canton comprehensive plan draft - june 19 2015 compressed

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"DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN - CITY OF CANTON, OH"Prepared by czb and MIG"June 2015""""

All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

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This is a draft document and will undergo further revision based on inputs from residents and business and other stakeholders in the City of Canton, OH.!It has been prepared through joint work performed by czbLLC of Alexandria, VA and MIG of Boulder, CO in partnership with the City of Canton, OH. This version reflects inputs from a City Council-appointed Steering Committee of residents as well as nonprofit and business stakeholders. A forthcoming (revised) version will reflect inputs provided by the community at large, following a public presentation in late June, 2015 and subsequent community discussions. A revised version will then be submitted to the Planning Commission of the City of Canton, OH for its review, following which, it will be considered for adoption by the Council. """"""""This draft is the result of many months of work, community meetings, and dozens of work sessions with various members of the community. It represents the best practices in the United States today on the subject of planning and land use and economic development in older, industrial American cities. It incorporates proven techniques from strong markets as well, mainly the principle of sending and receiving district designation used for density and view corridor management in the context of private property rights and environmental stewardship.

Comprehensive Plans are generally used to guide growth and development, and it is not yet common practice to plan for the work of right-sizing (getting smaller smartly) a city that has experienced population loss. As the public examines this draft, feedback will be received and incorporated into subsequent revisions during June and July 2015. All constructive comments and feedback will be helpful.


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Introduction!"Canton is at a crossroads. Like so many American cities that came of age during the first half of the 20th century, the Second World War also ushered into Canton the construction and development of factories, rail yards, homes and community serving businesses, and the roads that connected them. As Canton grew in prosperity and population, its footprint grew as well, both in size and density. Canton expanded outward, and also grew inward, with increasing densities of families serviced by alleys and courts between streets, avenues, and roads. "By 1950 Canton was the 8th largest city in Ohio. Today, Canton remains the 8th largest of Ohios 250 cities. But there are significant differences between then and now. "

An extra 3,500 housing units means that it is very hard for sellers to get the price they need. As a result, owners are less willing to invest in their homes while living in them, fearing they will never get their money back down the road. This makes the market problem worse.

Each week, there are now 5,000 fewer households going to the grocery, to the ice cream shop, to the dry cleaner, and so forth. As grocers and druggists and others make less money, their properties also become less valuable. In time, just as Canton's residential neighborhoods began to empty out, so too did the city's shopping centers and commercial corridors see marked increases in vacancy. Today, reduced spending translates into about two million square feet of retail space that isn't supportable.

Each week, there are now 5,000 fewer families using city playgrounds and recreational spaces. This means that fewer parks could meet current needs, and the same is true for other kinds of infrastructure, such as water and sewer, street lamps and tree canopies and signage. Having too much of any of these each carries an expense.

Fewer families also need fewer roads. Yet at about 30 feet of road frontage per house, Canton has about 110 miles of roads that need to be maintained that, because of market conditions, only to lead to empty structures or those with virtually no probability of productive near future use. And worse, because the 3,500 vacant houses are scattered throughout the city, Canton's road maintenance cant be made more efficient.

About 3,000 fewer kids in the schools at any moment in time means that, on any given school day, Canton needs about 100 fewer classrooms than in 1950, or roughly 350,000 fewer square feet of combined classroom and other school space. Yet Canton recently built new schools, which, while sensible in some respects, makes the work of right-sizing


In 1950 Canton had Now Canton has

117,000 people 73,000 people

35,000 households 30,000 households

21,000 homeowners 16,000 homeowners

300 abandoned units (1% of all units) 3,500 abandoned units (10% of all units)

Homes and jobs were balanced and occupied

3,500 excess homes for which there is no demand

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the city that much more difficult given varying levels of over-and under-subscription for public schools based at least in part on location.

All of this vacancy and excess capacity has a big impact on crime. Vacancy leads to disorder, and disorder is a primary precursor for crime. Crime aside, disorder is one of the most important factor in discouraging people from investing (time, energy, money) in their homes and businesses from investing in their buildings. So wherever vacancy is prolonged, disinvestment only gets worse. Public safety concerns mount, and then pressure increases to react and respond to demands for costly police and related services. "

Moreover - and this is a big part of the problem - just outside out city limits are other jurisdictions with far lower tax rates and homes with higher principal value. Canton has lost population directly proportional to its suburban neighbors growth. Development throughout Stark County - principally at our edges - was (and in many cases remains) attractive, prompting many Canton families to leave for the suburbs. As more and more Canton families chose to buy in the suburbs, this led to their growing capacity to support their own businesses. "This great shift occurred between 1950 and 1970, and by the time Belden Village Mall opened in 1970, Canton had already been losing population for 20 years. "

! "Of course, this was occurring in every industrial city in the United States; Canton was not alone. And, it was also a trend that was not especially easy to see. From 1950 to 1960, Canton lost 3,000 people, a number hardly noticeable. Over the course of the 1960s, these trends continued. But in the 1970s, this jumped significantly, such that from 1970 to 1990, the city lost 25,892 people, or about 11,000 families.

Population Trends, 1900 to 2010

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Canton Rest of MSA


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Perhaps because our population losses started slowly, Canton remained optimistic. In hindsight, it is regrettable that Cantons historic City Hall was torn down, but at the time it was an act of tremendous hopefulness. The national economy was strong, as was Ohios. Canton residents knew that Canton had to compete in the region, and with a sense of confidence, a new City Hall was built to complement the Civic Center. In every sense, Canton made a strong effort to hold steady against a national tide of suburbanization. "But that national tide simply proved too strong. In the 1950s, 117,000 Canton residents generated enough tax revenue to pay for the schools and parks and roads and water treatment systems needed by 117,000 people. Today, the city has the same infrastructure to take care of, but has 40% fewer people to help pay for it. So a very real challenge the city faces in 2015 is how to take care of Canton when it has about half as much revenue as it used to have to do the job. "What matters most today, knowing that Canton is faced with a very difficult dilemma (one that is dire and getting worse), is whether the community is ready to take decisive action, whether it is ready to be realistic as well as aspirational, and whether as a community residents and business owners a like it is willing to dig deep. "For Canton to become healthy, it has to be able to generate revenues sufficient to cover its expenses. Public revenue comes from income taxfrom people who both live and work here. When Canton loses people or businesses, it loses income to support its infrastructure and public services. "Canton needs healthy businesses. Today Canton are a proud working class city of just under 30,000 households collectively earning about $1B a year. But of that the community spends only about $350M locally, and even less of that is actually spent in the city itselfmost of the city's disposable income is going to the suburbs. Every dollar the community spends in Stark County but not in the City of Canton becomes a dollar that makes surrounding suburban jurisdictions stronger, and because the region is not growing, each of those dollars (and the individual decisions behind them) further weakens Canton. "The Steering Committee is mindful that for Canton to compete with the suburbs and other nearby cities in the struggle to keep and attract residents, it needs the city's neighborhood housing conditions and quality of life to improve. Canton must become become safer, and more serviceable. The city's roads need to be improved and Downtown has to be revitalized. But each and every one of these takes money. And in point of fact, citizens and businesses alike in Canton are highly taxed as it is. Many are struggling just to make ends meet. "How can Canton become healthy? How can the community turn excess industrial and commercial space back into productive use? How can the housing supply get more in balance with the population? How can this possibly be done this? "This is the plan to accomplish these aims. "First, since Canton has more space, buildings, and demand for services than the city can really afford, it is imperative that municipal obligations are reduced when possible. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

