Label
Zoning & Planning Committee
Title
Approving and adopting the M-14-19 Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan as an amendment to the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan for the City of Toledo, Ohio; and declaring an emergency.
Summary
SUMMARY & BACKGROUND:
This request is for the review of the 2020 Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan, prepared by the Toledo Design Collective in conjunction with the Historic Vistula Foundation. The Core Planning Team started the planning process in 2019 with data gathering and monthly meetings. In June of 2019, volunteers canvased the neighborhood and asked residents questions concerning quality of life and the future of the neighborhood. The Toledo Design Collective professionals and interns engaged in detailed visioning, including extensive meetings with stakeholders that led to the conclusion that the neighborhood needed stabilization and rehabilitation without gentrification.
The planning area of the Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan is bounded by Cherry Street to the south, the Maumee River to the east, I-280 to the north, and the Greenbelt Parkway to the west. The Vistula Neighborhood has been called “Toledo’s oldest neighborhood” with the village being founded in 1832 and hosting some of Toledo’s oldest surviving buildings. Summit Street and Lagrange Street are primary corridors through the neighborhood.
The Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan details the neighborhood’s rich history, and emphasizes why it is important to stabilize and preserve the neighborhood. Vistula is a unique historic neighborhood, offering a variety of commercial and industrial uses as well as single and multi-family housing in a broad variety of size and architectural significance within a small neighborhood scale. Vistula benefits from a centralized location close to downtown, quality historic building stock, and access to the Maumee River as well as bikeways.
Portions of the Vistula Neighborhood have been included in neighborhood plans in the past, including the Summit Street Redevelopment Plan (2000), the North Toledo Quality of Life Plan (2009), the Cherry Street Legacy Plan (2009), and the Downtown Toledo Master Plan (2016). Problems identified in earlier plans included, sidewalk disrepair, lack of alley maintenance, and the need for streetscape improvements. Also, the neighborhood was identified as a food desert and the high number of vacant buildings was apparent. However, these plans also identify high amount of potential for the neighborhood because of its central location, proximity to downtown and natural resources, and preservation of historic structures.
After preliminary research and analysis, the Toledo Design Collective gathered feedback from the community. Public input opportunities included a Block Party welcoming 80+ residents in July of 2019, a public workshop including 40+ stakeholders in November of 2019, a Pancake Breakfast in January of 2020, the Historic Vistula Foundation’s annual meeting including 60+ stakeholders as well as the Mayor and members of the press in February of 2020, Mailbox Engagement over the summer of 2020, and another public meeting in October of 2020. The Core Planning Team and the Neighborhood Health Association have also been meeting regularly.
The Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan organizes the neighborhood into three distinct segments; Lower Town along Summit Street and the Maumee River, the Historic District between Cherry Street and Chestnut Street with Lagrange as a major corridor, and the Single-Family Residential District to the north with Bush Street as a major corridor. In Lower Town, the plan recommends streetscape improvements (already underway), rehabilitation of existing buildings for new commercial and mixed-use occupants, and commercial and residential infill with improved public space along the river. For the Historic District, the plan recommends restoring Lagrange Street as the neighborhood center for services and a road diet for Cherry Street to connect the neighborhood to downtown. For the Single-Family Residential District, the plan recommends defining Bush as a “Premier Street” in the neighborhood with gateways and other streetscape improvements, promoting home ownership and resources to support new homeowners with ongoing maintenance, and design guidelines for new infill housing.
Recommended projects and actions listed in the plan are categorized into the following 5 categories: Neighborhood Implementers, Connectivity, Public Space + Vacant Land, Commercial, and Residential. The Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan emphasizes how projects and ideas will not come to fruition unless there is support from the neighborhood and leadership from individuals dedicated to the cause. As an early step, the Historic Vistula Foundation (HVF) has been identified as the organization which will continue the momentum of the master plan. This is listed as the first short-term goal upon the adoption of this plan. Other short-term goals include the expansion of existing partnerships within the neighborhood, streetscape improvements, reusing vacant land, and renovating vacant buildings to provide economic development and reduce blight. Many of these objectives are continued in the intermediate term, with the addition of new commercial and residential infill. A new long-term goal is the establishment of a community hub for the Historic Vistula Foundation, as well as the continuation of previously-mentioned objectives.
The Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan lists the Vistula Neighborhood as being located within NorthRiver. The recommendations from the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan for Northriver are as follows: enforcing aggressively the housing code, expanding retail businesses to include a grocery, dry cleaners, service station, and a hair salon, as well as reducing crime. An Urban Village is recommended along Summit Street in Vistula, and the Master Plan promotes zone changes along Summit Street to CM (Mixed Commercial), in accordance with this recommendation. These recommendations are consistent and compliment the initiatives that are proposed for the Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan.
The Plan as an amendment to the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan was submitted to the Toledo City Plan Commission for its review and recommendation. This matter was considered by the Toledo City Plan Commission at its meeting on January 14, 2021 and the City Plan Commission recommended approval.
On February 17, 2021, the Zoning and Planning Committee of City Council considered the Plan and the committee voted to forward to the full Council without a recommendation on the request to adopt the Plan as an amendment to the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan. NOW, THEREFORE,
Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Toledo:
SECTION 1. That the 2020 City of Toledo Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan as an amendment to the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan for the City of Toledo, Ohio, be and the same is hereby approved and incorporated into the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan. A copy of the Plan is on file with the Clerk of City Council's Office.
SECTION 2. That the Secretary of the Toledo City Plan Commission be and he hereby is directed to revise the official 20/20 Comprehensive Plan of the City of Toledo to conform with the 2019 City of Toledo Vistula Neighborhood Master Plan as an amendment to the Toledo 20/20 Comprehensive Plan as approved in Section 1 above.
SECTION 3. That this Ordinance hereby is declared to be an emergency measure and shall be in force and effect from and after its passage. The reason for the emergency lies in the fact that same is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, safety and property, and for the further reason that it is required to provide for the orderly development of the area and to protect the land values in the area.
Vote on emergency clause: yeas _____, nays _____.
Passed: _________________, as an emergency measure: yeas _____, nays _____.
Attest: ________________________ __________________________________
Clerk of Council President of Council
Approved: _____________________ __________________________________
Mayor
I hereby certify that the above is a true and correct copy of an Ordinance passed by Council ________________________.
Attest: ________________________
Clerk of Council