provincetown, massachusetts design & resiliency team (dart) project
DESCRIPTION
The final presentation of the AIA's Design and Resiliency Team (DART) to Provincetown, Massachusetts regarding future housing, the waterfront, resiliency, land use and governance.TRANSCRIPT
Provincetown 365 Design and Resiliency Team
Provincetown 365: Design and Resiliency Team
Wayne Feiden, FAICPDirector of Planning and Sustainability, Northampton, MA
Tilman Lukas, PrincipalHousing Finance, MBL Housing and Development, Amherst, MA
Kristina Hill, PhDAssociate Professor Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
Bill Needelman, AICPWaterfront Coordinator, Portland, ME
Amanda Loper, AIAArchitect, Principal, David Baker Architects, San Francisco
Joel MillsDirector of Communities by Design, AIA, Washington DC
Provincetown speaks
“I’ve been dumping bodies for years, and it
seems to me that the sea level is
rising.”
Resiliency
Standard and Poors: “…large and very diverse property tax base and extremely strong per capita market values; strong reserves…; and favorable debt position… The town's limited, tourism-centered local economy somewhat offsets these strengths.”
Resiliency Themes
• Year round community: people, vibrancy, jobs
• Economic development: people, vibrancy, jobs
• Climate: sea level, rain storms, surges
Shank Painter Road
Shank Painter Road
option A
option B
Zoning- Residential
• Tweak accessory dwelling units
• Tweak growth management incentives
– Provide payment in-lieu option
– More certainty, less discretion, in the process.
• Only administrative site plan for housing you want
–Not special permits (accessory dwelling units & 4+ units)
• Smaller lot size per dwelling unit for larger projects
– Not more space per unit for larger projects
Zoning-Commercial• Reduce commercial front and side setbacks
–Embrace current commercial center setbacks
–Allow pedestrian-friendly general commercial
–Consider build-to lines (maximum setbacks)
Affordable and Community Housing• Affordable Housing=rent ≤30% of income
– Allows for necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care.
• Why affordable housing? – Essential for a healthy, vibrant community– Retain year round residents– Provide a labor force for local businesses– Expand the tax base, decrease commuter miles,
attract new businesses
Types of HousingHousing Ownership Types • Fee-Simple• Condos• Cooperatives and limited equity cooperatives• Co-housing• Rentals
Typical types of affordable housing• Homeownership• Rental• Elderly• People with disabilities• Family
Rental Levels--What can I afford?
$19.85/hour for 52 weeks for a 2-person family at 60% AMIPretty close to an entry level teacher
median household=1.64 personsmedian family=2.55 persons
Big Obstacles
• Land: not enough
• Small projects: too costly per unit
• Scattered: too costly and difficult to manage
• Water/Sewer: Can’t build without these
• Cost: Limited resources available
• Focus: Community disagreement as to need
• Zoning
• NIMBY (Not in my back yard)
Developing Affording Housing-- Thresholds
• Site control
• Project sponsor
– experience, financial strength, vision, mission, management capacity
– Compatible with community vision
– Limited options for sponsors
• Market study
• Zoning approval
– By Right, Special Permit, Comprehensive Permit
Developing Affording Housing-- Financing
• Local Match
– Community Preservation Funds (CPA)
– Provincetown Affordable Housing Trust Fund
– PILOT (Payment in lieu of taxes)
– Donation of town owned land
– Lease of public land
• Big Hurtle: Financing
– Affordable housing is expensive
– Local, State, and Federal Resources are essential
Development Model- VFW Site
• 41 Unit building
• Financing– Low Income Housing Tax Credits– Soft debt– Permanent debt
• Deed restrictions- for long term affordability
# of Units # bedrooms Unit Sq.ft Rent-Net Affordability
16 1 500 $930 60% AMI
16 2 750 $1,112 60%
4 2 750 $1,636 Unrestricted
4 3 950 $1,279 60%
1 3 950 $1,812 Unrestricted
Provincetown 365: Development BudgetSources of FundsConstruction Loan $8,200,000 Equity (Development Fee Loan) $0 Equity (Federal credits) $8,281,909 Equity (state tax credits $1,143,695 Provincetown CPA $250,000 Provincetown Affordable Housing Trust Fund $500,000 Other: $0 Mass.Housing Stabilization Fund $1,000,000 Mass. Affordable Housing Trust Fund $1,000,000 Other: CDBG $0 Permanent Debt $2,000,000
Subtotal $22,375,604 Construction Loan Repayment $8,200,000 Total Sources-w/o Constr. $14,175,604 Uses of FundsAcquisition $750,000 Direct Construction Dwelling Units (@$275/ft²) $8,325,000 Direct Construction:Site Costs $1,000,000
Total Construction $9,325,000 Construction Contingency (5%) $466,250
Total Hard Costs $9,791,250 Soft costs $2,152,480 Developer Fees, Capitalized Reserve, etc. $1,481,873 Total Uses of Funds $14,175,603Surplus/(Deficit) $1 Development Costs/Unit $345,746
Understanding sediment transport on Cape Cod
Understanding sediment transport on Cape Cod
Most sand moves north and west from the open-ocean side of the Cape.
