The City of Battle Ground is laying out a vision for Old Town Battle Ground to rejuvenate and make it more accessible over the next 15 to 20 years.
The sub area plan focuses on Main Street, from Parkway Avenue to Fairgrounds Park, including both Northeast and Southeast First streets. Plans to revitalize the area and improve accessibility and appeal will take place over time, Community Development Director Kristin Lehto said.
A key focus early on for the city would be to increase parking capacity as well as the usability of sidewalks along Main Street in Old Town by moving utilities underground to make expanding sidewalks from 8 feet up to 12 feet in width easier.
The city is evaluating other ideas on how people can shop, dine and thrive in the historic area safely and accepting ideas from the public.
The plan is the first step to bringing Old Town Battle Ground to life, Lehto said.
“Once you have a plan in place, then you can go try and find some funding, grants, et cetera, to start making some of those things a reality,” she said.
To spark discussion, the city has already hosted a meeting with businesses and last week hosted a public meeting to share concepts and ideas, as well as receive feedback from the community on how Old Town should look and feel.
City officials have identified improving pedestrian and bike access to the Old Town corridor as a priority, with proposed updated pedestrian infrastructure to take place along Northeast Third Avenue, Northeast and Southeast Clark avenues, Southeast Second Avenue and the east-west connection of Southeast Third and Second streets.
The city will prioritize sidewalk space along Main Street, as well. Lehto said the current utility poles, business signage and outdoor goods are eating away at accessibility on the current, narrow sidewalks.
“It’d be great if there was room for outdoor seating, if there was space for the signage [to be] kind of in a place that doesn’t impede travel but still the businesses could communicate with the people walking by,” Lehto said. “You would see maybe some areas specifically for landscape, just kind of creating more of a defined space on that sidewalk.”
She also would like to see fewer driveways along Main Street, which would make walking safer and parking more abundant as city officials believe eliminating driveways on Main Street could free up two additional curbside parking spaces per business driveway area that have access from Northeast First or Southeast First streets.
Currently, the Old Town corridor has 890 parking spaces — 306 curbside and 584 private parking lot spaces. City staff have identified nine total driveways that could be removed on Main Street that have access from either Northeast First Street or Southeast First streets to expand parking offerings. Staff also have a vision for new public parking lots to create an additional 90 spaces, angled parking on side streets to add upwards of 20 spaces and 20% public use in shared parking lots.
Other plans laid out to the public last week included proposals for businesses to enhance storefront appearance to better form an identity and charm through possible guidelines for design elements, creating community spaces and adding new features, such as a public market at the former site of Andersen Plastics along Northeast Grace Avenue.
City officials reiterated that these visions in the Old Town Sub Area Plan are long term and not likely to be developed in the near future.
“This isn’t something that’s going to happen overnight, right? So we’re building this plan to go and maybe achieve some funding to help make these plans a reality,” Battle Ground Communications Manager Alisha Smith said prior to the Sept. 17 meeting. “But to cultivate an identity for an area like Old Town is going to be an extensive process. As much as we would love to have a magic wand to make it all ‘poof’ happen, it’s basically a trust-the-process kind of thing.”
The city will finish its technical analysis by the end of this year and create a final draft plan in early 2025. In March 2025, the third Old Town vision engagement session will take place, Lehto said. The final subarea plan will be adopted in April 2025.
To learn more about the sub area plan, visit cityofbg.org/1008/Old-Town-Revitalization-Plan.
