D/P/S representatives host virtual workshop Aug. 19 on the White Rock Downtown Master Plan. Screenshot/LADP
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
What should the downtown areas in Los Alamos and White Rock look like?
In a nutshell: more retail, less blight and utilize what the downtown areas already offer such as parks and trails.
Residents shared their ideas for ideal downtown areas during the Aug. 19 and Aug. 20 virtual downtown master plan workshops facilitated by the consulting firm Dekker/Perich/Sabatini (D/P/S).
Los Alamos County contracted the firm to help develop master plans for the Los Alamos and White Rock downtown areas, which ultimately are planned to be incorporated into the County’s comprehensive plan. Since both Los Alamos and White Rock have had public investment in recent years, and the community is continuing to grow, the main goal of these downtown plans is to determine where the community would like to go in the future.
The two workshops kicked off the process and served as brainstorming sessions, Will Gleason of D/P/S said. The next step is to hold design workshops Sept. 21 for White Rock, and Sept. 28 for Los Alamos.
“We’re not trying to be delusional about what could be there … but really trying to use everybody’s ideas to help guide the thinking and the process of what we’re going to put in the place for the design workshop that will be in the end of September,” he said.
Several participants in both workshops said there is no need to build these master plans from scratch; saying both downtown areas have great assets in them.
Metzger’s Do It Best General Manager David Jolly pointed out during the Aug. 19 workshop that White Rock’s downtown area has great strengths including public trails. The master plan for White Rock, he said, should build off those strengths.
“We would get more people walking in the downtown just because of the nature of it … but I think we can get people moving through there just by adding to the amenities we already have in place,” Jolly said.
“One of the great things about Los Alamos is that it already has so many great things going for it,” Andrea Gerber of Los Alamos said during the Aug. 20 workshop. “It is a little string of pearls: Fuller Lodge, Ashley Pond … unfortunately our economy has shrunk very rapidly the last couple of months … but I think one of the primary focuses should be how to connect the dots; how to make the pearls turn into a string of pearls – going all the way from the eastern edge of our main street to the western edge and allowing people to easily pass that diagram barrier that is Diamond.”
Other participants weighed in including resident Jody Benson who said she supported giving White Rock’s downtown a facelift. She suggested demolishing existing buildings and rebuilding them in a faux-historic style.
“This would be a good place for mixed use and rather than mixed use, baby-boomer, rich LANL retirees moving to the downtown areas, we could have nice affordable housing … keep it walkable but the main issue is no matter how we develop, we have to have a really strict building code. These buildings have to be energy efficient…,” Benson said.
Jason Gochanour said he would like more spaces and opportunities for social gatherings in Los Alamos. Right now the choices for nightlife are going to a bar or shopping at the grocery store, he said, adding that it would be nice if there were other options.
In addition to gathering input from the community, representatives from D/P/S presented various components that produce a successful downtown strategy. This includes placemaking, which Jessica Lawlis with D/P/S described as the appeal and quality of experience in the downtown. Placemaking can include public art, pedestrian amenities and community programs such as farmers markets, she said.
The next component is downtown housing. Lawlis explained that there is a resurgence of interest across all demographics to live in downtown areas. There are several national implementation strategies to bring housing to downtown areas, she said. These include approving mixed-use zoning, using older buildings, having housing incentive zones, reducing or eliminating parking standards, offering housing bonuses or expediting review processes.
To have downtown housing, Lawlis said downtown centers need to be livable. They should have pedestrian-oriented environments that allow residents to live, work and play. There need to be diverse uses and the downtown areas need to be accessible for all ages and income levels, she said.
Transportation and mobility are the final component, Lawlis said. There have been many technological changes nationally, she said. With rental services like Uber as well as bike and scooter rental businesses, people are less inclined to own a personal car.
Creating a master plan for the Los Alamos and White Rock downtown areas is just phase one of this project. The second phase will update the County’s Chapter 16 Development Code, which is zoning. The two documents – the comprehensive plan and the development code – work together. The comprehensive plan offers a path to follow to develop the downtown areas and the developmental code makes the comprehensive plan implementable.
To learn more about the project, visit https://losalamosconnect.org/.