The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About_Riverfront Visioning Presentation � ' � ' v � � . A � ! � i ' 1 1 ' 1 i ! � 1 1 � ' ' I1 � � � � � � ��. � �,,:w�..., . � ;,�'��y a.s� ``} � �s c� � � � n�� ' x�� ;J7."R .�'i � �', � �' �� .� u` � � �� Y�"�r,+�' 'q ,y s;�'�3 .,,��., � �d}�T' �',�;'Y 4 Y� �� I +, �v e f ��yr � 1: � � � r i � "r y: ti � ;.. _ � � �._�: �"'.a:.y... � �� * L� � ��C:'�..;. tg� "��,.�_..:. ,s�;�.:.�� . , - �� i :� 1 � � � � �.��:. �;;;'-' ��,:�� ' ` �� East Centrai Wisconsin 0 Regional Planning Commission [ O� ECWRPC December, 2014 Calumet•Menorriinee•Outagamie•Shawano•Waupaca•Waushara•Winnebago � � � EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ' LET'S BE PIONEERS! � Oshkosh—a city of over 65,000 persons— is located in the east-central portion of Winnebago County and is bisected by the Fox River at its confluence with Lake Winnebago. This strategic � location along the waterways served an important role in the history and development of the City, particularly with respect to its industrial base along the riverfront. Over time, the river and its shoreline areas have changed uses and functions. Old sawmills and factories gave way to � other commercial, residential and recreational uses. Land use changes continue to occur as several public and private development projects have been initiated in recent years in order to provide better public access to this feature which was once cut-off from the community. Many � more opportunities for land use change exist along the corridor and, as time moves on, the City leaders and staff hope to take advantage of them, but desire to do so in a well-thought out, � comprehensive manner— including figuring out how to better involve the public. As such, a call was put out to residents and users of the Fox River system in Oshkosh during the late summer of 2014 to assist in generating ideas for an overall `vision' for the waterfront � areas within the City. Promoted as "LeYs be Pioneers", this title gives a nod to the spirit of those who first settled the City and affected great change, as well as to the very timely issue related to the deteriorating waterfront landmark known as the Pioneer Resort. With the assistance of the � East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission a series of three facilitated, interactive workshops were held in order to get `up-front' input from the public on the future of the river � corridor before significant effort is made to craft a detailed `master plan' for these environs. The workshops used simple interactive visual techniques to get participants to respond to a series of simple, yet thought provoking questions. The responses would help provide context and insight � as a future vision is established, and then used as a guide during the master planning process. A total of 72 persons from all portions of the City attended the three workshops and tremendous � amounts of`data' were generated for further consideration by City officials as they move forward. The full report contains detailed displays of this data and a brief description and analysis of the results for each exercise. The data is not scientifically accurate in nature— nor � was it meant to be—but is of sufficient quantity to lend some validity to the consensus points discussed in each exercise. A few of the major highlights are listed shown here. � EXERCISE#1: WHO/WHAT IS OSHKOSH? � Participants were provided a single page form with the main question being "What words/ideas would you use to describe Oshkosh's IDENTITY, whether it be associated with the City's � history, current times, or as you'd like to see it in the future?" Over 650 individual responses were received to the three parts of the question during the three workshops. Common themes which rose to the surface were Lumber Industry (historic identity); Event C�ty—Lot's to � v � � � Do (current identity); Mixed use recreational redevelopment along the river/lake corridor (future identity, or vision) � EXERCISE #2: INFLUENCE AND CONFLUENCE � This exercise consisted of drawing a boundary on a map that represents the extent of influence that the riverfront environment has on neighboring lands, and how it relates to Lake Winnebago. � -This exercise had 68 individual responses. A composite map begins to show a general consensus as to `where' the riverfront area starts and stops (has less interaction with the river) as one moves further away from the river corridor. Generally, this consensus boundary � included the shoreline areas of Lake Winnebago from Menominee Park on the north, to Fugelberg Park on the south. Two additional areas (downtown and near south side properties) are highlighted for further discussion and evaluation as to their degree of � current(and future?) `connectedness' to the riverfront. EXERCISE #3: CONNECT THE DOTS � This group mapping exercise allowed participants to identify locations/areas away from the � riverfront that should be better connected to the waterway—physically, economically, or socially. Each map was significantly different, but did contain some common themes � -� such as: • Increased connectivity of the riverwalk along both sides of the river; • An improved connection between Menominee Park and the riverfront area; � • Improved connections to Downtown and near south side business areas; • Increased attraction of visitors to EAA and Hwy 41 shopping areas / directing them to river through wayfinding and other means; � • A des�re to see a boardwalk path along Lake Winnebago, south of the Pioneer Resort Property. � EXERCISE#4: PLACES AND SPACES Participants were to identify and expound upon their favorite places along the riverfront. These � were located on large maps which were placed on the table. The purpose of this question was to explore the idea of place, and even more so, what makes for a `great place'. The 150+ � features/locations that were i�ientified are considered to be important to a certain percentage of the people and, perhaps the community as a whole. These features � contribute significantly to the overall `sense