Lawrenceville Town Council adopted in June. The

plan will assist planners and policy makers on

future development decisions.

One of the important studies currently being

conducted is the Lawrenceville Downtown En-

hancement Plan. DHCD’s Project Management

Office coordinated with the Town to hire Virginia

Commonwealth University to produce a plan that

analyzes, among other items, the Town’s

strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and

threats as they continue toward a goal of eco-

nomic restructuring. The design team invited

the lead planner, John Accordino, Ph.D., to pre-

sent the Universities’ findings. An overview of

their presentation is included in the appendix of

this report.

In recent years the Town has accomplished

several objectives. Among these include

streetscape improvements such as removal of

overhead power and utility lines, new curbing,

brick sidewalks, and new streetlights. These

projects were effective in correcting drainage

8

and sidewalk problems while changing the ap-

pearance of the downtown business district.

The Town of Lawrenceville has also partnered

with Brunswick County for the creation of an

Enterprise Zone that encompasses the Down-

town area. The Enterprise Zone program offers

investment incentives to qualifying businesses.

One of the more exciting developments is the

Tobacco Heritage Trail Head. The Town, once

the center of the Atlantic and Danville rail line, is

one of the first municipalities along the planned

route of the Trail to have a completed section.

The plan envisions an extensive network of trails

throughout Southern Virginia. Projects such as

these help to fulfill the goals of the Route 58

Tourism Partnership which intends to use the

corridor as a common marketing strategy for the

Southern Virginia region.

One of the Town’s streetscape improvement

projects was done as part of its DHCD-funded

downtown revitalization planning grant. Working

with the Lawrenceville Rotary Club and Lawrence-

ville Brick, Inc., the Town installed a decorative

brick crosswalk near the historic courthouse. The

crosswalk not only helps with the Town’s Vision of

making the Town more pedestrian friendly but it

also serves as a finishing line for the annual Law-

renceville Brickyard Five Miler running race, which

is held in conjunction with the Town’s Spring Festi-

val.

The concept plan, created by Land Plan-ning and Design Associates, shows the pending Tobacco Heritage Trail which will be within walking distance to downtown.

simulation

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V. PUBLIC INPUT

B efore sitting down with their teams the

public was asked to go through a brain-

storming session to think about and capture

thoughts on what the town needs and what

changes to the town should occur in the

immediate future. This was a spirited exer-

cise where many participated and offered

creative ideas. The ideas were captured in

real time on a digital note-pad. They includ-

ed:

Safer crosswalks

More places to sit

Focal points

A playground

Public phones

Public bathrooms

Improve infrastructure

Multiplex theatre

Residential downtown

Fountain

Remove blind-spots

Too many trucks

Shade trees

Wireless access

Biking trail

A Hotel

Downtown business incentives

Downtown mall

Residential above retail

Tourism bus

Bike lanes

Bike racks

YMCA

Each team was given a base map that

included building footprints, streets, names

of major institutions, public spaces, as well

as lines to show the project boundaries.

Teams were lead by an OCCB facilitator and

were instructed to produce a concept plan

that included elements such as:

Gateway and directional signage:

New uses for targeted buildings

What front façade themes do we like

“White elephants”

Major downtown property owners

Overall design feel for downtown

Teams were also given a high level of

encouragement to include and add ele-

ments to their map that may address the

town’s vision of becoming a vibrant college

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town and all that that may include. A bene-

ficial result was that many team plans had a

high level of detail. All of the citizen team

plans displayed a wealth of ideas for the

Town to use as they begin crafting the

downtown overlay zone.

The overall theme for team two’s design

was “Education” and “Change”. This team

spent considerable time thinking about

what uses could be re-introduced to vacant

buildings along Main

and Hicks streets.

