Title
RESOLUTION ACCEPTING THE IRVING AND FAIRMOUNT BROWNFIELDS REVITALIZATION PLAN
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that:
(a) The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted funding to the city through its Brownfields Area-Wide Planning program; and
(b) The city collaborated with the EPA, planning consultant Perkins + Will, and many community and agency stakeholders to create an Area-Wide Plan that includes new redevelopment strategies and opportunities for improvement in the Irving and Fairmount neighborhoods (the Irving-Fairmount Brownfields Revitalization Plan, or IFBRP); and
(c) The IFBRP was developed through an extensive planning process that included a project advisory team, a stakeholder group that included businesses, neighborhood advocates, and a broad group of local, regional, and state agencies; and
(d) The IFBRP includes goals and objectives leading to a plan that focuses on:
a. Increasing economic activity
b. Increasing housing choices
c. Improving health outcomes for residents, workers, and visitors
d. Improving multi-modal connections
e. Making Grand Avenue more inviting
f. Providing opportunities for community gardens and other gathering spaces; and
(e) The business development division and the community planning division recommend the acceptance of the IFBRP, an Area-Wide Plan designed to help confront local environmental and public health challenges related to brownfields and benefit underserved or economically disadvantaged communities; and
(f) Therefore, the city council accepts the IFBRP and directs staff to continue incorporating it into the work of Imagine Duluth 2035.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This resolution accepts the Irving Fairmount Brownfields Revitalization Plan (IFBRP). The recommendations of the IFBRP are the result of an 18-month planning process that involved hundreds of stakeholders at numerous community meetings, all outlined in the plan document.
The acceptance of the IFBRP follows a community celebration that was held on October 18th, 2017, at Loll Designs. There, the final recommendations were presented to the community and a broad dialogue held about opportunities for putting the recommendations of the plan into effect. The IFRBP is a unique plan in that it includes detailed implementation steps, which when acted upon will maximize opportunities for the Irving and Fairmount neighborhoods.
Implementation steps and land use changes as part of the IFBRP will be incorporated into the Imagine Duluth 2035 Comprehensive Plan update, expected to be brought before the Council in early 2018.