7. HRSR 04-04-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS the Downtown, the benefits of redeveloping this area would likely not justify the high costs of acquisition, relocation, demolition, and potential land clean-up costs. We believe that redevelopment of this area is along-term planning project that should be a lower priority than the remaining Downtown Area, but still a consideration for the future. Much of the future of the Northern Area west of Jackson Avenue depends on the long-term commitment of Elk River Machine, which occupies over seven acres and dominates the area. If Elk River Machine's long-term plans are to remain on the site, then the most appropriate uses of the surrounding parcels are light industrial. Light industrial uses can be a benefit to the Downtown because of the employee base that the existing businesses would bring to the Downtown area. If the area remains industrial, certain parcels would be considered for redevelopment; either because they are under utilized or out-of-place. The Eagles Club and the building between the Eagles Club and Arrow Lumber (former NAPA building) combined are a potential redevelopment site for light industry. Also, the County Highway building is a use that does not greatly benefit from its location near Downtown nor does it greatly benefit the surrounding businesses. Western Transition Area The Western Transition Area is a mix of single-family housing (to the west) and offices and limited retail (to the east). In addition, many of the single-family homes along Main Street have been converted to office uses. We believe that this area has a high potential for redevelopment to multifamily housing and some additional offices. Unlike the Northern Area, the Western Transition Area has easy pedestrian access to the Core CBD. Thus, residents of new housing would more likely frequent the Downtown businesses. While employees of offices in this area also would have easy pedestrian access to the Core CBD, we believe that offices would be better located in the Northern Area because of its current business mix and easier access to both the Core CBD and Highway 169 businesses. Thus, we believe that the focus of the Western Transition Area should be multifamily housing. A portion of the Western Transition Area has River frontage, which is a highly desirable amenity to potential residents of multifamily housing. The parcels that present the greatest opportunity to increase housing-density are those along Lookout place (five single-family homes on the north) the 24-unit Riverview apartment and and Angel Street (two single-family homes to the west, three single-family homes to the east). While redevelopment would require the removal of 34 housing units, a total of 5.2 acres would become available for new housing construction. At a density of 25 units per acre, 130 additional housing units could be added. Morton Street, south of Main Street, is lined on both sides with single-family homes that are in good condition. We would not recommend redeveloping the east side of Morton Street with new multifamily housing because of the impact it would have on the single-family homes on the west side of the Street (outside of the Redevelopment Area).