However, the team

stayed focused upon

their theme of educa-

tion. For example, they

recommend creating

student housing down-

town as well as trans-

forming what is cur-

rently Mortay’s restaurant into a student

“night-club”. Academically, they see oppor-

tunities for implementing a library at the

TEAM 2

corner of Hicks and New Hicks as well as on

Main Street in vacant building 209. The

team took care to outline these in purple.

Outlined in red, the team saw a new theatre

for downtown. Team 2 also emphasized

the importance of getting residential down-

town. They placed new condominiums at

the corner of Hick’s and Court streets, as

well as along Main Street. They would also

like to see along Main a “Brunswick Stew

House”, a town newspaper office, an inter-

net café, and a new Hotel in lots 315 and

313. Finally, some of the changes could be

grouped into tourism ele-

ments such as a Town

informational kiosk, new

sidewalks at the Town’s

gateways, and a town

amphitheatre.

Team 2 focused on locating places in Town where educational uses could be implemented.

OCCB Community Planner Ramona Chapman guides citizens through their design session.

Team 2 ‘s focus emphasized building a strong-er connection with the local colleges.

TEAM 2 1) Make Town safer for pedes-

trians and bicyclists 2) Route 58 dedicated to downtown traffic only 3) Fountain/water feature 4) Create a public parking lot 5) A public library downtown

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T eam 3 had a list of themes for down-

town such as emphasizing the legacy of

Brunswick Stew, the historic architecture,

tobacco culture, horses, and like team two,

education. The team also created lists of

both “major issues” and “college needs”.

These needs included a 24 hour diner, a

laundry mat, a movie

theatre, a sports bar,

and, like team 2, a

night club.

A considerable

amount of time was

spent on how to im-

prove the area behind

the Main Street build-

ings. Various beautifi-

cation suggestions

were made such as a courtyard with a foun-

tain, a scented garden, and public art. Con-

nections through empty lots between build-

ings was recommended to connect Main

and Hicks streets with the inner-courtyard.

When determining new uses for the va-

cant buildings, this team had many creative

suggestions. For example, within the vacant

Sledge & Barkley building on Main, it is sug-

gested that a café with wireless internet be

created for both the general and college

populations. Also, with the vacant Star Val-

ue building at the West end of Hicks street,

it is recommended that the Town plan for

mixed uses including a YMCA and a cultural

arts facility. Other suggestions include an

Inn, bookstore, and mu-

sic venue downtown.

Team 3 also spent a

great deal of time com-

ing up with creative ide-

as for Lawrenceville’s

public spaces. They

would like to see Bank

street be pedestrian on-

ly, to allow for a variety

of uses. They also see

the need for Lawrenceville to define its gate-

ways with appropriate public art and sign-

age. It was mentioned that more benches

are needed on main street, especially in

front of the government buildings for there

are people often seen sitting on curbs.

Sidewalks throughout downtown should be

wider where possible and blank walls

should have murals.

Team 3’s map offered many creative ideas such as turning Main Street into a more pedestrian and bike friendly destination. They see a re-alignment of Main and Court streets to create opportunities for wider sidewalks, safer streets, and outdoor din-ing.

TEAM 3

TEAM 3:

1) Create more usable green space, 2) Change Main and Court streets as one-way, 3) Detour trucks around down-town 4) Allow for mixed use zoning 5) Address vacant properties

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Team four’s theme was the Stew Pot.

They added the branding phrase of “Get a

taste of Brunswick” to their map. The idea

of a stew pot was used as inspiration for

several public realm amenities such as a

new “Stew Pot Park” behind Town Hall, a

stew pot fountain, stew murals, and large

stew pots placed strategically along side-

walks. Other amenities suggested were bike

racks, more street trees, gateway signage,

and connections to the

Tobacco Heritage Trail.

Further physical im-

provements and ameni-

ties were suggested

such as public re-

strooms downtown, al-

lowing mixed uses

along Main and Hicks, a

bus stop, opening Bank

Street to a farmers market, and re-routing

heavy trucks down Sharp street.