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Second, to remain competitive (attractive to businesses and households) Canton cant reduce its obligations haphazardly, or equally everywhere. It must make sure that key assets are preserved, while improving the quality of life . This means Canton must concentrate efforts and carefully prioritize where investments - roads, parks, police, sidewalks, everything - are made. "Finally, Canton cant just balance its books in ways that reposition the city to succeed if, by the manner in which that is done, the community turns its back on itself morally. Canton is a community, after all. It must be smart. But it must also be fair. "To do this, the Steering Committee collaborate with planning consultants to develop a strategy that starts by preserving Canton's strengths the assets that are marketable, have real economic value, and which the city cannot afford to lose. Cantons biggest assets are its Downtown, Aultman Hospital and Mercy Hospital, and the new Pro Football Hall of Fame Village. These strengths - alone and in tandem - constitute the geographic, economic, and cultural foundation for Canton going forward. Canton has many strengths beyond these, but these are the ones the community needs to focus on with determination and energy right now. Over time Canton will grow them and be intentional about connecting them. And as they are connected physically, their growing strengths will multiply more widely throughout Canton. "While Canton is building upon these strengths - growing them and connecting them - this plan encourages reinvestment in and around smaller community assets. This plan encourages seeing future potential gains in areas where community strengths already exist and where data suggest future opportunity is most likely to occur. Across the city where it makes sense to do so, this plan encourages reinvestment in creative ways. And in those parts of the city without such pockets of easily predictable near future strength, where the market no longer functions in a healthy way and where near term recovery is beyond the city's limited means, this plan encourages investments designed to enhance neighborhood safety and quality of life. Such investments will help hold these places steady until the city is able to more substantially intervene. "These problems Canton now face wont fix themselves, and the historical approach to them - to diffuse impact by failing to focus limited resources, and by not digging deeply enough - have not worked. "By design, this plan is as apolitical as possible. It is decidedly not organized around Ward politics. This plan is a city wide plan. It pays no special attention to any ward, and, in fact, purposefully avoids adopting either a spread the wealth or worst-first strategy. Such thinking has kept Canton from rebounding, would constitute business as usual, and is not found in this plan. Instead, this plan is an effort to allocate resources where spending them makes the most sense for the greater good of the whole city. And this plan has been crafted by a group of dedicated citizens who have spent many months trying to come to terms with the realities that Canton now faces. Most importantly, this plan is not just a plan. It is more a guide for action for how the city can respond to long-standing challenges in a way that is strategic and equitable. ""


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Letter To the Citizens of Canton from Planning Consultants!"The City of Canton has a long and important history. "Its contributions to America are significant and in many respects greater than those of most any other similarly-sized city. Try to think of another medium-size city that has given America a President (William McKinley), a member of a state supreme court (Minnesota) who is also a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Alan Page). Canton has given the nation arguably the greatest catcher in Yankee history (Thurman Munson), one of the countrys greatest R&B groups (The OJays), Boz Scaggs, and Jack Parr. Canton is the rare medium-size city with a profound influence on the everyday lives of Americans, what with Timkens tapered roller bearings, Spanglers electric vacuum cleaner, and Beldens bricks. "More than distant or even more recent history, though, Canton has begun its renaissance. "If Canton becomes painstaking in its redevelopment, residents and business stakeholders alike will be amazed before being half way through. The city will know a new energy and a new enthusiasm. The community will neither regret nor shut the door on the past, and will once again effectively deal with the complexities of Americas changing national economy. "Are these extravagant promises? We think not. "The struggles that all industrial communities wrestled with since the 1960s - sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly - mean that cities able to adapt have given themselves completely to a strikingly simple program: they reinvest their time and energy and money in themselves, continually. "The stories of cities cross America disclose what the industrial landscape used to be like, what happened, and what they are like now. Cantons reemergent strength is no accident: many have worked very hard to steer the city through hard times. The seeds of those efforts are now firmly rooted. "- The Pro Football Hall of Fame is set to become one the nations great destinations, bringing

families from across the country to Canton, visitors who will come not just to recognize athletic accomplishment on the football field, but excellence in management and business and other related fields. "

- For the last decade, major efforts have taken place Downtown, and now there is a foundation for the next level of success. From the Onesto Hotel to the Canton Brewing Company to ArtsinStark, Downtown Canton is on the map and moving. "

- There are more than 200 hospitals in Ohio, and with Aultman ranked #17 and Mercy #29, Canton is one of the best health care centers in the state. "

- Timken Steels $200M Jumbo Bloom Vertical Caster is the only one of its kind in the US and one of just a handful worldwide. At 270 feet tall, the state of the art is Canton.


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The job now is to build on Cantons combination of history and emergent economic and civic strength. "- That means that the work thats gone into rebuilding Downtown must continue; indeed the

pace and level of investment Downtown has to become even more robust. Todays marketplace wants authenticity and Downtown Canton has unique attributes that other parts of the region simply cant offer: arts, culture, architecture, music, food, and eclectic businesses. It has to make sense for entrepreneurs to open more restaurants Downtown, so tax structure and permitting have to be favorable for that. And anyone opening a restaurant Downtown needs to know that they will have customers, so Downtown must be safe and clean and attractive. The Downtown Master Plan must be fully funded and fully implemented. Housing Downtown needs investors, and those who want to live Downtown need more than just restaurants; they need dry cleaners and grocers. So City tax and other policies need to be aimed to incentivize these investments as well. "

- It means that residential life in the citys neighborhoods must offer more than great potential value, as they do now, but become vibrant. "- It means that residential life in relation to the citys parks must become even stronger.

Cantons recent votes in favor of greater park resources illustrate the significant degree that the community already endorses the connection between residential life and the citys parks. "

- It means extending residential life by bike paths and trails and dedicated bike lanes so that families and commuters alike can get to and from their homes to the citys restaurants, parks, offices, and other destinations safely and enjoyable. "

- It means that the citys historic residential architecture must be leveraged, for it is in Cantons dynamic residential life that the citys neighborhoods can become some of the highest value and most enriching places in the region to raise a family. "

- It means that resident leadership must be invested in and grown, that residential blocks must be strengthened and made enjoyable and safe and beautiful once again so that it will make more and more sense for residents to invest their time, energy, and money in their homes and on their blocks. "

To accomplish these and other aims, the community will have to continue to come together. "America has undergone significant and convulsive economic change the last several decades, as Canton residents know all too well. "The shift from heavy industry to manufacturing to light industry to service delivery has had a profound impact on all aspects of American life. And for communities like Canton - initially a historical incubator of industrial invention and subsequently a leader in industrial fabrication and distribution - these shifts require all kinds of adaptation. Labor has changed, and so have wage rates. Buildings that made sense in 1910 made less sense in 1960, and those that worked well in 1960 dont necessarily work well today. The location and amount of housing


