Callander: Master planning moves in right direction

If you stay in contact with county officials and other people in the know, you might have known about the redevelopment sessions going on as part of “shaping a master plan” for specific areas of our county. These sessions haven’t exactly been widely publicized, but fortunately I’ve made it to three of them so far, two for my home area of Falmouth and one for the Courthouse area.

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors bit the bullet and laid out more than $800,000 to hire a consulting firm, Basile, Baumann, Prost and Associates, Inc. and Cunningham/Quill Architects, PLLC to lay out plans for improving or planning for the future four key areas, Southern Gateway/Falmouth Village, Aquia Towne Center, Courthouse and Boswell’s Corner.

The Courthouse proposal viewed April 28 at the Rowser building seems to be well thought out. It would create a downtown Stafford, something that has been talked about for a long time but never delivered. The village center would be comprised of governmental, judicial, cultural arts and market uses. Street level retail, restaurants, offices, hotels and a medical campus associated with the new Stafford Hospital Center would provide a hub of activity.

A network of open spaces would connect pedestrian friendly, mixed-use neighborhoods (apartments, town homes, and some single-family homes).

Two comments offered at my table, as part of breakout sessions giving area residents a chance to speak their mind, were on target. A man pointed out that if there is no bypass around the new downtown, local traffic will be competing all the more with commuters and interstate travelers who invariably end up retreating from Interstate 95 to U.S. 1.

The greater density of population provided by the village concept will add more traffic to the already impossible corridor. Ideally, designing walkable communities makes for just that ¬pedestrian use of sidewalks, avoiding auto travel. You could walk to the store, the doctor, even to work. This is all a lovely concept, but make it work so that it doesn’t make traffic worse.

Open space was another big topic. Open space for a ball field was suggested.
Open areas that are contiguous were also requested.

Plans for improving the courthouse area and making a downtown have been on
the drawing board for years. I remember a development firm, Charter Communities, coming in promoting their plans for downtown maybe 20 years ago. The new hospital should be a big boon to making this all happen and we might as well have plans in place so that when developers have the wherewithal to proceed, we are ready.

Now as for Southern Gateway and old Falmouth, these plans concern me more.
What happens to historic Falmouth Village is more dependent perhaps on the
results of engineering studies for the planned Falmouth intersection at U.S.
1 and U.S. 17. There is talk of moving historic buildings to new locations that can then be designed into a walkable, enjoyable village honoring our history. Some of the narrow, cumbersome streets would be reworked.

For example, Forbes Street would not wind around to U.S. 1 near the Falmouth light as it currently does, rather extend over to Butler Road behind the Falmouth Baptist Church. The church would have a new parking lot perhaps using some of the space that is currently Colonial Avenue. Carter Avenue could disappear.

All of this sounds a bit radical and it would require a change in the approved historic boundaries, but in the end it could make old Falmouth much more accessible to tourists and easier for residents to get around, too.

The main concern that I expressed at one of the meetings on Falmouth Village was that the planners be extremely careful about adding retail, commercial and residential because that could lead to too uch traffic counteracting the relief brought by the new interchange.

Adding too much density to the Southern Gateway area out U.S. 17, such as with mixed-use villages near such places as the new Target, is something we need to watch out for, too. It’s great to plan walkable town centers, but we need to be sure the traffic is manageable. Has it ever been? Not since before Stafford’s bedroom community, suburban sprawl days.

Alane Callander is a south Stafford resident active in many local causes. Reach her at info@staffordcountysun.com.