Some ends up in Provincetown Harbor.
Sand from Truro also ends up in Provincetown Harbor.
Sand is GOLD for adapting to sea level rise.
Beaches and dunes can be expanded to protect coastal communities over the long-term.
Eventually, piers would have to be extended; but using sand is a “no regrets” adaptation approach because it can be removed if it isn’t needed.
Waterfront Transportation
Commerce
Recreation
Transportation
Note: Every Ferry Trip is aParking SpaceNot Used
Rumor has it:100,000 trips15% of visitors
CommerceNote – Every Commercial Vessel is a Business
+/-100 CommercialVessels in Provincetown (?)
Recreation
Active Use of the Water Passive Use: Water Views
When well designed and managed,
these core functions support each
other as mutually supporting
systems
Boaters are tourists and tourists like boats
Observationsand
Questions
Waterfront Commerce is a character defining presence within the community
Question: Does ProvincetownSee itself as a Port Community?
Much of the community is cut off from the water visually
Physical connections to the water exist, but vary in quality and visibility
Water-dependent employment also requires
Access
Berthing Loading SecurityLaunch/HaulUplands
Berthing and Loading
SecurityYes, it’s necessary
Upland Support
Yard StorageMechanical Services
Recommendations
•Promote active use of the water
•Recreational access
•Marine employment
Working Waterfronts Are both
Employment generators and tourism attractions
Protect Existing Assets
McMillan Pier is the Treasure
Cabral’s Pier …..Huge assetFind the right partnershipPublic/Private (?)
Grow Boating Capacity
Commercial dockage/moorings if needed
Commercial berthing is the fundamental resource supporting marine employment
If declines in commercial fishing create berthing vacancies – only fill with recreational boats on a season-to- season basis.
Fishing will reboundAquaculture will growMarine transit will grow
Have faith
Recreational BoatingYachting
Every residentAnd visitor to townShould get out on the Water
Expand Launch and Haul
Is one boat yard enough?Explore creating an industrial zoneEither on of off the water.
There are two great sites – Both Motels
Community Boating YouthAdultEventsEducation
Sail MaineHigh school sailing in Portland, Maine
Provincetown needs betterkayak and tender storage
The Waterfront is a Shared Resource
Kayak and Tender SharingBoat Share programs
Bikes, too
Celebrate the future of Provincetown Harbor, not just its past
EventsNot for ProfitCivic groups Collaboration
Grab Opportunities
Waterfront facilities should serve multiple usesIs this a Park and Community Boating Center?
Take a long view toward town assets
Form Partnerships
Photo Credit: US Coast Guard
Center for Coastal StudiesFishing communityCoast GuardBoating clubsOthers………….
Create a waterfront center
Governance
“Civilizations rise and fall-and sometimes if they are lucky-they renew themselves”
–John W. Gardner
What we heard - Soul of Community
• “Despite all the change, Ptown remains the same – it’s an attitude. It’s a spirit.”
• “Everyone feels safe here, free from judgment, able to express themselves authentically”
• “There is universal acceptance here. There is no requirement to fit in.”
• “Ptown is a shared experience that binds people together”
Governance
• What one word describes Town Meeting:
– “dysfunctional”
– “War of the Worlds”
– “Groan”
What institutional sclerosis and hundreds-year old governance processes
do to us…
Traditional Public Participation
Public Hearing
Public Meeting
Public Opinion Poll
Look @ What’s Happening Today
• American Planning Association (2012) – “More than 50
percent want to personally be involved in community
planning efforts, including more than half of Democrats,
Republicans, and independents as well as majorities of
urban, suburban, and rural respondents.”
The engagement ‘gap’
What Government/Organizations Want
What the Public Wants
“Artificial” polarization
Feb 2014 ICMA Survey on IAP2 Spectrum
Town Meeting Today
• Conflict-ridden – by design• Incredibly inefficient• Engages people at the end of the process, not the
beginning• Unpredictable outcomes – high risk• Can create impression that this is not a good place to
do business• Mistrust and personal nature of conflicts –
antithetical to your community identity
The difference between PR & P2
Public Relations
• Sponsors decide on a course of action and then attempt to sell it to the public.
• people can feel manipulated and suspicious
• often hinders them from thinking effectively about problems and challenges because it avoids exposing them to the full dialogue.