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and commercial space also has undergone a shift in terms of relevance, and so adapting to new residential and retail and office space requirements is important. And of course connecting everything is every bit the challenge today that it was a century ago. Todays cities need thriving businesses to stay competitive, vibrant Downtowns, and exciting neighborhood life. The cities today that are doing well have vibrant public markets, are beautiful, and constantly reinvest in themselves. "The transformations that Canton must now make are those that are both time sensitive and important, and, as such, are opportunities the community must make, and must make at significant scale. "The economic strength of the Akron area and Stake and Summit Counties is such that growth around the Akron-Canton Airport will soon make it even harder for the City of Canton to compete. It is more important than ever for Cantons Downtown to solidify itself as the economic center of the region. Right now, more than 9,000 people work in Downtown Canton. But in a digitized world where location matters less every day, and where every job can be relocated at a moments notice, Downtown Cantons supply of office space must be leveraged to connect to the citys medical expertise and to the Hall of Fame Village and to the oil and gas Industry, and done so in connected, intentional ways. "As Akron and Cleveland have upped their game, with new housing and creative use of land banking and other tools to stabilize large areas of troubled industrial property and excess housing, Canton must do the same, and do even better. As Youngstown has stepped forward to engage the community in collectively determining exactly what must be done in addressing abandoned housing, vacant lots, and prioritizing neighborhood improvements. Canton must do the same, and try to do even better. "The single greatest lesson to emerge from the half century era of de-industrialization is that cities must be able to compete - for strong familiesfor young entrepreneursfor businesses - and cannot rest on their laurels. As such, the work of catching up and then keeping up is really an exciting opportunity, given the talent and assets that Canton has at its disposal to leverage and work with. It is the opportunity to reposition Canton to again become a leading choice in Ohio for business and a community of choice in the region for families. "Turning these transformative requirements into action is what the new Comprehensive Plan is designed to help with. "In reality, the Comprehensive Plan is more a Strategic Revitalization Plan than a formal planning document strictly concerned with land use and zoning, though it includes a focus on those and related design and planning matters. "Being a strategic document, its main focus is engineering the citys transition to vibrancy the next ten years. This is to be done first by building on the citys most marketable strengths. Next, it can be accomplished by working creatively in the citys neighborhoods to beautify them and reposition them and develop resident leadership. This plan relies extensively not on City Hall half as much as on resident leadership, and so it intentionally builds an infrastructure of people and organizations excited about and able to execute the plan. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

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More specifically, the strategy is centered around a robust level of investment in the citys key assets and in the areas immediately around them. The plan focuses attention - dollars and policies and energy - around Aultman Hospital, in and around Downtown, and along the Fulton Road Corridor between Downtown and the new Hall of Fame Village. By ensuring that the citys main economic engines - its hospitals, Timken Steel, the Hall of Fame Village, and others - are connected to a growing Downtown, well maintained parks, new infrastructure, bike lanes across the city, thriving residential neighborhoods, and beautified parcels throughout - Canton will have many of the building blocks for future vibrancy. It wont be inexpensive. It also wont be enough. "To put Canton on the right path, buildings and parks and bike lanes, while essential, are not going to be sufficient. In point of fact, property alone never is. "Cantons real potential rests not with the citys architecture - no matter how historic, nor with its business acumen - no matter how sharp. Nor does it rest with the redevelopment at the Hall of Fame and similar important efforts. "The real potential exists within the community of residents and business stakeholders who call Canton home, who want Canton to thrive, and who are willing to make the kinds of decisions needed to ensure a plan - strategic, comprehensive, or otherwise - actually gets implemented. "The Canton City Council showed courage and conviction when it started this process more than two years ago and when, in April 2014, it approved the funds for this strategic plan. Most cities plan only when a third party like the federal government or a private foundation pays for it or mandates it. The Canton City Council decided it was necessary to have a strategy to address the challenges that the city - like all industrial cities in the midwest today - now faces. The community - as it did with its Parks Levy - made a decision to invest in itself, a major departure from so many years when the reverse was more the norm. This was a real step forward. "And now the city has a strategy. A plan for reinvesting in itself. For citizens to take a role in leading Canton. For the citys potential as a transformed place of excellence to emerge, based on years of hard work. The plan is based on extensive data. Each of the citys nearly 30,000 residential structures were individually evaluated. Exhaustive quantitative analysis was done to determine the nature of the challenge facing Canton, and the range of costs likely associated with recovery. Recovery now is more than a wish without structure. What follows is a plan that is not prescriptive and which is entirely market-oriented and realistic. "Just as Timken Steels Vertical Caster is an example of reinvesting at the level needed to stay competitive, or Aultmans investments in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft surgery expertise is an example of what it takes to be regionally competitive, the community of residents, businesses stakeholders and others must now take this plan and implement it. """czb and MIG


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Strategic Plan to Reposition Canton, OH!""


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"""""Table of Contents!""

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Executive Summary 13

Users Guide 15

Planning Principles 16

Guiding Values 19

Role of Leadership 20

Implementation 21

Framework 23

Repositioning Strategy 30

Applying the Plan 50

Appendix 58


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Executive Summary!"The last time the City of Canton had a comprehensive plan, John Kennedy was President of the United States. At that moment in time, Canton had already been losing population for more than ten years, a trend that continues to this day. When the last comprehensive plan was adopted, there was every expectation that Cantons population loss would be momentary. The national economy was going to pick up. Manufacturing was the mainstay of Northeast Ohio. There was little indication that the economies of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin were about to enter troubled waters. The operative assumption in fact was that Canton, which had gone from 116,000 to 113,000 would rebound and eventually be nearer the size of Akron or Dayton. Everything seemed possible. The sky was the limit and Canton was very much a part of that exciting era of optimism. "In the case of cities that are growing, a comprehensive plan establishes the basis for making growth-oriented decisions. Questions like where should we put the new park? and if new housing is going in over there, what should be our decision about where grocery stores and gas stations and ice cream parlors go? arise when cities are growing, and they require a plan to direct demand - be it housing demand, demand for office space, warehouses, or factories. Planning in those situations also includes attention to municipal needs that follow, such as how big should the sewer pipe be? and where should the new elementary school be located? The explanation for this is straightforward. When a place is growing, there is more desire for real estate than there is real estate, and so a community can assume that its central planning job is to direct demand because they can assume the presence of demand. This is exactly the opposite the situation that Canton finds itself in today. "Indeed, as noted, this is the opposite of the situation Canton has been in for more than 50 years. In the late 1950s, Cantons planning job was to figure out how to squeeze in space to accommodate Buick dealership expansion desires along Cleveland and Market Avenues near a thriving Downtown. The job in the 1950s was to figure out whether to require sidewalks in the blocks between 37th and 44th NW. Today the job is to figure out what to do with the soon-to-be-vacant Nationwide offices on Market, how to reposition the Hercules site, how to demolish thousands of dilapidated houses. How to contend with a poverty rate above 30 percent, the loss of too many middle class households, and a nominal fund balance at City Hall that limited the ability of local government to deliver city services. "Furthermore, things can get markedly worse for Canton, especially in the areas of job creation, the problem of growing poverty, and even more severe challenges for local government. "Fortunately there are actions that can be taken. The citys most vital assets - its hospitals, the Hall of Fame Village, Downtown, and the adjoining and connecting neighborhoods - can be protected. Excess property can be managed proactively instead of reactively. New commercial activity can be encouraged Downtown and citywide. Proven strategies to engage residents and volunteers can be implemented. The corporate community can be a full partner in the revitalization of the city. A genuine commitment to market-appropriate zoning and other codes can be made. Meaningful commitments of support for investment in infrastructure can occur. And the community can come together to rethink how to deploy the provision of city services most appropriately. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

