Bicycle Austin forum

Darron

Member

Registered: 2014-05-22

Posts: 131

What kinds of questions should P&Z and City Councils ask developers?

Hi all,

I'm working on a list of standard questions to ask when developers present plans to planning and zoning or city council or ask for variances/zoning changes.  I've noticed there are lots of standard questions about traffic (where are turn lanes, how wide are the streets/driveways, what is the speed limit, curb radius, etc) but few questions about ped/cycling access other than "are there sidewalks? Yes? moving on".

My hope is to give the same level of scrutiny to the non-motorized infrastructure.

Some examples:
"How are people from the neighborhood going to access the shops on foot?  Specifically where are they expected to walk?"
"Do they just wing it across a parking lot or will there be some markings in the parking lot to show where to go?  Or better yet a sidewalk leading up to the shops?"
"Will there be curb cuts on the streets and in the parking lot that allow access or do people have to use the car driveways if they can't make it over a step?"
"Is there step free access to the shops (apart from the ones needed for handicap parking)?"
"What design guidelines do you plan to follow for user-friendly active transportation"?
"How will your project connect cleanly to existing active transportation facilities?"
"Is your sidewalk/pathway wide enough for two wheelchairs going in opposite directions?"
"Are you using non-contact pedestrian and bike detection?"
"Are you maintaining a 3 foot wide clear zone along the sidewalk?"
"Does that clear zone account for full growth of the landscaping?"
"Are all your road/driveway crossings straight, with a transition wider than the path to allow for turns?"

If I can get a top 10 list together it will go a long way to getting people to ask the right questions so we don't end up with sub-par facilities for peds/bikes.

Darron

MichaelBluejay

Webmaster

From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

Website

Re: What kinds of questions should P&Z and City Councils ask developers?

Those are all excellent questions.  I don't have any to add.  I applaud your efforts.