The public meeting will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 21 in the Lincoln Elementary School auditorium at 301 Front Street.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle will moderate the discussion. It is open to all Jamestown community members with a special invitation to those who identify West Third Street and Fairmount Avenue as their central neighborhood corridors.

The Community Conversation will be driven by an exchange about lived experiences framed by issues regarding housing, people, and neighborhood. The discussion will address not only the existing conditions of the area, but also provide a platform for attendees to share their stories as a resident of the westside. Additionally, business owners and operators are encouraged to attend and share their experiences and needs for viability and sustainability. What is produced by this inaugural westside conversation will help steer and inform future Community Convenings.

The next Community Convenings are tentatively scheduled for the northside on May 18, the eastside on July 13, and the southside on September 14. Exact locations, times, and dates will be announced at a later date.

For more information, visit https://www.jamestownny.gov/departments/department-of development/planning/community-conversations, following DOD’s Facebook page, or contacting Ellen Shadle by phone at 716-483-7657, or by email at shadle@jamestownny.gov.

The event will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Tree of Life Evangelical Lutheran Church at 825 Forest Avenue. While it’s open to all members of the public, special invitation is given to those who identify Foote Avenue as the central corridor of their neighborhood.

The conversation will be framed by, but not limited to, housing, people, and neighborhood. The discussion will address not only the existing conditions of the area, but also provide a platform for attendees to share their stories and lived experiences as a resident of or adjacent to Foote Avenue.

Additionally, business owners and operators are encouraged to attend and share their experiences and needs for viability and sustainability.

The Department of Development is tenatively scheduling future community convenings for the westside on February 16, 2023 and for the northside on April 20. The locations and times still need to be determined.

For more information, contact City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle by email at shadle@jamestownny.gov or by phone at 716-483-7657.

Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. presents to Jamestown Planning Commission (September 20, 2022)

The Jamestown Planning Commission has approved the site plan for a new women’s homeless shelter in downtown Jamestown.

Chautauqua Opportunities Inc. will operate the facility to be located at 303 Lafayette Street. The facility will be able to shelter 18 women and is only for women age 18 and older.

COI officials said they hope to go to bid on the project in a couple of weeks. It’s being funded through a $2.49 million grant from the State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

The Planning Commission also has resumed discussions about establishing a Local Preservation Ordinance.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle said the ordinance would be part of the City’s zoning provision.
She said when it came to things like replacing older windows with vinyl windows or putting up siding, it depended on what was in the design standards, “And the design standards are not part of the ordinance. So the design standards.. you can’t create design standards without the ordinance authorizing their creation. And the ultimate design standards can be whatever you want to a certain extent.”

Shadle said those standards are created by a community member Preservation Board.

She said if the Planning Commission approved an LPO, it would then go to City Council for approval.

Commission Chair John LaMancuso confirmed that despite Federal Historic District designations, a historic district under an LPO doesn’t exist unless City Council designates an area as a historic district, “Nothing is a historic district until City Council says it’s a historic district. And we could adopt this as a city and city council could say, ‘Oh, well we don’t think that any place should be a historic district. We don’t want to burden people in this way,’ or maybe, ‘We want this block to be historic that includes the Jackson Center,’ or whatever. So a lot of this comes down to City Council which I think is very appropriate.”

LaMancuso requested additional information on the benefits to the city in implementing an LPO. There was no other action on the LPO.

The day is being held in partnership between the City and artist Molly Strong.

Strong was awarded a $5,000 grant to install a mural on the ground floor of the south stairwell exterior of the parking garage.

The Community Paint Day is scheduled for 9:30 a.m to 2:00 p.m., Saturday, September 10.

Interested participants can register for 90-minute blocks at
https://www.jamestownny.gov/departments/department-of-development/planning/public-art-2/.

Those who don’t have the ability to sign up online may call City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle at 716-483-7657 to register.

Supplies and materials will be provided. A rain date is scheduled for Saturday, September 24 if needed.

Funding for the program comes from the Statewide Community Regrant program through the New York State Council on the Arts.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle will moderate the discussion from 5:30 to 7:00pm at The Resource Center parking lot on the north side of their 869 East Second Street facility. The event is open to all Jamestown community members with a special invitation to those who identify East Second Street as the central corridor of their neighborhood.