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For the kind of success that would follow such efforts, there must be a commitment to shared responsibility in and across and throughout the Canton community. A shared approach is critical. It means the community must come together on what should be done by local government and what is best done by the private and nonprofit sectors in Canton. There will need to be a high level of coordination among foundations, educational institutions, and community-based nonprofits, all aiming at making the city as a whole work again. There must be agreement and support for the new kinds of ways that the private sector can invest in Canton. And there needs to be a community push for citizens to be included in decision-making and the nitty gritty of neighborhood stabilization, particularly around the challenge of prioritizing with limited resources. "There are concrete steps Canton can take. "The city must add a planning office to coordinate city government work, to support the mayor and the city council in carrying out the comprehensive plan and to solicit new federal, state and other resources when needed. "The community must develop a public-private partnership to carry out critical development projects such as land acquisition, assistance to existing businesses to expand and outreach to new businesses, and to promote the city and the region. "Canton needs a significant community organization that gives the residents a much larger voice, that oversees the neighborhood initiatives, and that provides direct services like home purchase counseling, organizing self-help efforts, and promoting community gardens, farms, and nurseries. "The government, civic, and corporation leaders working with a broad base of citizens must commit to this process for many reasons, but one is especially important: regions without a strong core city are much weaker than regions that have thriving center cities. "If Canton weakens further, everyone loses. This has happened in Gary, Camden, East St. Louis and other cities confronting the same dynamics, and can happen in Canton and Stark County too. Instead of weakening further, there can be a dramatic turnaround if the principles of the Comprehensive Plan are acted upon. "Canton is not unique in facing disinvestment problems, but Canton can become a leader in responding to these challenges. There is still a fine core city and a viable region, but there is a need to innovate, to take risks, and to work together. "The outcomes will take years to be fully achieved, but it will be clear in only a few years that the transformation is working. """"""


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Users Guide!(Why plan, what the plan for Canton needs to accomplish, and how to do it)!"At the beginning of the process to create this plan, work sessions were held with the City Council, Planning Commission, and city staff experts in the areas of transportation, engineering, zoning, public safety, education, parks, housing, and infrastructure. During these sessions, the following question was asked: what are the three key questions this plan, when complete, must answer? The most prevalent responses are shown here: "

"Input from City Council, Planning Commission, and senior staff at the city illustrate that the community understands the nature of problems Canton is facing and has preliminary intuition about the nature of the solutions. City Council was very clear that it was seeking a plan specifically focused on implementation, and one that would place higher priority on feasible and meaningful near-term actions than on pie-in-the-sky visions that look good on paper but which would prove impossible to accomplish. Though essential, input from City Council, Planning Commission, and senior staff at the city, cannot paint a complete picture. Yet for a plan to be grounded, the aims and concerns of residents and business stakeholders need to be incorporated into strategy. Nine public meetings throughout Canton were held at the beginning of this process to elicit input from the community. And a representative Steering Committee of 18 residents and business stakeholders met many times over several months to ensure this plan was based a set of core values and planning principles reflective of both the communitys aims and concerns.

Table ! What are the 3 key questions this plan needs to address?

City Council and Planning Commission Senior City Staff

What is the future direction of and vision for this community?

What are our assets and market strengths, and how do we protect and leverage them?

How do we best market and sell our community to new residents and companies?

How do we adopt a consistent policy tied to this vision and the citys existing strengths, and that addresses serious land use and housing challenges?

What should our priorities be? What criteria should be used to set/rank these priorities?

How does this plan get updated and kept relevant going forward?

Where do we start, and when?

Where are we? How did we get here? What is the overall situation?

What are our relative goals for the near- and long-term, based on our defined situation?

What things need to be fixed in the next 5 years, 10 years, or 15 years?

How should we be using our limited resources? Where are we wasting resources that could be better used elsewhere?

What are we (as government leaders) not doing that we should be doing? What are some outside ideas that may work here?

What are we (as government leaders) doing that we shouldnt be doing?

How could we (as leaders) work more in unison? Will usage of the plan enable various departments to better collaborate?

What more can be done to attract young, educated individuals and families to the city?

What recreation programs or opportunities do residents want to see?

What is the best way to consolidate neighborhoods into more cohesive areas?


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Planning Principles!Guiding planning principles appropriate to market and demographic reality provide the basic structure for this plan. The citys physical form must be sized to its financial and civic capacity. Interventions aimed at revitalizing Canton must be massive and focused instead of anemic and diffused as has been the case. The chief aims of all efforts in the coming years must be for Canton to become economically and civically strong, able to compete for a fair share of the regions thriving businesses and working and middle class households. It can achieve these aims if it sizes its budget to its population and socio-economic profile, focuses scarce dollars, works to be able to compete against other cities for market share, and becomes more economically diverse. "

Right-sized!The City has already reduced the level of services it provides to a bare minimum. While slight additional efficiencies can always be found, efficiencies alone are not going to be enough to make Canton a more desirable place to live and work. "What is needed beyond greater efficiency is for the city to actually reduce the amount that it maintains reduce the linear miles of

maintained streets or annually-repaired water and sewer lines; reduce the acreage of parks for which it is responsible; reduce the number of seriously distressed properties that are inefficiently served by utilities, foster increased crime, and burden emergency services. Until such balance is achieved, the city will remain fiscally weak. "A critical test to be applied to each land use and development decision going forward is whether or not it will likely result in moving Canton more towards or away from being right-sized. All else being equal, only those proposals likely to help Canton rebalance excess supply should be approved. "Focused!As Cantons experience over the last several decades has shown, our challenges are deep enough, and widespread enough, that merely spreading available revenue lightly evenly over the extent of the city has not kept up with the pace of deterioration. This has been and remains the case whether the issue is roads (which deteriorate faster than we have been willing to repair with our own money), or distressed housing (which infects surrounding property faster than we have been willing to strategically demolish). "When faced with this reality, and limited resources, the right strategy is to focus resources both geographically and also where they are likely to have the biggest impact (to positively affect the most people and to stimulate the largest private market response Such impacts are essential to keep key areas healthy and stabilized, and leverage the capacity to next improve the areas around them, gradually expanding outward until the whole city is functioning again in healthy ways. "A critical test to be applied to each land use and development decision going forward is whether or not it will likely result in a continuation of focused energy in targeted geographies so as to achieve a concentration of development activity. All else being equal, until the citys supply and demand are in sustainable balance, only those proposals that maintain geographic focus should become high priority endeavors.