• PR seeks “buy-in”
Public Participation
• Sponsors engage public on the front end in dialogue to help understand the pros and cons of different actions and seek input, consultation, involvement, collaboration
• Builds common understanding of the issue and decision by hearing and understanding all viewpoints and information
• P2 seeks meaningful involvement up front
Recommendations
• FIRST: Community Visioning Process that is authentic, culturally relevant, meaningful
• Community Advisory Board/Cross Agency Town Team to guide reform of Town Meeting process to be more efficient, productive, and predictable
• Civic organization to convene, inform, lead, program, facilitate, partner, build capacity
• Let vision drive action. Build Momentum for implementation by integrating projects in a community-driven process
Resource Guide
• Model Ordinance
• Model Charter Language
• P2 Advisory Commissions
• Policy Options
• Resources
One Example
“We know that collaboration between community members and city government leads to better results than either working in a vacuum. One without the other misses out on a whole range of good ideas. More importantly, public decisions that are developed collaboratively produce better results and better stand the test of time. The What’s Next Alexandria initiative focused on understanding how to use civic engagement to improve this kind of collaborative give-and-take that will always be more effective than community members or City staff working alone.”
Adapt, not adopt – but learn from others’ experience
Reform Town Meeting Process
• Goal: efficient, collaborative, predictable, informed
• Address the information gaps on the front end
• Have facilitated dialogues first to build understanding of pros and cons of issues
• Make the actual town meeting process an administrative act only – not the place where the community makes its voice heard, just where the official vote occurs afterward
Versus
process orientationCollaborativeCitizen-drivenDialogue-basedInformativeBuilds UnderstandingReinforces valuesPrideSocial CapitalPartnershipAction
InefficientNo dialogueGrandstandingEmphasizes differencesCreates conflictTears apart communityIs not values-basedApathy Frustration
Information model : CIR in Oregon
What can a community do?
• Articulate a Collective Vision
• Set the table for partnerships
• Position place as an attractive investment
• Mobilize volunteers
• Crowdfund
• Leverage collective capacity & Resources
• Build Civic Momentum through community projects, events & activities that inspire pride and can be leveraged
• Requirements: Citizens (vs. Consumers or Taxpayers) and civic leaders, vision and collaboration
• When you put it all together in a process, it can be transformative
“We have no public resources to do anything”
National Statistics: About a trillion dollars in the community
•Volunteerism = $171 billion (only 64 mill people)
•Total Charitable Giving = $298.42 billion.
•Non-profits = $300 billion in investment into local communities
•Over half of all states have enacted legislation to enable private-sector participation in infrastructure projects, where there is an estimated $180 billion to be leveraged
•Crowdfunding - $3 billion & growing
•*billions in federal support
Most Communities Today
“If we can just get that one, big, transformational investment done, it will change everything for us.”
[years of effort…debates…studies..no visual progress during this time…loss of excitement…bottom falls out.]
The Snowball Effect
“a figurative term for a process that starts from an initial state of small significance and builds upon itself, becoming larger and faster at every stage”
Applied to a community, this is
a transformational principle…
“You gave us hope. Back in 1992, your ideas seemed like dreams. Now we are living those dreams.”
– Rick Smith, San Angelo Times-Standard, 2012
What success looks like in Port Angeles, Washington
Prioritization
• Staff picked through and identified implementation items
• Survey at Public Meeting
• Committee Review and Prioritization
• Port Angeles Forward organization as civic leader
1. Parking study in the downtown area.
2. Increase housing opportunity and multi‐use buildings in downtown.
3. Institute the use of form based codes rather than conventional zoning.
4. Remove the parking regulations in downtown and let the market drive parking.
5. Return the Farmer's Market to the downtown area.
6. Signage and wayfinding system for pedestrian and vehicles.
7. Improve existing buildings (appearance, facades, etc. in downtown and elsewhere).
8. Provide visitor information kiosks.
9. Create an entryway monument.
10. Create nodes / centers of key intersections.
Immediate Implementation
Port Angeles, WA 2009 Project: 2 months later, 43 buildings repainted with
volunteers and donated paint, (at least 3,500 volunteer hours, or roughly
$66,500 worth of donated labor) led to a façade improvement program, then
private $
Bike Facilities
Wayfinding & Signage
Public PrioritizationPaint 43 BuildingsFaçade ImprovementWayfinding
Waterfront EsplanadeMajor new anchors downtownPeninsula Campus ExpansionDowntown Health ClinicNew Transit Center
Bike/Ped FacilitiesNew small businessesFerry Terminal RenovationRenovated shopping/restaurants at adjacent block
First 3 months-1 year
1-2.5 years
4-5 years
ImplementationToday, major investments all over town
Some
Examples:
Waterfront
Redevelopment
$17 million
Marine
Campus
Facility
$12 million
Waterfront: from Team Process to Masterplan to groundbreaking , to…
Realizing Their Aspirations, in
5 years
Bringing People Back to the
Waterfront
Creating an Attractive Sense
of Place
Transforming Downtown: Before
Transforming Downtown: After
Snowball Effect: $100+ million
Leveraging Investment for
Placemaking
And, it keeps going
They are already in construction
for phase 2
MOMENTUM!
MOMENTUM
MOMENTUM
MOMENTUM