Canalside Plan: Just Say Whoa!

On the last visit from a Project for Public Spaces official to Buffalo, Newell and I took Robin Lester, PPS Manager of Communications, on a tour around Buffalo's waterfront, including the Route 5 project, which they then added to their "hall of shame."  With that experience under my belt, I had little doubt that the recent effort to bring PPS head Fred Kent to town would produce notable results, and the events of last week were no disappointment.  There's little to add to the excellent runup article by Artvoice editor Geoff Kelly, which gave an overview of the PPS approach.  Geoff's article also featured a favorite PPS counterexample to current "big anchor feature" direction being pursued by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation: Vancouver's Granville Island.

If you attended Saturday's visioning event (or followed the web feed provided by WNYMedia.net), you heard a lot more about Granville Island, for example that it is Canada's second most popular destination outside Niagara Falls, and that it is used by locals as much as "tourists," and that it embodies the "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" model.  Newell's article gives excellent coverage of that idea, which is compelling.  After all, aren't we in a tight economy, don't we all want a more sustainable and authentic waterfront, and haven't folks (like many of our commenters) been saying they'd like it before their grandchildren are elderly, please?  "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" should be an approach we can all get behind.

As for specific recommendations on Saturday, the approach of "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper," the underlying desire for authenticity, and the PPS philosophy that the people are the experts led inexorably back to the "People's Plan," originally adopted in 2004.  The outcome of a citizen's movement and court case, the international-award-winning People's Plan called for the area around the Commercial Slip to be developed with an eye toward canal-era authenticity in the built environment to be created.  A major recommendation from Saturday's event was to take the People's Plan even further, by extending it to guide the planning for all of Canalside (beyond the Commercial Slip area).

What other ingredients need to be in the mix?  Major developments since the 2004 People's Plan include the Niagara River Greenway, which encompasses greenways along the Niagara River, Buffalo River, and Outer Harbor--all of which meet in and around the Canalside planning area.  The Greenway is a plan, an approach, and a funding source--with a lifespan of several decades, but whose ideas go back over a decade.  In the late 1990's, I attended a greenway conference at Buffalo's City Hall, where a concept was proposed for a "Greenway Plaza" where those greenways meet--within the present Canalside area.  Is it time to put that idea back on the table?

And underlying, so to speak, all waterfront planning is the potential for a major initiative to abate stormwater runoff, including the heavy use of green infrastructure techniques.  Bruce Fisher has pointed this out numerous times in Artvoice, and Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper is working vigorously with the Buffalo Sewer Authority.  Both the need and opportunity are tremendous at Canalside to put these techniques into the plan, and into practice--and not as an afterthought.

So where does this leave us?  We have a base to work from, the People's Plan.  We have a framework: "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" to displace the slower, more expensive, and much worse anchor-attraction framework.  We have a philosophy: the people are the experts on what they want.  And we even have an excellent model to consider: Granville Island.  And we have lots and lots of great waterfront assets (Fred Kent and Tony Goldman couldn't stop raving about them), and exciting related initiatives moving in the right direction.  Sounds great, but what about the ECHDC?

Like the famous "unstoppable" WWII battleship Bismark, the ECHDC until recently has been pressing on regardless, seemingly invulnerable, until an intrepid squadron of torpedo planes (Goldman, Fisher, et al) managed to sting the mighty behemoth in a vulnerable spot.  Bass Pro promptly abandoned ship, and VIPs aboard (elected officials) looked warily over the side at the ship taking on water.  And meanwhile, the newly elected Admiral (Cuomo) could exercise an option to recall or scrap the ship entirely.  These developments are bringing the community to the table as never before, as folks recognize the chance to influence the proecess and plan.

Although ECHDC Chair Jordan Levy and at least some of the board attended Saturday's session, ECHDC isn't yet showing signs of giving up the ship.  As I heard from Bruce Fisher, "At the moment, the ECHDC controls the NYPA funds that are the principal--but really the only--source of funds for waterfront remediation or development.  As of [Saturday] afternoon, and especially after my conversation with Jordan Levy, it's clear to me that ECHDC is sticking with its plan."  And Julie Barrett O'Neill, newly appointed to the ECHDC board, speaking at Saturday's session, urged people that if they want the plan to change, ECHDC and our community leaders need to hear from them.  Tim Tielman recommended contacting Congressman Brian Higgins and Mayor Brown, especially.



OK, and what do we need to say?  More than ever before, through a variety of approaches, channels, and words, we need to get the message to ECHDC and our community leaders that it's time to, in effect, hit the pause button.  Most immediately--this month--we need to stop and rethink before any Bass-Pro-plan-without-the-Bass-Pro MGPP's are adopted.

In the wake of our escalating citizen interest, concern, and energy, we need some breathing space.  We need to see how the People's Plan concepts could be adapted for the entire Canalside planning area, and I understand the Campaign for Greater Buffalo has been doing some work along these lines.  We should have the chance to consider that.  We need to work through the results of the resurgence in public input since the summer.  We need to get a look at the economic impact numbers that are being put together (as mentioned at Saturday's forum).  And, of course, it would be foolish to proceed too far down any road before the courts rule on the merits of the lawsuit, which could significantly impact what and how funds can be used by ECHDC.

Above all, by holding off on the adoption of the inadequate and ill-considered MGPP by ECHDC, we allow the opportunity for those creative, "Lighter, Quicker, Cheaper" ideas to get traction and to see some implemented.  That won't necessarily take a long time, as Newell pointed out.

Also, we need to give the new Cuomo administration time to consider how it wants to approach economic development, public authorities, and waterfront planning across the state and in WNY.  When he ran HUD, Cuomo got involved in waterfront development, partnering with Senator D'Amato on an economic development initiative for communities on the Erie Canal corridor.  There is no question he will want to weigh in on the matter.

And after the pause button, what next?  From what I've seen of the Canalside plans and planning process, the next button to push would be "RESET."



But in order to get to that point, in the days ahead a lot of us will need to do some "button pushing" to make our voice heard.  Today, the Canalside Community Alliance announced the near-term goal to get an extension of the comment period for the MGPP by an additional month.  "There is a precedent for that and it would give more people an opportunity to request that the ECHDC proceed forward more carefully, and ensure that tax money is not being wasted in the interim on things we don't need," Micaela Shapiro-Shellaby, speaking for the CCA, told me.

Sounds reasonable, and doable.  And you can help make it happen!  Please see below for more information.



Want to push some buttons?