BY FOCUSING OUR SCARCE RESOURCES, REBUILDING OUR MIDDLE CLASS, AND RIGHT-SIZING , WE WILL BECOME COMPETITIVE

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Competitive !Like all cities, Canton exists within a region of overlapping housing markets and trade areas. Employers in and outside the city have employees living everywhere from Canton to Jackson. But the trend has been for economically stronger businesses and households to increasingly settle outside of Canton, the result of which has been to soften prices in the city, and which in turn continues to render Canton fiscally vulnerable. This trend must cease, and for it to be reversed for Canton to rebound it has to make increased sense to businesses and households alike to choose Canton. This is a chief basis of fiscal sustainability. "Another indispensable ingredient for long term success is self-reliance. For Canton to succeed, not only must resources be focused and the city sized to capacity, the resources used to stabilize and then revitalize Canton must come from within. Without great care, reliance on outside (state or federal) dollars to reposition Canton can be an unintentional step away from the importance of Canton residents and business stakeholders themselves taking responsibility for Cantons future. Being competitive is only in part about market share and fiscal stability; it is also about true self reliance and demonstrated willingness to dig deep and pay it own way. Such a willingness is one of the most profound signals possible that can be sent to the wider market, without which the market would rightly conclude that its valuable time and money might be better spent elsewhere. "A critical test to be applied to each land use and development decision going forward is whether or not it will likely result in Canton becoming more competitive within the region. The burden should be on a proposal to demonstrate how it makes the citys market position stronger. All else being equal, only those proposals that clearly promise to strengthen the City in relation to the region should receive public resources. "Diverse!Diversifying Canton means retaining Cantons existing large employers, but also significantly increasing the number of small businesses. The era of a few large employers is over. It is time for Canton to be the home of many small and medium size businesses to complement a fewer number of large companies. This will require that Canton invest in growing existing and creating newly attractive settings, livable nearby neighborhoods for their employees, and a trained pool of workers. "Diversity also means that Canton be the home of choice to working and middle class families, who have increasingly chosen the suburbs over the city. It means that Canton needs to invest in making sure through parks and other amenities, though a vibrant Downtown, through healthy neighborhoods, and eventually through strong schools it can compete for young families, working and professional. "A critical test to be applied to each land use and development decision going forward is whether or not it will likely result in Canton becoming more economically diverse. All else being equal, only those proposals that clearly aim to make the city overall a more economically diverse outcome should receive public resources. ""


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Guiding Values!Repositioning Canton will be hard. It will require difficult decisions and tough trade-offs. It will not be possible to treat every interest or neighborhood equally at the same time. There is not have enough money to do that. And for success, some actions must come before others. Canton will need to establish priorities. However, over time, in order to benefit all of Canton, we will be guided by the following fundamental values: " Smart!

In the end, our decisions must result in a strengthened Canton economy. If we do not strengthen our economy, we will continue to decline, which will not benefit anyone. Therefore we must measure success first by the increase to our revenue, our reputation, and therefore our ability to compete for scarce financial and human capital in the region. Resources we may have for implementing this plan need to be aimed towards generating long range returns. They need to be organized to grow our middle class and our tax base. They need to be designed to raise property values, and stimulating confidence in Canton as a place where it makes sense to invest. "

Fair!At the same time, our decisions have to reflect a commitment to all citizens of Canton in genuine, relevant, and meaningful ways. We may not be able to be equal, but we must be fair. Just as investment and tradeoff decisions have to be focused on fiscal outcomes, so too must they always take into context social equity. The citys poverty rate is now above 31% Homeownership has fallen to 55% and more than half of all Canton renters are housing cost-burdened. Homelessness in Canton - and indeed the region - is a real and growing problem. Gains made in Canton in terms of overall prosperity must not come at the expense of the citys poor. "

Balanced!Not every decision will equally achieve both values of smart and fair; but over the long haul, our portfolio (the sum of our decisions) needs to be balanced, and we will work to achieve it. There will be times, especially on the front end of implementation, when what is good for the whole of the city and what is fiscally prudent, will not appear equitable. And there will be times when spending will not have a fiscal upside for the city as a whole, but is deemed necessary because it evidences our communitys commitment to balance. "A key area where balance can be achieved is with respect to affordable housing. While housing in Canton is by and large exceedingly affordable overall, for the working poor that is not the case, whose average incomes have been flat the last 12 years while median gross rents have increased. As Canton slowly repositions itself - strategically through right-sizing - intentional land scarcity will put pressure on housing prices. This pressure will be increased by strategic redevelopment of certain parts of the city. To offset these pressures, it is important that very low income and working poor households in Canton not be left behind. Redevelopment efforts should preserve affordable housing, if not on site, than through rebalancing efforts across the city. New infill residential development should be inclusionary so that low wage Canton workers can continue to live in the city where they are employed.


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Leadership!To achieve the a successful turnaround while incorporating our values and planning principles, leadership will be required. From those in Canton with formal authority elected and appointed officials to those with informal authority residents and business stakeholders leadership will be required to mobilize the community to adapt. "Canton must adapt from a city dependent on a few large employers to an independent community in partnership with many small and medium sized businesses. "Canton must adapt from a city that prioritizes using a worst first criteria for the deployment of scarce resources to a catch up and keep up approach that protects critical assets. "Canton must adapt from a city where need dominates prioritization debate or one where the chief focus is on stimulating demand. "Canton must adapt from an unhealthy over-reliance on private philanthropy and government grants to fill the void left by deindustrialization and globalization to self-financed recovery grounded in sweat equity and sacrifice. "Such adaptation will be hard. Leadership provided by those with both formal and informal authority will be essential. Fortunately, the Canton community is blessed with many who are willing and able to exercise such leadership.


NOT EVERY DECISION WILL EQUALLY ACHIEVE BOTH VALUES OF SMART AND FAIR, BUT OVER THE LONG HAUL THE SUM OF OUR DECISIONS NEEDS TO BE BALANCED

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Implementation!Implementation will hinge on several points. There must be the adoption and utilization of constructive decision-making frameworks. Deployment of scare resources must be rationalized based on objective data and sound judgment. There must be a commitment at every level to investment that is asset oriented and focused. Public and private spending have to be aligned. Commitments to the long term and to the public good must constitute the backbone of all energy. "How to use Repositioning Canton! If you have only five minutes, read the

Letter to the Citizens of Canton If you want to understand the specifics of

the plan, read The Repositioning Strategy If you want to know more about conditions

and directions for individual topic areas (roads, parks, residential areas, commercial areas, business, etc.) to to the Appendix

If you want to know more about specific implementation actions and projects, read Applying the Plan

To look at background information, maps, data, and other material, see the Appendix "How to effectively use the plan and, when necessary, make changes.!Since a comprehensive plan neither grants nor takes away any vested rights, any authority it can have will result from the eventual co-adoption of a consistency policy requiring that land use related decisions by the City be consistent with the plan, and the parallel adoption of a development (or zoning) code that regulates form. "Once passed, a good comprehensive plan should be able to guide decision making without constraining the community as market and other conditions change sometimes unexpectedly. "So there needs to be room for make both major and minor amendments when appropriate. "Co-Adoption of a Consistency Policy!The consistency policy states simply: All land use-related decisions by the City will be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. Being consistent with the Comprehensive Plan does NOT mean that the plan is carved in stone and cannot be changed. In fact, the opposite is true. If the plan does not reflect current conditions, current priorities, or current goals, it will cease to be useful and will gradually be ignored. Therefore, the plan should be updated or amended as often as necessary to make sure it reflects current values, priorities, and conditions. "Therefore, being consistent with the Comprehensive Plan means following two simple rules: "1. If the proposed action is NOT consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, Canton decision-

makers will either a) deny the proposal, or b) modify the comprehensive plan so that the proposed action IS consistent. "


Plans are only as good as the values and principles behind them and the communitys commitment to implementing on the go. The state of the art comprehensive plan is comprehensive in its general thrust, and strategic in focus; it does not prescriptively articulate what gets done on every parcel; to do so hamstrings a citys capacity to improvise, and since no one can predict the future, the room to improvise is what makes a plan durable.

