The Village of West Greenville Studio. Strategy

Proffessional Studio, 2022 - 2023

Instructors: Dr. Barry Nocks, Dr. Robert Benedict

Created by: M. Cole, D. Gehring, O. Veselkova, A. Wilson

The Village of West Greenville Art District. Strategic Planning Analysis

05. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

05.1 Overview

ȑ This section explains the policy recommendations of this Plan as part of four concepts needed to plan for the Village’s future: 1) Conservation, 2) Collaboration, 3) Connectivity, and 4) Character. Furthermore, each of these recommendations were drawn from the SWOT exercise conducted during the analysis stage, with the illustration below demonstrating which observation (positive or negative) inspired each. For example, the opportunity identifying the potential to create “connectivity with downtown, other nodes,” inspired the need to suggest furthering the fight for local trail connections. This demonstrates each of the recommendations is grounded in stakeholder feedback and today’s existing conditions.

Conservation Collaboration

NRHP Overlay

Development Guidelines

Moratorium on Demolition

Connectivity

Wayfinding Strategy

Annex Village

Trail Connections (ex. Unity Connector)

Pendleton Street study and improvements

Conservation District Board

Village Arts Foundation

Educate Community on Planning Efforts

Tactical Urbanism Interventions

Character

Branding Strategy

Village Website

Event Programming

Housing Affordability

5.1 Conservation

ȑ This set of additional recommendations focuses on the protection of the Village’s form and character. Besides the creation of a NRHP overlay, this section also features a proposal to formulate generic development guidelines, and advocates for a temporary moratorium on demolition. As is also the case in the following sections, each recommendation includes information on 1) Desired outcomes and benefits, 2) Resources, 3) Examples of successful applications from cases, 4) Specifics of the action, and 5) Anticipated opportunities and challenges.

5.1a NRHP Overlay

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Collaboration between property owners, possibly with guidance from the City or State Historic Preservation Office to list WLA’s recommendation for the Pendleton Street Commercial Area on the National Register of Historic Places as a 35-building Historic District would be ideal to continue reinvestment in the Village’s existing buildings. Listing creates an incentive for those looking to revitalize one of the participating properties into an income-generating use, as the Federal government will cover 20% of the necessary rehab costs, with payments made in tax credits that can then be sold on the secondary market. Obviously, for the Village, this will not work with single-family homes, but it will continue to help projects like Poe West, for example, to come to life.

If owners of these buildings are not interested in redeveloping them in this fashion, or wish not to be included in the district, that is also possible. As such, a listing would offer only benefits to the contributing properties within the district.

To expound on the boundary proposed, WLA has already offered compelling justification, including its capture of the downtown area of the old mill village and the preserved architectural styles and local commercial and industrial development history represented.

Resources:

The City and South Carolina’s Historic Preservation Office should be able to assist and provide direction to the property owners within the Village to help them pursue NRHP listing for the district. The 2017 WLA Historic Survey should be re-examined, as should the Greenville County Historical Society, who may be able to help with the initial organization of impacted parties.

Examples of successful applications from cases: The Massachusetts Ave Historic District was listed, at district status, on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. Near downtown Indianapolis, IN, the neighborhood had been home to spectacular urban architecture since the 1890s but had become dilapidated in the era of suburbanization in the mid-twentieth century. Fueled by desires of city residents to adopt historic buildings and live closer to downtown, after the national listing in the 1980’s, the area began to see new investment. Infill development has continued up to today, with the area’s largest project, the Bottleworks, a $1.3M factory-to-boutique hotel conversion, coming online in 2021.

Due to the investment tools and interest spurred by the National Register designation, “Mass Ave” has become one of Indianapolis’ strongest neighborhoods and was selected as one of the city’s six cultural districts. Though not at this scale, the Village is similar, with its large, former industrial spaces, proximity to downtown, and urban configuration/ architecture.

Specifics of the action:

The Village property owners within the suggested 35-building National Register Historic District will work with the Conservation District Board to perform the listing process. This initiative is expected to take about a year to complete.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

With the opportunities for funding

revitalization clearly spelled out, the potential drawback of this listing strategy is that the National Register does not include any historic protection provisions, meaning any building can be torn down or built over, despite its title. However, because the conservation district is intended to regulate changes within the jurisdiction, this should be sufficient to allow flexibility, while incentivizing existing structures be left intact.