Team 4, like the others, desired some

very specific businesses and uses in down-

town that currently do not exist. At the cor-

ner of Meredith and Main, currently a sur-

face parking lot, a new hotel was recom-

mended. An Art Center at the intersection of

Main and Hicks also was recommended, as

well as a movie theatre within the current

Dollar General store. (Dollar General is cur-

rently scheduled to relocate on South Hicks

Street.)

TEAM 4

Team 4, lead by Winfred Brown, gets high marks for artistic achievement. Team 4’s drawing was highly detailed showing new mixed use buildings, street trees and a new alignment of Plank road.

TEAM 4:

TEAM 4

1) Public restrooms downtown 2) Downtown Hotel 3) Bank Street Farmers Market 4) Art Center downtown 5) Movie Theatre

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T eam 5, like the others, has many of the

public realm amenities such as gateway

signage and way-finding signage, stew-pot

art as a theme, an amphitheatre, and more

benches. However, some of this table’s ide-

as were very unique. For example, the team

recommends having holiday lights strung

within the street trees as well as a focal holi-

day tree displayed in front of the Court-

house to create a more festive environment.

Also, allowing sidewalk food vendors was

shown as a possibility of

bringing more people

downtown for lunch. A

playground on the cor-

ner of Church and Truck

Street and public re-

strooms rounded out the

public space ideas.

In terms of potential

land use regulations the

team, like the others,

agreed that downtown needs to be mixed-

use to allow for apartments above retail.

One of the most unique desires from Team

5 was to zone areas of downtown not by use

but by form. A form-based code was seen as

desirable and a way to preserve historic ar-

chitecture in town.

This table also did an excellent job of

dividing the town into specific “districts”. For

example, around the intersection of Sharp

and New Hicks streets the team sees an

“entertainment district”, with potential for a

jazz club, roller-skating, arcades, a YMCA,

movie and performing arts theatres. Another

district created was the “Education Corri-

dor” around the intersection of Hicks and

Main Street.

In terms of econom-

ic development the

team recommends spe-

cific developments.

Among these are build-

ing an amphitheatre

behind Town Hall to

draw people downtown,

opening a specialty

foods store, and creat-

ing a beauty school.

Lastly, the team felt that, in the future, a

trolley loop may be implemented downtown

to serve visitors, residents, and students.

Team 5 gets creative with the guid-ance of OCCB Program Manager

Adria Graham Scott and urban planner Geoffrey Knight.

TEAM 5

1) Sidewalk food vendors 2) A downtown playground 3) Public restrooms downtown 4) Mixed use and Form based Codes 5) Divide downtown into districts

TEAM 5:

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VI. RECURRING THEMES AND DESIGN CONCEPTS

B y consolidating the public input ses-

sions, stakeholder inputs, Visioning

language, and existing town initiatives, the

design team was able to formulate a more

clear direction for the Town. The team has

organized 5 clear principles for the Town to

follow as they embark in future land use

and development decisions including, but

not limited to, a new downtown overlay dis-

trict. For example, the information provided

within this section is also instructive for de-

termining where to invest capital improve-

ment dollars as well as supporting the cur-

rent comprehensive plan and its goals.

As mentioned in part III, a team of plan-

ners was assembled to consolidate the pub-

lic’s ideas into a more usable form. This

was achieved through a schematic design

process. The planners first spent time dis-

cussing the town’s ideas and getting a

sense of where the public was in agree-

ment. Next, a walk through the streets of

Lawrenceville, gathering field notes on ur-

ban design attributes and current land uses

was completed to gain an understanding of

citizens inferences. The design team used

this information to draft basic schematic

drawings of specific sections of Town. The

following isolates the recurring themes

found in the design phase of the charrette.

Determine a unified look or

“brand" for downtown.

This could be achieved through continu-

ing to investigate the Town’s unique brand

of architecture, history, and culture. Some

of the ideas that emerged during the char-

rette were utilizing the history of Brunswick

Stew, St Paul’s College, as well as the new

Tobacco Heritage Trail.

