Three US agencies join to help West Virginia town

How does a gritty West Virginia town with dilapidated former manufacturing sites revitalize itself into a thriving, mixed-use, walkable community in a down economy? In September 2011, about 30 top planning, engineering, and development professionals came to the northeast part of West Virginia to help Ranson figure that out.

The week-long charrette — courtesy of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities of the US Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) — created plans to revamp an arterial road into a “complete street,” reform zoning codes, redevelop former industrial sites, and improve commuter transit.

Unlike most communities that have benefited from federal “livability” grants, Ranson, which has about 3,900 residents, received assistance from multiple coordinated programs:

• A HUD Community Challenge Planning grant is paying for the firm Placemakers to write a new zoning overlay district for downtown as well as undeveloped, outlying areas of the cities.

• A DOT TIGER challenge grant is paying for Hall Planning & Engineering to redesign the Fairfax Boulevard-George Street Corridor into a “complete street” with green infrastructure; to promote a better transportation route for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit; and to design a new regional commuter center in downtown Charles Town that will facilitate access to bus transit and regional rail connecting to the Washington, DC, area.

• An EPA brownfield planning grant is creating a master plan, by Stromberg/Garrigan & Associates, for downtown Ranson that spurs job growth and economic development in former dilapidated manufacturing sites.

The 3 grants, totaling $1.4 million, were awarded in 2010. During the recent charrette, Ranson learned that it would also receive a $1.5 million grant through HUD’s Brownfields Economic Development Initiative program, along with $3 million in federally backed loan guarantees, to support redevelopment of one of the brownfield sites.

Through these efforts and the town’s own resources, Ranson has assembled a formidable set of implementation tools. These include:

1) Specific plans for redevelopment of multiple brownfield sites, the underdeveloped downtown, and Greenfield sites into mixed-use neighborhoods and town centers — including one plan for “agrarian urbanism.”

2) A plan for conversion of a 1.5- mile automobile-oriented arterial into a pedestrian-friendly boulevard with a wide green strip in the center, on-street parking, new public spaces including a “shared space” plaza, landscaping, and mixed-use buildings.

3) A form-based code based on the SmartCode, without which the walkable, mixed-use vision would be illegal. The code, mandatory in the older sections of downtown and voluntary in the greenfield areas, also provides developers with assurance that new development will support the vision.

4) A design for a multimodal commuter center that will connect Charles Town, the neighboring city, to the rail line about 15 minutes away that carries workers to DC. Because of that initial drive, many commuters simply drive all the way in to DC, about an hour and a half away.

5) Financing for redevelopment of one of the brownfield sites.

6) Strong, comprehensive support from local public officials — an asset that many communities don’t enjoy. The charrette brought together the federal and county governments, plus the mayor, city council, and key staff, notes Ben Brown, communications director for Placemakers. “There was zero opposition to anything we did and a lot of encouragement to push the envelope,” he says.

7) The team had close cooperation with developers and landowners who offered their properties as models for illustrative purposes.

Although most of the grant money was directed at Ranson, the charrette “was successful in getting neighboring Charles Town into the discussion,” Brown notes. “For the first time ever, the city councils met together.”

The redesign of the corridor as a boulevard was the “most exciting part of the charrette,” Brown says. The project will connect the two communities and strengthen the town’s identity.

“It’s an inspirational story,” Brown says. “They are reversing sprawl and turning themselves into something they never have been.”

How did a town with such a small population assemble so much federal help? It doesn’t hurt that the community is on the periphery of the DC area and poised for growth. A former council member for Charles Town, Matt Ward, is a lobbyist on behalf of communities, including Ranson, that are trying to revitalize. The town made a compelling proposal aligned with the goals of the DOT/HUD/EPA partnership.