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2. In updating the comprehensive plan, the level of consideration (the amount of analysis and public involvement) will be consistent with the significance of the issues involved. "

Making Major and Minor Amendments!This Comprehensive Plan could be changed through two kinds of amendments: The first, minor amendments, are changes that merely clarify, refine, or correct elements of the plan without modifying the underlying intent of the plan. These kinds of changes can be made administratively by the a citys planning director, with advance notification of the Planning Commission and City Council. Minor amendments may be called up by the Planning Commission or City Council if they are considered not to be minor in nature. "The second, major amendments, are significant changes to the policies, maps, priorities or goals and objectives of the Comprehensive Plan. Major amendments should be approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. Public outreach for major amendments should be commensurate with the impact of the change. For example, if it affects a neighborhood, neighborhood outreach is appropriate. If the change affects multiple neighborhoods, or the whole city, broader outreach is warranted. "Implementing Formal Annual Reviews!To further assure the currency, and relevance of the Comprehensive Plan "1. The Planning Department should conduct

an annual review of the Comprehensive Plan, and report to the City Council each year on the implementation status of plan-based actions. As part of this review, city staff and members of the planning department should , remove actions that have been completed or are no longer relevant, and add and/or prioritize actions for the upcoming year (including any minor or major amendments). "

2. The City should conduct a formal review and update of the Comprehensive Plan every seven years.In the early 1950s, prior to urban renewal and the development of the interstate highway system, no one in the City of Canton foresaw the development of suburbia in Stark County that would come to outcompete the city for middle class families and middle class family spending.


In the early 1960s, no one was predicting that Ohio would experience flat population growth for the next 40 years.!

In the early 1970s, no one predicted that the bottom would fall out of the steel industry or that an oil crisis loomed.!

In the early 1980s, no one predicted either the continued rise of double digit inflation and interest rates, or the return to 4 percent mortgage money by the late 1990s.!

In Canton, specifically, no one predicted the departure of the Timken Corporation or Diebold for the suburban jurisdictions outside the city. !

In 1980, the adjusted price (2015 $) of a barrel of oil reached $107, a figure unforeseeable two years prior when it was $54; likewise no one predicted it would fall to $29 just six years later. When the Utica Shale showed maximum promise, in 2008, oil was back to $100 a barrel; subsequent production from the Bakken and other reserves has resulted in an $85/barrel price and large scale layoffs in the very industry Canton hoped to take advantage ofand may someday yet still.!

As recently as three years ago in 2012, there was no hint of the exciting Hall of Fame Village to come, yet Canton now stands to benefit from nearly half a billion dollars in redevelopment activity at its western edge.

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The Framework!"Overview !Cantons population is nearly 40% smaller today than it was at the citys peak, in 1950. Todays roughly 73,000 residents face significant challenges. Most simply, and most pressing, Cantons current residents must cover the cost of managing and maintaining the component parts of a city built to accommodate almost twice as many residents. With scarce tax dollars (a function of there being fewer tax payers), Cantons current residents must do the work of managing and maintaining in a way that - optimally - repositions the city for future success. This is a challenge many cities in America today are facing, yet there are few roadmaps that Canton can follow.

"Such a decades long loss not just of population but middle class workers has had a major impact on the city in terms of fewer dollars being recycled through the economy, fewer homes being maintained to a high standard, reduced demand for retail goods and services, and significant loss of tax revenue. To reposition Canton successfully, the city must find a way to make do with less. "Canton can either pave all roads less, or pave fewer roads to high quality standards. Take care of all parks less, or take care of fewer parks in a way that is optimal. Demolish some (but not all) seriously distressed properties in neighborhoods throughout the city or target demolitions to fully remove abandoned buildings from a few areas. How can local officials and neighborhood residents and stakeholders decide how to accomplish these and other objectives in ways that are efficient from a resource use perspective, create a return on those dollars when possible, put the city on a firm footing financially speaking, and to the extent possible, do so without being abjectly unfair. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

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This plan attempts to act as a guide for facing exactly this challenge.!"It does so by structuring robust and unprecedented but necessary levels of reinvestment by the city and a host of private sector partners.

"It does so through the reliance on a new system of governance. In the proposed system needed to implement this plan, a Comprehensive Plan Implementation Commission will be created, and administrated jointly by representatives of the community (directly by residents), representatives of the Canton City Council, and representatives from the private sector.

One third of this reinvestment effort is to be governed by a newly created or rechartered existing public-private corporation (Enterprise Fund Redevelopment Corporation), designed to administer the plan and undertake real estate development using public resources directed to plan implementation by the City Council. Its resources would come from the Implementation Fund on an annual basis following submittal and approval of an annual work plan for the coming year and review of work from previous years. The Corporation would be chartered to focus almost exclusively on market-rate and market-oriented work around key city assets as detailed in this plan. "


PublicFunds

($125M/10 yr)

PrivateFunds

($125M/10 yr)

ReallocationCIP and CDBG(~$30M/10 yr)

New Taxes

(~$70M/10 yr)

MunicipalBond

(~$25M/10 yr)

CantonCorporations($125M/10 yr)

Comprehensive Plan Implementation

Commission($250M/10 yr)

Oce of City and Regional Planning

Acquisition/DemolitionInfrastructure

($75M)

Market RateDevelopment

($125M)

Healthy Neighborhoods Work

($50M)



Community Based

Organization

Enterprise FundRedevelopment

Corporation

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One third of the effort is to be managed by a new regional planning office designed to coordinate planning and zoning, housing and community development, comprehensive plan implementation, and regulatory matters associated with land use and development. This new planning office would be largely though not entirely modeled on the City of Pittsburgh. It would be the office that would review development proposals and make expert recommendations to the Citys Planning Commission and City Council. It would be the lead on grant writing and application submittal for the city. "

One third of the effort is to be managed by a new or modified existing nonprofit corporation, chartered to build resident leadership capacity through healthy neighborhood revitalization work in the community. With 11,000 tax delinquent properties scattered throughout Canton, along with numerous challenges at the neighborhood level, coordination of neighborhood improvement, home ownership development, affordable housing, and community reinvestment will be overseen by this corporation. "

And, it does so by being a plan that as based on real numbers. Because the hole that Canton is in would require about a $460M to address market weakness completely on every block so that all of the citys real estate functions in market healthy ways, this is a necessarily bold plan that may cost upwards of $250M over the next ten years.

"$250M is not enough to avoid making hard choices, but is enough to trigger market recovery. Market conditions and fiscal reality dictate that nothing but a bold plan will be capable of reversing the decades-long trajectory of the City of Canton. "It will require new revenue, the reorganization and re-prioritization of existing municipal dollars, significant private sector investment, unprecedented cooperation, the creation of new entities authorized to implement the plan, the adoption of new regulations, and a greater commitment to the good of the city overall than parochial interests. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]

Reposition Canton to Thrive Financially and Civically

Build a High Capacity to Prioritize Spending

Protect the Vital Assets

Reposition Fallow Sites

Increase Residential Q/L

Choose Using Guidelines Provided

Choose Using Guidelines Provided

FollowthePlan

$125M/10 yr $75M/10 yr $50M/10 yr

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HOW IT WORKSPublic ResourcesPrivate Resources

What does the new Redevelopment entity do?!" Implements the portion of the

plan that aims to stabilize and then revitalize the blocks around core targets investment areas."

