Council to Vote on Removing Five Downtown Traffic Signals
As part of the traffic signal improvements that will be made the next few years, the City is beginning design work for the signal replacements in the downtown area. The downtown signal work will be completed later next year after planned work on Berryville Avenue and Valley Avenue is completed.
In an effort to conserve City resources while maintaining adequate traffic flow and safety, the City's Public Services Committee has analyzed the possibility of removing certain signals downtown. This analysis showed that five (5) of the existing signals are not warranted as per Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices criteria and could be safely removed while maintaining adequate traffic flow. These intersections are (proposed stop sign additions):
1. Cameron/Rouss Avenue (add stop signs on eastbound Rouss & westbound out of Joint Judicial Center parking lot)
2. Braddock/Amherst (add sign on eastbound Amherst & westbound out of Braddock Parking Garage)
3. Washington/Amherst (add stop signs in all directions to make all-way stop)
4. Cork/Washington (add stop signs in all directions to make all-way stop)
5. Cork/Stewart (add stop signs in all directions to make all-way stop)
Stop signs would be added at all the intersections as indicated above. By not replacing the signals and adding stop signs instead, the City would save over $1 million. The Committee's recommendation is scheduled to go before Council during the July 8 meeting. If approved, the signals would be removed in a phased approach such as removing one signal per week until all are removed.
Comprehensive Plan Update
The comprehensive plan is an official long range policy statement adopted and amended by formal resolution of the City Council. It is a major component of the planning process for the city as it guides the long-range, comprehensive decision making process involving primarily physical development and those city actions expected to influence development in the long-term. The comprehensive plan contains goals, objectives, policies and guidelines for growth and redevelopment in the city.
Virginia Code (Section 15.2-2223) requires that every locality review their plan once every five years but does not require that it be rewritten. The City of Winchester’s current plan is in the process of being updated. The updated Comprehensive Plan will guide the development of the City and promote the health, safety, morals, order, convenience, prosperity and general welfare of all city residents.
The current Comprehensive Plan contains some chapters that have not been updated since 1991. The most recent changes were in 2005. The proposed 2009 update represents a substantially different plan for the city.
Tell Us What You Think About W-I-N-C-H-E-S-T-E-R
In order to determine what city residents want Winchester to be in the future, four public input sessions on the Comprehensive Plan update were scheduled. Two meetings were held in June and two more are scheduled for July.
The next meeting will be held on Monday, July 14 at the John Kerr Elementary School. The fourth and final meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 22 at Frederick Douglass Elementary School. Both meeting will run from about 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm and be held in the school cafeterias.
At the Public Input Meetings, attendees will be asked to complete a word exercise using the letters spelling out W-I-N-C-H-E-S-T-E-R. The respondent is asked to write in a word or phrase beginning with the letter on each line that expresses their view about Winchester today as then another phrase (or perhaps the same one) that expresses what they envision the City being in the future. Copies of the exercise are being distributed at the Comprehensive
Plan input sessions and can otherwise be requested from the City Planning Department (667-1815 or plngdept@ci.winchester.va.us). Attendees will also be broken into small groups to mark up maps identifying areas where change should occur and other areas that should be preserved as they are.
Everything You Need to Know About the Comp Plan Is Now Online
The Planning portion of the City's website has been enhanced to include an area devoted to the Comprehensive Plan.
Users can now access a pdf version of each chapter and map contained in the currently adopted Comprehensive Plan. The site also contains an overview of the Comprehensive Planning process including a link to the Virginia Code section that mandates Comprehensive Planning. Click here to visit the new site.
Another Successful Baltic Exchange
Two Lithuanian public administrators visited the City of Winchester June 17 through June 26 as part of the Shenandoah University-Kaunas University of Technology Baltic Exchange Program.
Asta Maskoliunaite of Pasvalys, Lithuania and Darius Makarevicius of Kaunas, Lithuania spent time with staff from each City department learning more about how the City does business, discussing issues facing local government, as well as touring many of the City’s facilities and area landmarks. The pair also had the opportunity to visit Luray Caverns, Washington, D.C., and attend a musical at Shenandoah’s Summer Music Theatre during their stay.
In May, Erin Maloney, Assistant Superintendent of the Northwest Regional Juvenile Detention Center, and Martha Shickle, the City’s Neighborhood Revitalization Director, spent a week touring Lithuanian municipalities, along with Travis Sample, director of Shenandoah University’s Institute for Government and Public Service.
The Baltic Exchange Program has been sending public administrators from Lithuania to Winchester for the last five years while staff from Winchester has visited the former Soviet republic the last four years. The program was
pioneered by Dr. William Shendow of Shenandoah University to give public administrators from each side of the Atlantic the opportunity to learn from one another, generate ideas, and become better informed public administrators.
Dog Park Coming Soon to Jim Barnett Park
The Winchester Parks & Recreation Department is pleased to announce that the construction of the new Winchester Dog Park will be complete this summer!
The department has partnered with a group of dog loving citizens in the community to work on fundraising and construction. The park will be owned, operated, and maintained by the Parks & Recreation Department.
The park will be selling memberships to the dog park to dog owners whose pets are registered with their locality. Dog park memberships for residents in the City of Winchester will be $18 per year and $6 per dog for each additional dog up to 3. Pet owners must provide proof of registration and vaccination. For more information, please call WPRD at 662-4946.
EDA Issued Bond Will Create More Tax Revenue
The Winchester Economic Development Authority recently received a request from National Fruit for a $10 million bond issue to finance a new equipment purchase at their Fairmont Avenue facility. The bond will result in an increase in Machinery and Tools Tax revenue for the City in an estimated amount of $130,000.
City of Winchester Independence Day Schedule
1. The City of Winchester local government offices will be closed Friday, July 4 in observance of Independence Day. Offices will reopen Monday, July 7 at 8:00 a.m.
2. The Winchester Transit system will not be running on Friday, July 4. The regular schedule resume on Saturday, July 5.
3. The City’s Refuse and Recycling schedule for the week of June 30 is as follows:
- Friday, July 4 - Refuse collection (Southside) is rescheduled for
Wednesday, July 2
- Citywide yard waste collection is cancelled on Wednesday, July 2
4. All street parking in downtown Winchester is free on Friday, July 4!
City Department Recognized for Its Commitment to Excellence
The VA Housing Development Authority (VHDA) Housing Choice Voucher Program recognizes the City’s Office of Housing and Neighborhood Development for its outstanding program management.
The federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is managed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The goal of the program is to enable very low-income families, the elderly and people with disabilities to choose and lease safe and affordable privately owned rental housing.
To maximize the cost, effectiveness and efficiency of the HCV program at the local level, VHDA annually conducts a Section Eight Management Assessment Program audit. Results are rated to determine the compliance level for:
• program outreach and waiting list management;
• income and eligibility verifications;
• the leasing process;
• housing quality standards compliance inspection; and
• annual re-examinations.
Upon the audit's completion, VHDA recognized the City's Office of Housing and Neighborhood Development as a "2007 High Performer" for their commitment to excellence. To learn more about voucher rental assistance or find HCV program administrators in specific regions of Virginia, please visit vhda.com. | 