Proposed NHRP Historic District (blue parcels, dominant Village buildings shown in black)

5.1b Development Guidelines

Desired outcomes and benefits:

To ensure the conservation district functions effectively, a set of general guidelines need to be produced to publicly establish the infill project characteristics the neighborhood and their district board are envisioning. These will not be highly specific, skipping requirements for particular fenestration or molding types, and color palettes, for example, but will offer details on appropriate heights, setbacks, and width, for example. Like the board, these guidelines will act as another layer of institutionalized resident and stakeholder input on the projects that could be constructed in their neighborhood.

Resources:

While those serving on the district conservation board should be intimately involved in generating these guidelines, it would be unreasonable to expect them to create the document entirely, so assistance must be provided by the city’s planning department. Doing this in-house with the city would be a better option than hiring a consultant, as they also deserve input on the future of this area within their jurisdiction.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

In Cincinnati, OH, Over-the-Rhine is one of the largest National Register Historic Districts, with a size even broader than historic Charleston, SC. Despite its numerous blocks of three to five story Italianate urban buildings, many of which were mixed-use with ground floor businesses, the area faced continuous decline until 2005, when the city’s civic leaders and largest corporations came together to create the Cincinnati Center City Development

Corporation to spur Over-the-Rhine’s revitalization and establish a safe, walkable connection between it and adjacent downtown. With a successful turnaround that is still in transition today, infill development has become desirable within the neighborhood. As such, the Over-the-Rhine Foundation, a non-profit group designed to represent the neighborhood and oversee its happenings, partnered to release a set of design guidelines for all new infill projects. While they go into far more detail than that needed for the Village, the document spells out design details that will ensure the area’s character can be maintained.

Specifics of the action:

The details on which attributes of development will be included in the document will be decided ultimately by the conservation district board. However, the philosophy not to overregulate the design is paramount, and was expressed to us by Village business owners. It is impossible to codify funkiness, a core visual trait of the area that locals expressed must be maintained.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

The best opportunity presented by these codified neighborhood wishes are the clarity they will provide for developers, theoretically making it easier to build in the area, as the expectations will be outlined. But this is very difficult to do operationally, as you note regarding funkiness.

By collaborating with city planning staff, challenges that may arise from inexperience in planning on the conservation district can be overcome.

5.1c Moratorium on Demolition

We recommend a moratorium on demolition within the conservation district area until the board is formed and the district legitimized. We expect this process to take less than one year, and would ensure the moratorium lasts until that time, or is lifted sooner in the event the board is created. This would serve to prevent the further loss of any

historic fabric before it is truly protected, as well as to avoid a rush to redevelop parcels throughout the Village before the process increases in complication. Additionally, adaptive reuse would be even more thoroughly encouraged during this time, an established pattern that has led to the character of Pendleton Street today.

Design guidelines for infill development in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine

5.1d Land Banking

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Lastly, we recommend land banking within the Village. Land banking can be a way to protect affordability and preserve the community as interest for development increases in the area. Land banking should be prioritized based on the boundaries provided which displays critical areas in danger of redevelopment. This goal will be achieved by working with the Greenville Housing Fund (GHF), City of Greenville, and residential stakeholders to obtain properties in the Village of West Greenville through the Land Preservation Program.

Resources:

The conservation district will work with the City of Greenville to create strategic ways to acquire land to be used to preserve affordable housing. The City of Greenville also provides grants that go towards affordable housing. The Greenville Housing Fund will acquire land through land donation or below market purchase, while the land banking might be funded with the grants, contracts, and land sale revenues.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

The Central District in Seattle currently does land banking by working with the Africatown Community Land Trust. They are

non-profit made up of a board that consist of stakeholders (business owners, real estate developers, residents and entrepreneurs) within the Seattle community to preserve ownership in the Black community (africalandtrust. org). The Africatown Community Land Trust works with government grants to preserve affordable housing and community affordable development to produce equitable projects through building revitalization. Their projects also offer affordable leases for small businesses to thrive in the Central District. The Africatown Community Land Trust has managed to provide over 200 affordable housing units and gather over 60 million dollars in funding for large revitalization projects.

