Summit County Council Member Chris Robinson says that the proposed Kimball Junction Master Plan is exciting but daunting. He spoke to KPCW the day after they received an introduction to the plan.
Robinson said he likes the idea of reshaping Kimball Junction, so it is more accommodating to the pedestrian and cyclist, rather than the car.
“The challenge is implementing it because it's going to take a lot of money and a lot of code amendment in order to create the right tools and things. I think it's very exciting but it's also somewhat daunting. If you don't start with a plan and have a vision you get nowhere. You get more of reactionary approach and piece-mail development.”
The input from citizens included concerns about a marking on the sketch plan that they thought was a building site. The council directed it be taken out and Robinson said he’s pretty sure it will stay out.
“The basics of the proposed amendment to the Kimball Junction General Plan said that consideration should be given to amending development agreements. The issue is that all the density in the Newpark development agreement has been spent, other than like 100, 200, 300 square feet some small numbe. The likelihood of new density being created their through an amendment of the development agreement is slim to none. I don't see any reason to show it’s created a firestorm of criticism over something that’s really not going to happen. It just distracts from the bigger vision of what we're trying to accomplish there.”
Robinson said after more public input, the Master Plan will be refined and adopted, with some Action Plans that might include rezoning.