Implementation means" Acquiring and redeveloping

key properties" Coordinating w the new

City Office of Planning on the work of infrastructure design and implementation"

Coordinating with the new resident-led CBO to develop resident leadership and implement healthy neighborhood strategies"

When needed by the Office of Planning, acquires and holds fallow property, functioning as a land bank.

What does the proposed new CBO do?!" This pivotal, resident-led

organization has the job of taking the plans values and principles and applying them on a block-by-block basis across the city."

Across the city, thousands of vacant lots need to be cleaned and greened, and many can be deeded to adjoining owners. Each is an opportunity for community building."

Across the city, thousands of homes need to be repaired. This organization will coordinate the work of helping owners apply for loans and grants to upgrade homes, and work together to strengthen blocks."

This entity will work in close partnership with the Office of Planning and the new EFRC.

Lead for Redeveloping Targeted Core Investment Areas"(~ 4% city land area)

Lead for Residential Quality of Life in the Neighborhoods "

(~ 76% city land area)

Oce of City and Regional Planning


($75M)


($125M)


($50M)



Community Based

Organization

Enterprise FundRedevelopment

Corporation

Lead for Overall Implementation of the Plan"

(100% city land area)

What does the proposed new Office of Planning do?!" Has overall coordinating

responsibilities" Manages the sequence of key

public activities, specifically:" Acquisition and

demolition of distressed,tax delinquent property,"

Design and implementation of infrastructure, and"

Oversight of regulatory matters, (land use, zoning and permitting)."

" Ensures that the plan is

implemented. Ensures compliance with the plan."

Ensures compliance with zoning regulations."

Conducts staff review of development proposals and makes staff recommendations to planning commission"

Provides staff recommendations to new Architectural Review Board (to be created)

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Assets and Liabilities!Canton has many large scale assets that are attractive to businesses as well as residents. Major assets include Stadium Park, a growing network of regional trails, major employers (Aultman and Mercy Hospitals, Timken, Diebold, Kenan Advantage, and others), Stark State, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Malone University, and the Downtown (hotels, offices, restaurants, brewery, Market Square, arts district, and events). """"" """""""""""Likewise, Canton has many smaller scale assets that play a crucial part in neighborhood quality of life. These include a well managed system of schools, many of which have been recently constructed or renovated, neighborhood and community parks, new bike lanes, sports complexes, churches and synagogues, small and intermediate commercial centers, and Colleges and vocational schools. """""

""


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In addition, Canton has significant community-based capacity. Public officials and city staff who have adroitly steered Canton through the worst economic period in American history except for the Great Depression, roughly 1,500 industrial small businesses and a knowledge base of how to make things, a core of young entrepreneurs committed to Canton, and philanthropic and charitable institutions deeply connected to the community "Still, Canton faces some significant hurdles that impact the citys future, over which Canton has little to no direct control. The region itself isnt growing people are moving from cities to suburbs but the total isnt increasing; and Ohios tax policies generally favor suburban growth in Townships and Counties over the practice of municipal frugality in her cities. "However, Canton also has many liabilities over which it DOES have control, and these include a significantly smaller population, particularly a reduced middle-income population, resulting in: Reduced demand for real estate and reduced levels of reinvestment in private property Reduced per-capita revenue from income taxes Reduced demand for quality retail Increased demand for services (social and safety) Increased rental tenancy and increased absentee ownership "

These challenges interact with and reinforce one another, serving to increase their negative effects on the City of Canton. As a result, the citys strengths are compromised. "Downtown cannot compete, much less anchor a Canton comeback so long as it is surrounded by blight and demand for commercial real estate is not intentionally channeled into Downtown. "The citys 1,500 small businesses are starved for networks and capital and marketing and promotions. They are not becoming what they could in terms

of growth, job creation, and wealth creation. "Every day this remains the status quo, the citys entrepreneurs will look increasingly towards suburban county, Akron, and other markets to find future prosperity. The city's hospitals compete for employees like every other business. Attracting the best doctors has become a task made tougher each year that the Downtown fails to fully recover and that the citys neighborhoods continue to decline. Residential life in Canton despite rich architecture and walkable neighborhoods supported by a potentially great park system is undermined by a lack of economic diversity, a Downtown without a vibrant resident component, and scant reason to confidently invest in upgrading ones home. "Much will be requiredof the city government, of city residents, of local corporations, and even of the region if these troublesome cycles are to be reversed. When 75 percent of the


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professional employees of the citys largest corporations no longer choose to live in our city, we have a problem that is serious, and that requires a serious plan. "Specifically, much more will be required of local residents and local businesses, non-profits, and philanthropic organizations, if this is to change, as it is highly unlikely that substantial new revenue is going to materialize from outside the community (from either the federal government or state government). "


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Repositioning Strategy!"Introduction!To successfully make the most of scarce resources, this plan organizes the City of Canton into three areas that every citizen needs to understand in terms of location (where), role (how it affects the city and how the community will need to influence it), actions (what needs to occur), and implications (how the areas interconnect).

"The first or Targeted Core Investment Areas contains those blocks around key identified assets absolutely crucial to the citys long term health. This plan identifies those assets or vital organs, designates a targeted geography around them that requires massive reinvestment, and prescribes a set of general steps that must be taken by the community to achieve a successful outcome. "A successful outcome in these areas is eventual market vibrancy achieved once supply and demand have come into balance following intensive investments in infrastructure, right-sizing, resident leadership, and real estate. The selection of these assets, the determination of the targeted geography, and the steps this plan recommends be taken were all based on the guiding principles of sound planning in weak markets, and the core values of the Canton community. These areas constitute about 3.5 percent of the citys land area. "It is envisioned that the core of the work undertaken to strengthen the citys chief assets will be undertaken by the new Enterprise Fund Redevelopment Corporation. "The work entails concentrated acquisition and improvement of property around key assets, coordination of major infrastructure investments, and the development of new market rate and affordable housing as well as new mixed-used development as the market stabilizes.


Canton Oce of Planning Modeled

AfterCity of Pittsburgh, PA


($75M)


($125M)


($50M)



Community Based Organization Modeled

After YNDC - Youngstown, OH

Enterprise Fund Redev Corp

(CCIC rev) Modeled After EBDI - Baltimore

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The second contains those sections of the city identified as being in the flood plain and not easily conducive to prolonged residential settlement or new development of any kind given environmental and financial considerations, and also areas that require adaptive repurposing to natural corridors, urban agriculture when appropriate, or cleaned and greened lots. This plan identifies these areas and prescribes a set of general steps that must be taken by the community to achieve a successful outcome. "A successful outcome in these areas is control, perceived and real, where instead of settlement in the flood plain that will never have resale value, and instead of large tracts of underutilized industrial parcels, and thousands of smaller blighted parcels, new trails, new green spaces, and the potential for interim uses like nature preserves may be possible. The selection of these areas which constitute about 21% of the citys land area - was based on the guiding principles of sound planning in weak markets, and the core values of the Canton community.