Combine Academic and Town

spaces.

There was much dialogue about how to

fold the academic community into down-

town. Many of the recurring themes for

making easy access from the college to the

downtown surfaced during both the public

1

2

NEW STAIRWAY

REALIGN PLANK ROAD WITH TRUCK

STREET

CONSOLIDATED REFUSE DISPOSAL

WATER FEATURE

REAR ACCESS TO APTS ABOVE

RETAIL

POCKET PARK AT END OF NEW PUBLIC ACCESS ALLEY

BUS STOP

NEW BUILDING

MAIN STREET ACCESS

BEAUTIFICATION OF EXISTING ALLEY

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15

and design team sessions. Realigning Plank

road with Truck Street could lead toward

development of the underutilized spaces

behind Main and Hicks. This area is cur-

rently a disorganized asphalt hardscape

with little organized flow of ingress/egress

for parking. Some of the ideas to improve

the space include constructing a hardscape

connection between Truck Street directly

toward Main Street through what is current-

ly a vacant lot. This, along with consolidat-

ing refuse removal and organizing parking

bays could create a much more attractive

connection to St. Paul’s College.

Develop a multi-purpose

anchor that would serve as a

catalyst for new development

downtown.

A growing consensus that the Town

would benefit from the development of an

anchor building was made very apparent.

Ideas of various buildings and locations

were suggested during the charrette as well

as activities the anchor would house. One

idea was to combine an academic

bookstore/coffee house, with a student-run

hotel for visiting St. Paul’s Alumni. Currently

the Alumni must choose accommodations

outside of downtown when visiting their al-

ma mater. This idea is in alignment with

both the Town’s Vision as well as the VCU

market research.

Create safe and attractive

pedestrian connections to

downtown focal points

Making the streets of Lawrenceville safer

for pedestrians was seen as a priority.

Many ideas surfaced during the charrette

that addressed the connection between

walkability and attracting people downtown.

Specific intersections were viewed as prob-

lematic, such as Main and Hicks. Ideas for

improving the streetscape included making

North Main and Court Streets a one-way

couplet and diverting truck traffic away from

Main Street. This would open the opportuni-

ty of extending the sidewalk width far

enough to accommodate alfresco dining

and have angled parking.

One of the noticeable and attractive

characteristics of Main Street is how all of

(Continued on page 16)

4

3

TOWN AMPHITHEATRE/GARDEN

PEDESTRIAN STREET/FARMERS MARKET

EVENT PARKING

One of the more unique ideas for Main Street was to con-

struct curb extensions as rain gardens.

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the Institutions are located on a single side

of Main. This arrangement lends itself to

creating a park-like atmosphere on the east

side of the street with mixed-use activity on

the opposite side. There are some ad-

vantages of this for example, during festival

events the institutions make a great back-

drop for viewing from the sidewalk, restau-

rants, or even balconies and roof-tops.

In terms of pedestrian safety, extending

the sidewalk shortens the distant to cross

the street, makes the pedestrian more visi-

ble to the driver, and slows traffic down to a

safer speed.

At several tables there was discussion

and support for developing more public

spaces throughout downtown. One area

that held people’s attention was the current

vacant lot on Court Street that is adjacent to

an existing municipal parking lot. The site

has been engineered for storm water man-

agement purposes creating an opportunity

for an outdoor amphitheatre. Many groups

felt that this would give the Town a space

for concerts and performing arts. With the

right design, it could also become a focal

point for multiple uses such as a botanical

(Continued from page 15) laboratory for the college students, a nature

trail, picnic area, etc. What’s more, its prox-

imity to Bank Street could bookend any fu-

ture Farmer’s Market or pedestrian plaza.

Develop gateways and ap-

proaches throughout the

town.