of place' along the riverfront and should be considered for conservation, protection, and/or enhancement of their inherent qualities. � v� � � � � EXERCISE#5: LET FIX THIS! � Workshop participants were asked "Are there places along the riverfront that are eyesores or underutilized properties in your mind?" Using maps, they could identify and locate the areas that � need some type of small or large-scale improvement. Based on the number of responses to individual features, several themes and sites rank highly amongst those who participated, including: „ � • Riverfront trail/riverwalk connections; • Direct access to water for watercraft and recreation; � • Vegetation management; • Redevelopment of the: � ✓ Pioneer Resort site; ✓ Buckstaff site; ✓ Jeld-Wen site; � ✓ AxleTech Intl. site; ✓ Marion Road area. iEXERCISE#6: HOW INTENSE! / BIG IDEAS! � Land use change is bound to happen on the riverfront and participants could provide thoughts on what types and how intense these changes should be using some prepared, individual worksheets. They also had a chance to tell us their `big ideas'for the riverfront using large scale � maps of the corridor. Preferred Housinq Option: Housing related intensities on the riverfront and surrounding � properties were not very well received in general. But within the confines of this response, "Small-Multi-Family Housing" received the highest aggregate average value. The community feels that 2 to 4 story residential structures are preferred over much larger apartments or � smaller single or two-family residences. Preferred Retail/Commercial Option: Results for all three Visioning sessions were definitive, � showing an ongoing preference towards street oriented commercial and mixed-uses, the community feels that future developments should complement the surrounding area and ' maintain consistency with the downtown Oshkosh corridor. Large scale developments and free standing convenience and retail scored very poorly and should be discouraged. � Preferred Emplovment Tvpe Option: Employment related intensities received less conclusive results within the Oshkosh Riverfront Visioning sessions. The top three results were within 0.5 points of each other with "Larger Light Industrial Research Buildings" receiving the highest � ranking, followed by "Office Park" type development. The data suggests that larger multi-story structures with varying levels of intensities are preferred. Small and medium scale, single-story business developments were not as well received and should be looked at with less preference. � vit � � � Preferred Parkinq Option: With historically low levels of parking in downtown urban settings, "Off Street Structured Parking"was selected by the community as the preferred design option. ; Parking structures can come in several forms; the common structures are above ground multi- level structures of below ground parking directly related to the uses above. , The Big Ideas! Portion of this exercise generated numerous written responses and ideas a short � categorized summary of those ideas which rose to the top include: Transportation/Roads: Recreation: � • River Taxi • Make the old industrial areas into • Plant trees, shrubs, flower parks. � � gardens, etc. along street • Smoke/tobacco free parks. corridors There are cigarette butts and • Pioneer Drive needs to remain a garbage everywhere along the � road but relocated a little to the riverwalk and people are putting south. Provide docks for the up plastic bags because there � fisherman and angled parking � are no garbage cans for people • More parking adjacent to the to throw their garbage. You have downtown and river passages this beautiful newly re-developed � • Develop skywalks and bridges to area and it's always littered and cross problem areas covered in cigarette butts. • More water sports on Fox River � Tourism: • Youth baseball complex on the • Find a resort which can build on former Buckstaff property the Pioneer Site � • Grand entrance into Oshkosh Riverwalk: • Public markets along the river • Riverwalk connections would go and on the riverwalk under streets like Ohio Street � • Fountains and sculptures along Bridge the riverfront • Connect riverwalk along Lake Winnebago north to Menominee � Commercial: Park and South to 18th Avenue • Develop Buckstaff and Pioneer • A walkway from Congress � properties as one parcel. Build a Avenue/Oshkosh Avenue to tunnel under or bridge over train downtown and Pioneer Island tracks • Paved WIOUWASH trail in � • Sell Lakeshore Municipal Golf Oshkosh Course to a private developer • Have San Antonio Riverwalk • Redevelop existing buildings concept on both sides from � such as the former Granary into Pioneer Drive to Fratello's. Lots new restaurants with roof top of seating for outside dining or to gardens and patios relax. Put permanent chess table � areas somewhere near downtown Vlll � � � r Patterns do emerge from the results of this public exercise and, once identified, tend to gain � momentum. Momentum will be critical in making the most of this document and the participant's collective investment of their time as part of this process. Numerous ideas exist within this document to set forth the vision and context for which to conduct the formal Master Planning for � the City's riverfront corridor. This document should be viewed as a `manual' or `guide' and s�ould be further studied and � consulted as the Master Planning process unfolds. A cautionary point is made that dismissing ideas too early in this process could lead to lost opportunities and each idea needs to be carefully evaluated or re-evaluated as needed. The City needs to be considerate, � comprehensive, and deliberate in their steps towards achieving the vision that was provided by the public. It is achievable, but has many moving parts and will require a significant undertaking � and investment to accomplish. That is the challenge that this effort now lays before the community as a whole and ample opportunity to seek more input and feedback during the process should be of utmost importance. � � � ' � � � � � � � � � �