Commerce Avenue should be a safe and attractive destination point that strengthens the downtown Longview economy. That's the conclusion of the 2011 Downtown Action Agenda adopted last year by the City of Longview. Now, the City is hosting a two-day streetscape design workshop on February 15 and 16 to move that vision to reality.
Urban designers will be on hand at the workshop to capture peoples' ideas visually and create preliminary designs for a new look for Commerce Avenue. The workshop will be held in the Korten Building, 1400 Commerce Ave. in downtown Longview.
The workshop will be open continuously from noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, and again from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, February 16.
"The workshop offers a unique format for people to see their ideas captured in real time," says Steve Langdon, planning manager. "You can drop in just once for an hour, or come by several times over the two days to see designs evolve."
Presentations from 6 to 8 p.m. on both days will feature the design work done during the day and take additional public comments and ideas. At the end of the workshop, the City expects to have preliminary designs that reflect the community's best ideas for streetscape elements such as street lighting, expanded sidewalk space, public art, gathering places for public events, and planters or rain gardens that could manage stormwater runoff from the street.
These preliminary designs will be refined over the coming weeks, and the Longview City Council will approve a final design for the detailed engineering drawings that will implement the streetscape work, according to Langdon.
For more information, please visit the City's website at www.mylongview.com.
The City of Longview is pleased to announce the appointment of James McNamara as city attorney effective March 1. McNamara serves as a board member on the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board. McNamara succeeds City Attorney Marilyn Nitteberg-Hahn who was appointed a Superior Court Judge this past October.
"I'm very excited to become the new City Attorney for the City of Longview," stated McNamara. "During my interview I was very impressed with the quality and dedication of the City's management team and department heads. I'm looking forward to working with them, as well as becoming a part of the community."
"James has a broad background in various law disciplines that will make him a great asset to our Longview team," stated City Manager Bob Gregory. "His current expertise in the area of growth management and shoreline management will be invaluable as the City faces some important issues in these particular areas. I was also very pleased that James had over ten years of experience as the assistant city attorney for the City of Vancouver before his current position. His range of knowledge will be invaluable to the City, and we are very happy to have him join us!"
Since 2006, McNamara has been serving as a board member for the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board, a six-year position appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire, where he hears and decides appeals relating to comprehensive plans, shoreline management plans, and development regulations for cities and counties within the jurisdiction of the Board. From 1990 – 2006, McNamara served as assistant or deputy city attorney for the cities of Vancouver, Federal Way, and Bremerton. He also served as an associate attorney for the law firm of Hansen, Leonardson and Associates in Woodinville for an additional two years.
McNamara received a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia in 1980, and a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Polytechnic in Blacksburg, Virginia. His law degree was earned in 1986 from University of Washington Law School in Seattle.
McNamara is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, and has bar admissions from the State of Washington, the United States District Court (Western District of Washington), and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also holds a private pilot license, with an instrument rating. His wife Kathy is an occupational therapist with the Kelso School District. They have two teenage children, Philip, who is a pre-med student at the University of Washington, and Anne, who is a sophomore at Saint Mary’s Academy in Portland.
As part of an overall revamp of the City’s zoning code, the Longview City Council’s Planning Commission has developed a draft Commercial Code Update. The Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing on the draft on Wednesday, February 1 at 7p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 1525 Broadway Street. Interested persons are invited to attend as zoning codes affect how your property can be developed.
In 2007, the City of Longview adopted an updated Comprehensive Plan. A Comprehensive Plan is an official public document that guides policy decisions related to the physical, social and economic growth of a city. It provides a framework for future growth, development, and public decision-making. The Comprehensive Plan was adopted after an extensive public outreach process.
Since the Comprehensive Plan was adopted, the City has been updating the various zoning codes. The residential and industrial portions of the zoning code updates have been completed. The commercial portions of the zoning code update are now in the process of undergoing public review. The adoption of the commercial zoning code update and zoning map amendments are necessary to implement the Comprehensive Plan.
This draft Commercial Code Update was developed by the City of Longview Planning Commission with staff assistance. The draft proposes to create two new districts (Central Business District and the Office/Commercial District) and eliminate the Commercial Warehouse District. The six commercial districts, if the proposal is adopted, will be named: Central Business, Downtown Commerce, Regional Commercial, Office/Commercial, General Commercial, and Neighborhood Commercial. The revamping of the commercial districts includes major updates to the list of permitted uses and the development standards.
The proposal also includes zoning map amendments to make the zoning map consistent with the 2006 Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use map. The draft Commercial Code Update includes:
- A table listing the allowed uses in the six proposed commercial districts
- A table giving dimensional standards for lot development, such as: minimum lot size, minimum lot frontage, the minimum distance a building must be setback from a property line, maximum building heights, and maximum impervious area of the lot
- Other standards for things like signs
The draft Commercial Code Update and proposed zoning map changes are available online at www.mylongview.com. From the home page, click on the yellow button labeled Zoning Code Update.
Please call Steve Langdon at 442-5083 or e-mail him at steve.langdon@ci.longview.wa.us if you have any questions before the hearing. Written comments should be directed to Steve Langdon, Planning Manager, P.O. Box 128, Longview, WA 98632. Written comments must be received prior to the date and time of the public hearing. Following the public hearing, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council is responsible for making the final decision on the Commercial Code update.
Come in out of the cold and celebrate William Stafford’s birthday on Thursday, January 26 with a pair of events featuring author and poet, Kim Stafford. The first is a workshop to be held at LCC in room Main 119 at 3 p.m. The second is a birthday celebration at the Longview Public Library at 7 p.m. upstairs in the Periodicals Room.
Kim Stafford is the founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, and the author of a dozen books of poetry and prose, including The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft and Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford. He serves as the literary executor for the estate of William Stafford, and teaches frequently at the Sitka Center for Art & Ecology and the Fishtrap Gathering.
Also, Joe Green will show his and Marquita Green’s prize-winning 2010 broadside of "Meditation" by William Stafford, and will discuss broadsides in general. Community members will read William Stafford poems, and there will be a short open mike period for the audience to read their own poems or poems by other authors. Afterwards, there will be cake and punch.
Please join the Longview Public Library in celebration. All events are free and open to the public. Northwest Voices is funded by the Longview Public Library and Lower Columbia College, Friends of the LPL, LPL Foundation, LCC Foundation, and LCC’s ASLCC.
The City of Longview invites downtown property owners to consider applying for a façade improvement grant to improve the exterior of their buildings. The façade improvement program provides grants for making visible changes to commercial building facades and to restore buildings as close to their original exterior appearances as is reasonably possible. Approved projects could receive up to 50% cost reimbursement in grant financing.
The City recognizes the importance of preserving Longview’s buildings and facades with historic value and has budgeted $25,000 to encourage and support exterior building improvements in the Downtown Commerce Zone. The primary focus area will be along Commerce Avenue.
Applicants must be owners of property within the Downtown Commerce Zone and meet other eligibility requirements. It should be noted that this program is not for public streetscape or interior building improvements, but for exterior building facades. Applications will be reviewed by a Façade Design Review Committee during March and April 2012, with recommended funding to be announced in May or June 2012. Applications will be reviewed in the order received to determine eligible candidates. Approved projects must be started within 60 days of the award of funding.
If you are interested in applying for this program, please submit an application to the Community Development Department, c/o John Brickey, PO Box 128, Longview, WA 98632. The application packet is also available online at www.mylongview.com. Applications will be accepted through February 28, 2012. Please call 442-5092 if you have any questions.
