PALMDALE — The city of Palmdale will host the second community workshop for its Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Project and Avenue Q Feasibility Study this coming Saturday, April 18.
The workshop begins at 10 a.m. in the Yucca Elementary School Cafeteria, located at 38440 2nd Street East in Palmdale.
The workshop will present residents with the proposed land use concept plan. City officials will also welcome comments, questions and concerns from community members, stakeholders and residents.
“We’re encouraging our community to bring us their thoughts, questions and concerns about the new land use and transportation plan that’s being developed for the area around the Palmdale Transportation Center, future High Speed Rail/Metrolink Station and Avenue Q Corridor,” stated Palmdale’s Communications Manager John Mlynar. “A strong collaborative effort between the community and decision-makers is essential to this planning process.”
There will be special activities at a “youth station” geared toward children and teens during the workshop. Spanish language translation services will also be available.
The community workshop is the next step before preparing analysis reports.
Last year, Palmdale was awarded a $400,000 grant by Metro for the TOD study (TOD3), which will update the City’s General Plan and Zoning Ordinance to reflect its current vision for TOD within the vicinity of the Palmdale Transportation Center (PTC) and future California High Speed Rail Station.
The city also received a $100,000 grant from Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) for the Avenue Q feasibility study, which will provide the city with an analysis that will determine the feasibility of developing the Avenue Q Corridor that will apply fundamental TOD/mixed use design and ultimately serve as an extension of the PTC and California High Speed Rail Station Planning Area.
It also helps the city take another step toward implementing the approved SCAG’s Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy with the intention of establishing a more livable and prosperous Southern California.
“TOD is typically defined as more compact development within easy walking distance of public transit which contains a mix of uses such as housing, jobs, recreation, shops, restaurants and entertainment,” stated Assistant Planner II Carlos Contreras. “TOD is about creating walkable, pedestrian/bicycle/public transit friendly communities for people of all ages and incomes. The vision is to provide neighborhoods with more transportation and housing choices where residents can live work and play and maintain lifestyle that are convenient, affordable and active.”
“Both grants will assist the city to execute a plan that will pave the way for Palmdale to become an innovative leader for TOD within the Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County and Southern California,” stated Project Manager Juan Carrillo. “In a recent study, Palmdale’s commute ranked among the worst suburbs for commuters. The average commute time for suburban Los Angeles workers is 28.44 minutes each way, whereas commuters from Palmdale typically spend 40.4 minutes commuting to work. On average, 76.54 percent of workers within the Los Angeles suburbs drive alone to work.”
The projects, which began in the summer of 2014, are currently on schedule, with the consultant having completed an existing conditions report, livability audit and stakeholder interview summary. The projects are now in the analysis phase, and the information obtained at the workshop will guide staff and the consultant in developing a concept plan for further work.
“The concept plan is meant to serve as a bridge between the analysis of existing conditions, community priorities, and the detailed recommendations and policies in the final reports,” Contreras said. “The concept plan will be the basis for formulating detailed recommendations and policies in the transportation reports, urban design, street and streetscape recommendations reports, and land use and zoning recommendations reports, to be prepared for both planning efforts.”
For more information regarding TOD3, visit the TOD3 website at www.cityofpalmdale.org/TOD. Interested persons may also call Carlos Contreras directly at 661-267-5207 or email ccontreras@cityofpalmdale.org.
For more information regarding the Avenue Q Feasibility Study, visit www.cityofpalmdale.org/Businesses/Development-Services/Planning-and-Zoning/Avenue-Q-Feasibility-Study, or call Juan Carrillo at 661-267-5213 or email jcarrillo@cityofpalmdale.org.
–
[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]
–