PDS planners are facilitating work by University of Cincinnati planning students to analyze some of the potential impacts improvement of KY 536 will have on adjacent communities. The roadway project, which has been planned for at least a decade, will provide much needed east/west connectivity in central and southern Kenton County.

“This project was meant to provide UC students real-world experience in planning issues that exist in our community. It was also designed to provide our community leaders with an insight into the possibilities for the corridor,” said Sharmili Reddy, AICP, planning manager at PDS.

Over the past several weeks, the class has presented its preliminary reports to the Kenton County Planning Commission, the Independence City Council, the PDS Management Board, and Kenton County Fiscal Court. These presentations were meant to update the boards on the progress of the project, to discuss a few of the preliminary recommendations, and to obtain feedback and thoughts about the project which will be merged into the final reports.

Based upon the students’ efforts and analysis, the class is formulating ideas now for the values, goals, vision, and mission for their final reports. Some preliminary ideas presented thus far include:

•    creating a harmonious transition between the historic downtown Independence, suburban, and rural landscapes around KY 536, balancing the unique needs of each type of development;
•    improving multimodal access to existing developments and amenities locally and regionally; and
•    celebrating the unique character of Southern Kenton County through policies, programs, and activities that recognize and enhance the rural heritage.

As the class nears completion, students will be refining their recommendations and presenting their final reports to staff and faculty. Their final reports will be available on the project’s website.

“We’ve heard many positive comments that the students did a great job capturing the community’s sentiments,” said Reddy. “We hope this experience will help them when they start their professional careers.”

An important part of any public sector planning effort is the engagement of residents and incorporation of their feedback into the final recommendations. The KY 536 land use study project being undertaken by planning students from the University of Cincinnati (UC) is no different. A new and innovative approach for public engagement will be used to gather input for this critical effort.

New technology makes it possible for citizens to have their voices heard in pioneering ways. PDS, in conjunction with UC’s College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning will embark on an online public engagement effort for the KY 536 student project. While online public engagement has been used by PDS in the past, it has never been used as the only platform for public feedback.

This new engagement effort will allow residents to provide feedback when convenient to do so. This effort will commence later in March. Additional information will be disseminated via this newsletter, the PDS website, and social media platforms prior to the beginning of the project.

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A $4,000 grant from the Murray and Agnes Seasongood Good Government Foundation will cover costs associated with an upcoming study of land uses in Kenton County’s KY 536 corridor. Work will be pursued by planning students from a University of Cincinnati studio class in the department of art, architecture, and planning.

The project entitled “Vision Plan for KY 536 Environs” is scheduled to last the entire spring semester (16 weeks) with formal class times twice a week. The final four weeks of the studio will include numerous presentations to the public and to Kenton County planning and legislative bodies.

The class’s report will be used by PDS and the Kenton County Planning Commission as the foundation for future land use and planning studies of the corridor.

“The focus of this studio is on planning and design practices at the regional scale,” said Dr. Vikas Mehta, Associate Professor with the School of Planning and faculty for the studio course. “Its main goal is to expose students to the complexity of working with multiple jurisdictions, regional spatial patterns, land use activities at regional scale, and its impacts on regional resources.”

During the semester, students will explore a number of planning issues that are critical in understanding the cultural, natural, economic, and political structure of the corridor. As an important part of the studio, students will analyze social and physical factors such as the stakeholders’ needs and interests, the natural ecology, urban growth, land use and transportation, public space, and associated patterns in the region. Learning from their analyses, the students are expected to develop a vision for the corridor. Given the significance of current discourse, this studio will emphasize the promotion of planning and design principles, policies and actions that enhance the physical conditions of the region and improve the human experience in it.

The studio will be organized into a five-step structure:

• SENSING: information and data collection; mapping - people, places, phenomena;
• ANALYZING: organizing, structuring and synthesizing information and data;
• THEORIZING: values, goals, objectives, visions;
• MAKING: processes, products; and
• COMMUNICATING: writing, speaking, graphics.

“The five steps provide a basic structure for the studio. Although these are listed in a sequence, the steps do not suggest a linear process,” states Dr. Mehta.