The discussion will be framed by, but not limited to, housing, people, and neighborhood. It will address not only the existing conditions of the area, but also provide a platform for attendees to share their stories and lived experiences as a resident of or adjacent to East Second Street.

Business owners and operators are also encouraged to attend and share their experiences and needs for viability and sustainability. DOD staff say tonight’s discussion will help steer and inform future quarterly community discussions.

Future “community convenings” are tentatively scheduled for:
– Southside, November 17, 2022
– Westside, February 16, 2023
– Northside, May 18, 2023

Locations are still being determined with dates and times subject to change.

For more information, visit the Department of Development’s page on the city’s website at jamestownny.gov, or contact Ellen Shadle at 716-483-7657.

The City of Jamestown has a new resource for current entrepreneurs or those thinking of starting a business. City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle shares more details.

The City received a $5,000 grant from Art Services, Inc. for this project as well as provide a point of entry to designing a dedicated public art platform for Jamestown.

Applications will be accepted between May 1 and 4:00 p.m., May 15, 2022. Late submissions will not be accepted. The selected artist will be announced no later than May 31, 2022.

Two informational site visits will be held at 2:30 p.m., Friday, April 29 and at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 4.

For more information, contact City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle at 716-483-7657. Information is also available online at jamestownny.gov/public-art/

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle said the ordinance would be part of the City’s zoning provision. A Preservation Board would accompany the ordinance which would be comprised of community members.

She said the ordinance is designed to help find solutions for property owners, “And so if your goal is to add space to your residents, the ordinance does not prohibit additions but that addition may not necessarily look the way it’s initially intended within the guidelines of the ordinance. And if you want to make your house or building more energy efficient there may be an issue around vinyl windows.”

Shadle gave an example of how urban renewal efforts might have been different for the City back in the 1970s, “You know, if there had been an LPO back in the day when they were razing Brooklyn Square, maybe there still would be a Roosevelt Theatre and there wouldn’t be a drug store drive-thru there anywhere?”

Commission member Mike Laurin said preservation is something that the community can get behind but thinks it should be something the homeowner is wanting to do willingly and the oversight seems negative, “I’m in favor of a program or something to encourage residents and property owners to maintain their property. When you look around the city there are a lot of houses that are in need of maintenance for a variety of reasons. Some of those are not because they don’t want to but because there are financial restrictions through them.”

The ordinance will continue to be reviewed and edited by the Planning Commission before coming up for a vote by the Commission.

City Principal Planner Ellen Shadle will give a presentation on the scope and objectives of an LPO. There are three historic districts in Jamestown on the National Register of Historic Places. The LPO would apply to historic structures that exist inside and outside those districts.

The public meetings will take place over Zoom at 6pm, Thursday, May 20th and 6pm, Tuesday, May 25th. The link and information can also be found on the City Department of Development’s website.

“An LPO expands the city’s toolbox in saving meaningful structures, having the ability to explore a range of options to unsightly or unsafe structures. The city is committed to striving for positive outcomes, from giving careful considerations to private property rights, concurrently with reviewing any individual’s actions on the community at large.”

Shadle says the National Historic Districts provides a tax credit for property owners while an LPO would protect buildings from unnecessary demolitions or insensitive rehabilitations,

“It also establishes a design review board, preservation commission and process, which are critical for securing local historic designations. An LPO enables a community to protect its sense of place, maintain and revitalize its downtown and older neighborhoods, increase community pride, and reinforce overall economic development.”

Planning Commission Chair Greg Rabb expressed concerns over costs to property owners of maintaining historic structures, especially in a city with with a poor and aging community,

“We need to be very careful that you’re talking potentially to private property owners about having their property rights. And I’m not one of those flag waving conservative property rights guys, but your property rights to a certain extent, you lose some control over your private property and that could become a highly emotional issue.”

Rabb said the city needs to be sensitive to how these ordinances are written because of how restrictive they can be.

Shadle says concerns like this will be able to be addressed in public informational sessions the city plans to hold on the Local Preservation Ordinance.