The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority hasn't updated its revival plans for downtown and the near West Side since they were first adopted in 1985.
Those long-expired strategies finally are being revised.
The Community Solutions Group, a branch of GAI Consultants, presented a first draft of those districts' revised plans at the authority's meeting Wednesday.
"There needs to be a new set of guiding principles and projects for downtown and the near West Side," said Jim Edwards, the authority's executive director.
In an 80-page document provided to the board, representatives from the consulting firm outlined key challenges and opportunities that face Charleston in its effort to expand retail opportunities and draw in visitors.
The biggest hurdles downtown? Existing streetscapes, limited pedestrian access and a lack of cohesion between clusters of retailers.
Not only do one-way streets limit businesses' visibility to drivers, but also "can encourage higher speeds in a downtown area and can make it difficult to navigate for people who aren't familiar with [it]," said Patty Folan, assistant director of real estate advisory services for Community Solutions Group.
One interim solution outlined in the drafted plan is to restripe existing one-way streets that have three or four lanes into two-lane streets with parallel parking on either side. In the long term, the plan recommends that the city reconsider its one-way street configurations.
Consultants also suggested using vacant commercial buildings as "strategic infill locations."
"Rather than talking about adding a lot of new retail space, which we don't think is realistic here, we talked about strategic places to infill retail," Folan said.
Such areas include Brawley Walkway, Quarrier Street between Hale and Dunbar streets and the length of Smith Street between Appalachian Power Park and Capitol Market.
"In areas [with] a lot of publicly owned land, you can leverage it and encourage some mixed use retail development," Folan said.
The draft also outlined "catalytic sites," designed to jump start investment in those immediate areas, such as the block along West Washington Street between Bigley and Indiana avenues.
Dave Gilmore, director of landscape architecture for the consulting firm, said despite numerous investments in that area, including the Tamarack Foundation of the Arts' recent announcement to establish a facility in the former Staats Hospital building, "there's really not a lot of green public space on the West Side."
The plan recommends an area next to Fountain Hobby Center that can be leveraged for events such as OctoberWest as well as day-to-day activities for nearby residents.
"It would serve as a fantastic gateway as you're coming into the West Side off of Washington Street," Gilmore said.
The urban renewal authority didn't vote on the draft Wednesday.
"It was a lot of information; the board [will] have to take some time to digest and go through it," Edwards said.
Also on Wednesday, the authority voted to amend the boundaries within its West Side renewal plan. Developer Chris Sadd requested the change due to his plans to build new housing near the corner of Russell and 7th Streets - just outside the authority's existing borders. Competing for low income housing tax credits, that area's designation within the authority's boundaries increases the developer's chances for receiving them, Edwards said.
"Property owners in the area to be included will feel no impact, regulations or costs," he said. "It's only potentially beneficial."
The authority will also need to rethink its plans for 2nd Avenue Community Center Project after the lowest bid it received was more than $300,000 - three times as much as it budgeted for replacing the building's front windows and heating and cooling equipment.
It will address the matter again at its April meeting to determine whether to break the project into phases or attempt to raise the remaining funds needed.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.