Discussions around Lawrenceville’s gate-

ways into Town and approaches to key loca-

tions was talked about throughout the char-

rette. Focusing development at the Town’s

gateways is critically important because of

the impact that first impression’s have on

tourists and new potential residents. Inso-

far as Lawrenceville is competing with other

Town’s in Southside Virginia, it is critical

that these areas be developed. Primary

gateways into Town that were looked at dur-

ing the charrette included Hicks Street to

the South, Main Street to the North and

South, and Church Street near the St. Paul’s

College entrance.

With the pending development of the

Tobacco Heritage Trail, Lawrenceville has

an opportunity to make a link between the (Continued on page 17)

5 NEW MIXED-USE

HERITAGE TRAIL / GREENWAY

GAZEBO/STAGE

CURB EXTENSIONS

MOVABLE CHAIRS

PARKING

ALFRESCO DINING

Hicks Street contains Lawrenceville’s most prominent southern gateway into Town. This area also contains the Tobacco Heritage Trail. This is an opportunity for a marquee building and public park to give visitors a dramatic first impression of Lawrenceville.

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old rail corridor and Hick’s Street. This

southern gateway could become a major

hub of activity and a primary catalyst for

downtown development.

Approaching off of Highway 58, visitors

entering Town would see a new 3-story

mixed use building with retail on the ground

floor and offices and housing above. The

orientation of this building would be ideal

for capturing bicyclists and runners coming

off the Heritage Trail as they would be in

need of refreshment and supplies. On the

opposite side of the street, there would be a

large Gazebo for small outdoor concerts,

movable chairs, and tree-lined paths. If a

critical mass of people can be achieved, this

will attract more businesses and ultimately

more people to regularly visit the area for

lunch, dinner, and to recreate.

The intersections of New Hicks, Hicks,

and Meredith Streets are currently awkward

for both pedestrians and drivers to navigate.

The viable businesses in this part of Town

could benefit from infilling new buildings to

help complete the streetscape and bring

more customers to the area. Additionally,

by modifying the intersection of Hicks and

Meredith streets into a 3-way stop, it would

help to calm traffic, improve crosswalks,

and open the opportunity for a focal point at

this part of Town. Public art could be dis-

played in and around the intersection as

well as way-finding signs and an informa-

tional kiosk. A façade extension onto the

current Star Value building could eliminate

the unnecessary surface parking spaces

and allow for alfresco dining to penetrate

that end of Town. The activity on the side-

walk at this location would be an ideal op-

portunity to create “perceptual innuendo”

through a new walkway from South Hicks

Street. For example, as people walk towards

Town they would be able to view the activity

at the Star Value building and have a choice

whether to use the new walkway towards

New Hick’s Street or continue on towards

Meredith Street. Meredith Street also has

opportunities for infill and shared parking.

FAÇADE EXTENSION

PUBLIC ART INTERSECTION

NEW BUILDING

CURB EXTENSION

CURB EXTENSIONS

PARKING

PERCEPTUAL INNUENDO

NEW BUILDING

WALKWAY

KIOSK

Many opportunities for infill development exist on Hicks and Meredith streets.

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Main Street looking North—existing

MAIN STREET VIGNETTE

Main Street converted to

one-way

Adaptive re-use into mixed-use anchor

Curb extended to allow for comfortable

outdoor dining

canopy trees

Curb extensions can also be an oppor-tunity to implement rain gardens

Bulb-outs make the pedestrian environ-ment much safer and attractive

Banners can create a festive environ-ment and help mar-ket your town to visitors

Kiosks are an im-portant “way-finding” element for tourists

Making Main Street one-way to traffic opens up opportuni-ties for alfresco dining and sidewalk events.

A clock tower is a welcoming amenity.

Balconies are the one of the easiest ways to add a sense of culture and peo-ple to downtown.

Street vending should be made safe and legal.

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Throughout the charrette process, a common emphasis was placed on improving the Town’s gateways. There are many opportunities for infill development and beautification of both the northern and southern gateways of Main Street.

