SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING: Vote expected on downtown transportation study recommendations

As a result of the regular council meeting being cancelled on June 30, a special meeting will take place at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7. Toledo City Council is expected to vote on Resolution 212-20 which would adopt the Downtown Toledo Transportation Study. The study was conducted by a consultant team led by Mannik & Smith Group on behalf of the city to address future transportation needs of downtown. It recommends key roadways for improvement alternatives including designating:

• 11th Street, 14th Street, and Jackson Street as “downtown standard streets” focused on pedestrian use and slower traffic; 
• Michigan Street, Erie Street and Washington Street as “downtown collector streets” focused on high traffic use with wide lanes; 
• Huron Street, St. Clair Street, Jefferson Avenue, and Adams Street as “downtown specialty streets” focused mainly on high pedestrian use; and 
• Monroe Street, Cherry Street, and Summit Street as “downtown signature streets” focused on qualities of specialty streets but with more traffic.

 
Council is also expected to vote on the following:
 

• Ordinance 207-20 which would approve an application from ConnecToledo, Destination Toledo, and city administration to expand the boundaries of the Downtown Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA). Boundaries currently include the area bounded by Summit Street, Lafayette Street, Erie Street, and Adams Street. The request would extend those boundaries eastward across the Martin Luther King, Jr. Bridge to include The Docks, southward to Clayton Street, westward to 10th Street, and northward to Jackson Street with a corridor extending further north along Summit. 
• Ordinance 227-20 which would approve Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz’s nomination of Pat McKinstry to fill an unexpired term on the TARTA Board of Trustees. 
• Ordinances 240-20, 241-20, 242-20, and 243-20 which would approve Toledo Metropolitan Development LLC’s request to rezone property along Locust Street, North Superior Street, Ostrich Lane, and North Summit Street in the Vistula neighborhood for the proposed Gateway at Lower Town project. The project announced by investors Fred Treuhaft and Blake Underwood includes redeveloping the location into restaurants, office space, and a boardwalk. 
• Three ordinances that would adopt zoning code changes. Ordinance 246-20 would require commercial buildings to have at least 40 percent of an exterior surface have windows if facing a street, and an entrance facing a street, and Ordinance 247-20 would remove parking space minimums for historically walkable commercial areas. Ordinance 248-20 would establish a permit process for “poster panel” signs on buildings downtown which could occupy up to 80 percent of the building wall surface and display an electronic or a static image.

 
The public may watch the Council meeting online by visiting https://toledo.legistar.com and scrolling down to the July 7 city council meeting and clicking on “in progress”. Following the special meeting, Council hold their regularly scheduled agenda review meeting at 2:00 p.m.