City planners presented the city's newly adopted downtown strategic plan and companion downtown design guidelines, laying out six priorities to improve walkability, public space and pedestrian safety.

Tristan Kircher, the city's urban design planner, said the plan (adopted in June) centers on six "big ideas," including creation of two overlapping urban trail loops called the Vista and Capitol Loops, increasing downtown tree density, short-term intersection safety improvements and reclaiming excessively wide roadways for public space and bike lanes. "These trail loops would make it possible to get from the riverfront up to Findlay Park and back down to the State House on foot or bicycle in a safe, efficient, and enjoyable manner," Kircher said.

Kircher described recommended design standards for the private and public realm, including recommended widths for sidewalk zones, streetscape elements such as lighting and trees, and pedestrian-scaled signage. He also said the updated downtown design guidelines will take effect Jan. 5 of the upcoming year and are intended to be flexible so a diversity of design solutions can meet the city's intent for high-quality street-level experiences.

On development review, Kircher said the city will split the Design and Development Review Committee (DDRC) into two bodies: an urban design review board and a historic review board, and that the city is revising the thresholds that trigger design review. "We're splitting the DDRC into two boards, an urban design review board and a historic review board, and then changing some of the thresholds for review that a development has to pass to trigger review by the DDRC," he said.

The Mayor, who was not named in the transcript, praised staff for updating guidelines that had not been refreshed in more than two decades. "For the first time in several decades, people want to live downtown," the Mayor said, urging the city and partners to use the plan to guide investments that improve walkability, ground-level experience and open space.

Officials noted the plan responds to changes in downtown housing and private development over the past 25 years and will inform public investments and policy decisions. The plan also includes short-term intersection treatments and a heat map of problematic intersections; Kircher said roughly half of traffic-related injuries occur at intersections and highlighted Taylor as an example where daily counts are far below the roadway's capacity, a gap the plan seeks to address with targeted redesigns.

The presentation closed with an offer to share plan materials with committee members and an invitation for follow-up questions and public engagement as the city advances implementation.