VII. MAIN STREET GATEWAYS CONCEPT

Make terminated vista a safer pedestrian ar-ea with bulb-outs and street treatments

Gateway South infill. Opportunity for Col-lege run hotel.

New Gateway

Bridge

Tobacco Heritage

Trail

New Pedestrian street with benches and container trees

New infill development

Gateway North infill de-velopment and entrance

to St. Paul’s College.

New roundabout with college logo in flowers

New Town gateway sign

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VIII. CHARRETTE RECOMMENDED IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES 1. REINSTITUTE DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY DEVELOP-

MENT CORPORATION.

Currently, there exists several entities

that are engaged and have a stake in the

development of downtown Lawrenceville.

One of the goals of the charrette was to

bring these stakeholders together to create

a common path toward improving down-

town. One possible strategy for achieving

this would be to reinvigorate the now

dormant Historic Lawrenceville Revitaliza-

tion Association, a 501(c)3 community de-

velopment corporation that was created in

2005. The organization’s mission and by-

laws are congruent with many of the points

outlined during the charrette as well as the

Town’s Vision statement.

2. DRAFT A DOWNTOWN OVERLAY ZONING ORDI-

NANCE

As mentioned in part IV, a particular mo-

tivation for the charrette process is to galva-

nize support and build legitimacy to a new

downtown overlay ordinance. Such ordi-

nances are very common across the U.S. and

help localities fulfill objectives in comprehen-

sive plans. Indeed, without a regulatory

framework in place, achieving the Vision for

Lawrenceville and the concepts outlined

within this report, will be extremely difficult. It

is recommended that the Town draft an ordi-

nance with the same or greater level of en-

thusiasm and transparency as all planning

activities thus far.

3. IMPLEMENT CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS:

There are likely many initial projects that

the Town can be working on while leveraging

resources and support for larger, economic

development initiatives. These include, but

are not limited to, planning new infrastruc-

ture improvements to pedestrian areas,

storm-water management, and traffic pat-

terns. These initial improvements send a

clear message that the Town is responding

to the Vision and desires of citizens as well

as revealing to the investment community

and tourists that Lawrenceville is “open for

business”.

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IX. APPENDIX A. PUBLIC REALM PRINCIPLES:

During the public portion of the charrette

specific principles on what makes great

public spaces was presented to the teams.

The following 10 principles are ranked.

B. VCU SWOT ANALYSIS:

The following SWOT (Strengths, Weakness-

es, Opportunities, , Threats) list was created

from notes taken during a presentation

from VCU’s, John Accordino, Ph.D., who has

developed a comprehensive downtown en-

hancement plan for the Town of Lawrence-

ville. The design team included the following

points when considering design concepts.

Strengths:

Physical buildings

Some strong retail establishments

Some businesses are located near govern-

ment center.

St. Paul’s College

Weaknesses:

Sizable low income population

Competition with neighboring counties

Vacant buildings

Lack of real estate brokers downtown

ALFRESCO DINING EVERYWHERE!

FOCUS ON THE PEDESTRIAN.

CHOOSE A MEMORABLE THEME AND STICK TO IT!

ENCOURAGE PERCEPTUAL INNUENDO.

INCORPORATE PUBLIC ART.

LOCATE INSTITUTIONS APPROPRIATELY.

MAINTAIN A SENSE OF PLACE.

ALLOW FOR PUBLIC SOLITUDE.

DESIGN FOR PEOPLE WATCHING.

PUT CARS IN THEIR PLACE.

Perception of a parking problem

Opportunities:

Proximity to Interstate 85

Sandwich or fast food

Specialty food store

Some Apparel / jewelry

Vacant properties

Current request for downtown Parks

Signage on Highway

St. Paul’s students

Hotel downtown

Willingness of vacant property owners to

discuss development

Threats

Aging businesses

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