It is envisioned that the core of the work undertaken to stabilize these parts of Canton will be shared by the citys new Office of Planning working hand in hand with the new resident-led community based organization. The work entails conversion of tax delinquent and troubled property to productive use; sometimes as cleaned lots deeded to adjoining owners, sometimes as natural areas, and always in working partnership with the community who it is envisioned will prioritize which parcels to address in which order. """"All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]




($75M)


($125M)


($50M)







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The third area of focus the citys residential neighborhoods contains those residential parts of the city not in the core and not in the flood plain, and generally disincludes conversion areas of under-utilized property (tax delinquent, abandoned, blighted). These are the lifeblood sections of Canton the majority of the citys residential neighborhoods where families are raised, yards are mowed, groceries are bought, little league is played, and children attend school.

"While this plan identifies (by subtraction) these sections, and while these sections constitute roughly 76% of the citys land area, the job of deciding which specific neighborhoods to invest in has been left to the community because it is a task best done by residents themselves. What is designated in this plan is a set of guiding principles (right-sized, focused, competitive, diverse) and core values (smart and fair and balanced) that the community itself should apply in the course of undertaking the hard work of prioritizing. There are more than two dozen neighborhoods in the city. The targeted core investment areas constitute parts of five neighborhoods plus Downtown and the new Hall of Fame Village. For the remaining residential neighborhoods in the city not in the flood plain, prioritization will require the community to determine how to make the most with limited resources. "It is envisioned that the core of the work undertaken to strengthen the citys residential neighborhoods will be a combination of strategic demolition, vacant parcel control and beautification, upgrades to owner occupied homes, enhanced code compliance efforts, resident leadership development, and community building all under the rubric of the Healthy Neighborhoods model pioneered in Baltimore. These efforts will be overseen by the new resident-led community based organization which will have to prioritize its activities. "All rights reserved. This DRAFT material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part with out the express written permission. Contact Charles Buki at [email protected] or Jeff Winston at [email protected]




($75M)


($125M)


($50M)







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"Brief Description of Implementation!The essence of the work confronting Canton is to size the citys real estate to the financial capacity of the households and businesses that call Canton home, and do so in ways that reposition the city to compete in the region. "1. To transform the core will require disciplined targeting of public and private resources over

a sustained period into vibrant, mixed-use areas, and then connecting them in ways that reinforce Downtown. "

2. To transform the flood plain and the thousands of vacant, under-utilized, or tax delinquent properties will require creative repurposing of some land into urban agricultural use, some parcels into cleaned and greened condition, and others into natural corridors that can double as trails and other amenities. "

3. To transform Cantons neighborhoods not in the core more than 20 will require the community to come together to decide which neighborhoods to focus on first and which to get to later. This is a complex, expensive, and unprecedented undertaking. It will require a massive infusion of public and private resources. It will require the creation of new plan implementation entities one public ( a new, fully staffed city planning office), one public-private ( a new, fully staffed redevelopment corporation), and one nonprofit (a new or re-chartered existing community development corporation) "

Actions!The following section illustrates recommended ways to translate the principles and priorities of the plan into specific actions to be funded and taken. The first section describes the five Core Targeted Investment Areas. The second section describes the areas needed conversion (sometimes referred to as repurposing). The third section discussed how to identify and apply the principles to the citys many residential Neighborhood Areas. """


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1. Core Targeted Investment Areas!Lead is Enterprise Fund Redevelopment Corporation "

Concept plans have been developed for each of the five core targeted investment areas. These concept plans are intended to give on-the-ground examples of how to apply the Repositioning Canton principles to specific sub-areas. It is expected that these concept plans will be revised and refined by city staff, working with a new redevelopment corporation, and implemented according to annual prioritization and funding availability. "The five core areas are adjacent to each other and intended therefore to reinforce each other. They surround and help strengthen Cantons indispensable Downtown, and they are all connected together by transportation corridors. In addition, each is important for its own unique reasons, such as their importance to major employers, and their capacity to be home to working households. They are anchored by critical community institutions, and always contain important gateways to Canton that serve as high impact first impressions.

" "Aultman Hospital Area Neighborhood!The Aultman Hospital neighborhood is one of the most important area in Canton, absolutely vital to the long term health of the city given the Hospitals powerful economic presence. The neighborhood is a mixed-use area of about 300 acres crossed by a main commercial corridor (SW Tuscarawas), and anchored by Aultman Hospital. Decades ago the hospital was surrounded by single family homes (where many employees lived). Over time, as the neighborhood began to decline, workers moved to more remote (commuting) locations, they were replaced by less-financially-strong households and renters, maintenance of homes and properties began to decline, and the hospital began to acquire declining blocks and convert them to parking lots as a defensive measure designed to protect the hospital. Neighboring


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owners, meanwhile, often interpreted such actions with concern, concluding that Hospital-driven real estate activities were a threat as opposed to a reaction. Today the hospital is effectively walled off from the neighborhood by undistinguished parking lots. If the trend continues, Canton runs the risk of further neighborhood decline, making the area less desirable for employees and hospital clients. Hospitals in many other communities, faced with similar problems have relocated to more suburban locations. For Aultman to do so would not only remove strong households from the Canton community, but would also dramatically reduce income tax revenues to the city. "How to revitalize the Aultman neighborhood? "The vision for the Aultman neighborhood is to re-weave the hospital back into the surrounding blocks, making the hospital part of the neighborhoodrather than separate from it, and making the neighborhood an even more desirable place to live. The key target market - though not the only one - is hospital workers. "Gradually transitioning and eventually restoring the neighborhood around the hospital will be done by converting portions of parking lots back to a range of residential and compatible office and commercial uses. "Mostly residential, it is envisioned to have multifamily dwellings nearer the hospital and single family detached homes further away, resulting in a range of densities from moderate (10-20 du/acre) to higher (20-30 du/acre) over time. "The existing pattern of neighborhood-serving retail (local restaurants, medical office, shops) will be permitted at all major corners so that the neighborhood becomes a complex mix of uses tying the neighborhood together with a strong framework of street trees, wide sidewalks, and boulevards to make walking appealing and safe. There is also a long term need to create several new neighborhood parks to be within easy walking distance of most residents, and connecting bike lanes throughout. "Pro Football Hall of Fame Village Area!The HOF is currently a hugely important attraction that gives Canton worldwide recognition (as the birthplace of professional football). It brings approximately 200,000 visitors per year to the Canton area. "The HOF currently occupies a roughly 30 acre site near the intersection of Fulton Drive and I-77. At the time of this document, plans are being formulated by the Hall of Fame Board to dramatically expand the scope and quality of the attractions at the HOF village, including: " Expanded HOF building Expanded stadium field for HOF-related events A football-oriented theme park A mixed use Village of hotels, restaurants, offices, medical research facilities Venues for other sports, including soccer fields and other spaces. "The area envisioned for the expanded Hall of Fame extends from I-77 west to Broad Avenue, from Fulton Drive south to 13th Street (which becomes 12th Street east of I-77). The expanded area is currently composed of primarily residential uses, as well churches, an elementary


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school, and the McKinley High School complex: the school, natatorium, performance center, and football stadium. "When completed, the entire area will be a significant tourist destination with significant office workers and restaurant activity. In order to take full advantage of the HOF expansion very effort should be made to allocate a significant number of jobs and business the following in Canton (operations, services, and construction). This can be achieved by a commitment to preferential hiring of Canton residents, sourcing supplies and services to Canton businesses, locating spin-off businesses in Canton, training programs to allow Canton residents to upgrade and qualify for jobs. "A strong link be

canton comprehensive plan draft - june 19 2015 compressed

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