Tag:Complete Streets
More thoughts on Culver Lights
This post tangentially, convolutedly, connects to the recent Hello Darkness post on sign lights. At least it connects for me, the way my mind works…
The Culver Charrette that was done in 1998 promoted the idea of continuing themes in Culver. One of them was the use of field stone. The Culver Chamber of Commerce embraced this with the field stone and limestone Welcome to Culver sign at the intersection of 10 & 17 as well as covering the wall at the Lake Shore Drive curve across from The Original Root Beer Stand with field stone. Some development in Culver has embraced this and some hasn’t, but it’s nice when it happens. Sand Hill Farm used this in the entrance sign at Jefferson Street and The Paddocks embraced it as an accent on the townhouses in that project.
Another theme that the Charrette suggested was “Utilize a uniform decorative lighting standard throughout the linkages in Town.” This was done along Lake Shore Drive and Main Street. It was continued part of the way out on Jefferson Street with the trail. It was also recommended as part of the Complete Streets discussion. (I couldn’t find the Complete Streets Ordinance on the Town of Culver website, but Kevin Danti, Town Manager, was kind enough to share a copy with me.)
While the lights were installed to follow the bike and walking trail out Jefferson Street to Sand Hill Blvd, neither the lights or complete streets designs were used in the last street Culver put in, Cavalier Drive. The lights were not used along the trail as it goes south from the downtown area of Main Street out to the Masonic Cemetery. I assume per these standards, Resolution 2018-007, Sec. 3(b), will be applied in The Dunes subdivision, though I am not privy to the negotiations on that project infrastructure. They could well have been waived as they were for Cavalier Drive.
I think the consistent themes suggested by the charrette, add to Culver’s character and contribute to Culver being a memorable destination. The lights are not inexpensive, but their ability to be functional and add charm should not be ignored. As with the lighted signs at the edges of town, it would be good to consider a phased spending plan that adds these fixtures to all the main entrance streets. I would also suggest that they be included along the new trails as they go through town as well, since the trails are part of Culver’s destination marketing. They would make the trails more accessible, safe, and using these lights create a more walkable scale than where there are the taller utility pole mounted fixtures.
The lights contribute to the character of Culver that sets us apart. What we locally take for granted, makes us standout to visitors…
Culver Plan Commission September MIA?
Just a mini rant… I was a bit upset to find out that the September Plan Commission meeting was cancelled because there wasn’t anything on the agenda. (Per the Building Commissioner) I know it’s a mostly thankless job and that the pay is poor. ($0: They’re volunteers) I was still disappointed that the commission didn’t take the opportunity to catch up on some of the things that they don’t have time for because their meetings are usually busy. Here’s a short list off the top of my head:
- The Comprehensive Plan – Most of the Plan Commission has not been involved in the production of the new comp plan, having delegated it to Culver Crossroads. Only one Plan Commission member has been an active Culver Crossroads participant. While the production has been delegated, passing of the plan will still fall on them and this would have been a good time to familiarize themselves with the current draft before the required public meetings. As it stands, they are going to have trouble answering public input questions, since they are not familiar with the new document or the decision making process that went into it.
- The Solar Ordinance – They have discussed the need to move this forward quickly as the moratorium passed by the Town Council has left property owners in limbo. This would have been a good time to start assembling names of potential subcommittee members.
- The Zoning Ordinance – We have been talking about cleaning up the mistakes from the last go around for several years. Just taking a section at a time in slow meetings would move this forward.
- The Dunes – This too will be coming before the Plan Commission as a subdivision request. The planning for this is an important function of the commission.
- Related to The Dunes, we are about to start the process of establishing the biggest subdivision (that I know of) since Culver established zoning in the 50’s. I don’t know when the last time the Subdivision Ordinance was updated, but it has been more than 20 years. It references old standards and doesn’t include things like the Complete Streets Ordinance, which was passed 4 or 5 years ago.
- Beste Property – The Planned Unit Development zoning district for these parcels has been undone and the property has gone back to its previous zoning designation, S-1. There has been discussion that there should be a change to this, since the property has been annexed. The property is on the market, so giving some guidance to future buyers would be appropriate.
That’s my short list… With a little thought, I’m sure I could double it, but there are hours and hours that could be spent related to the five thing above.
I give volunteers a lot of respect. I’m not going to come down hard on them for taking a breather. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t important things to do.
Vancouver Complete Streets
April 7, 2025
Kevin Berger
Commentary, Tips
Community, Complete Streets, Detention, Green, Landscape, Trends
I accompanied Becky on a business trip to Vancouver, Washington, a few weeks back. Since I was on my own while she was in her conference, I spent a little time walking around. Several of the streets I walked on were fairly major thoroughfares. I don’t know if they were defined as “Complete Streets” there, but they met my definition, having bike lanes and spacious sidewalks. Honestly, I thought there was an excessive amount of paving, considering they had continuous paved center turn lanes between intersections, despite prohibiting driveways, and including wide sidewalks along with bike lanes which seemed redundant. It was overall a nice look though.
One of the interesting features were areas carved out into the adjacent developments for stormwater detention. These were obviously for the streets and not the adjacent developments. While I’ve seen this done on a small scale creating curbside rain gardens (Like the one by the LaPorte Library completed in partnership with Purdue.), these were full blown detention ponds, 2′-3′ deep and capable of holding upwards of 4,000 cubic feet of water. They were landscaped as mini parks and maintained with turf and trees rather than going the route of a wetlands or marsh type look. I thought this was an interesting idea.
These were large city blocks. It struck me that there was a missed opportunity to turn those small oases into actual mini parks. I know there is always the public safety concern about someone being caught in a storm, if someone was in them when they fulfill their design of holding water. (I was pleased that this concern wasn’t taken to the extreme where they were fenced.) Without doing anything in the basins themselves, their could have been seating around the perimeter taking advantage of the shade trees planted there. Another idea would be to create a pier type structure out into the basin with seating or even a gazebo.
The same thought could be applied locally. When detention ponds are installed in our area, they are either designed to be mowed or designed to be naturalized. In most cases, they are not considered a feature, but are designed to be functional and to fulfill a permit requirement. But could we do better?
The gazebo on a pier idea could work nearly everywhere and change a functional stormwater control requirement into a respite. Along these same lines, ponds are generally designed to maximize volume while taking up minimum space. What if they included a peninsula into the pond that could be walked on or landscaped to break-up the functional and be more naturalized? One pond that comes to mind for this is the new municipal detention pond in Plymouth across from the Neighborhood Center. What a great opportunity for the City to set an example?
If there are any civil engineers reading this, I’m sure they are cringing. They like to keep things simple and anything that affects the flow of water, creates additional calculations for them to do. That said, anything that slows the flow is a net positive. Some of these things could be incorporated around the control structure and actually make maintenance easier.
This isn’t something that could always be done. We have had projects where we have struggled to meet the detention requirements due to capacity needs vs site size. We have also had deep and steep ponds due to various factors that are not conducive to bringing the public to them. But there’s no reason that other options shouldn’t be considered when possible. Detention ponds don’t have to be purely function and aesthetic eyesores…
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