Specifics of the action:

The conservation district will work with the City of Greenville and Greenville Housing Fund to address concerns of displacement and affordability through land banking. The conservation district will work with the city of Greenville to identify hotspots in risk of development as well as apply for grants that contribute funding for land banking. The Village will also need to consider possible solutions to acquire properties from disinvested landlords who provide affordable housing but at the risk of condemnation if they continue to be properly maintained.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: Land banking offers the opportunity to sustain some naturally occurring affordable housing as well bring affordable housing into the Village. Affordability is a complex problem especially in an area that is growing and land banking can be an aspect of preserving some affordability in the community. Land banking will not solve all issues of increasing housing cost, but it can alleviate the problem which is one of many concerns of residential stakeholders including resident artists. The challenge with land banking is fragmented

stakeholders working with the city to determine areas with highest risk of displacement. Another challenge will be the funding aspect since land banking is expensive, so the City as well as stakeholders will need to take advantage of grants and external funding and prioritize areas at risk of resident displacement.

Liberty Bank Building, Africatown Community Land Trust

5.2 Collaboration

ȑ These recommendations aim to fill the gap between the fragmented community groups, stakeholders, and the Village of West Greenville’s activists. This goal will be achieved through multiple participatory and consensus-building policies. The goals of protecting Village character can be synergistically achieved through the integration with the three other policy categories of conservation, connectivity, and character. Because of conflict regarding new developments, the conservation board may encounter problems with implementation. The gradual step-by step consensus-building will help overcome conflict as soon as the communities realize their inclusion and impact in the decision-making process.

5.2a Conservation Board

Desired outcomes and benefits:

The community-based commission will facilitate informed and knowledge-based consensus on the Village’s development and character protection. The development guidelines will be determined based on preservation studies, Greenville’s comprehensive plan, and community input, assuring a clear understanding of the resources and procedures for the desirable results. An equally important role of the Conservation District Board is emphasizing the representation of all communities through the broader engagement process, community advocacy, and further empowering diverse groups.

Resources:

The city needs to assign a staff person as a liaison responsible for the Village of West Greenville to help facilitate policy goals. The existing historical studies and community groups provide an essential starting point to bring all stakeholders to the same table and empower them for positive changes. The city liaison should primarily have the resource and coordination responsibilities, possessing up-todate knowledge on the area development and building bonds between the different interest groups. At the same time, they will have such organizations as Mill village ministries, the Village of West Greenville Business Association, Upstate Forever, and neighborhood

associations to start the outreach process from the educational and media platforms. Further, along with the community engagement, the appointed members representing Village visionaries, business owners, area residents, a planner, and design professionals would be elected to guide the balanced development of the Village.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

The area between Main and Church streets in Poughkeepsie was granted the National Register Historic District designation in 1971. The Union street district was under threat of demolition under the PURA - Poughkeepsie Urban Renewal Administration - plans. Once a major connector of a historical village, the street was formed by the mid-1800s brick houses. The newborn Dutchess County Landmarks association recognized the development both historically and culturally valuable as German, Scottish, and Italian immigrants` legacy, and the citizens valued them and affordable housing. Thus, the joint effort of the Landmarks and the Citizens` Advisory Committee allowed them to conduct an independent research and develop an alternative to the PURA plan supported by various city and community representatives. The NRHP designation requires an approval for the Union Street properties, while carrying no additional burden of development restrictions.

Specifics of the action:

The steps needed from the City of Greenville are to assign the responsible liaison person. In conjunction with the Village of West Greenville community, this representative will be a resource to establish the community’s review board. In the short term, a broad community outreach needed to be conducted to involve all the actors, including the underrepresented communities. This process will take time and different approaches to community outreach. In a longer perspective, the board could be appointed by a locally elected president, whose constituency would be those living within the conservation district’s boundaries. The qualification of the members are discussed earlier in section 4.2.a. Together, the board and president would have oversight on every new development in the neighborhood over 1,000 SF regarding the compatibility with the historic character and community needs. The team would represent local interests. It may also conduct its public

outreach before working with the planning commission and city council to reach a binding decision. Altogether, this body, the West Greenville Conservation District Commission, would fill the void between city and Village communication and provide a specific method to bring residents and business owners together as part of one voice.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

Energized and motivated stakeholders will collaborate to contribute to the commission’s functioning. The local representative board and the existing development character will facilitate the historic protection for growth. The current disconnection between different area parts and groups and the external changing of character threats limits the opportunities for successful policy implementation. The board as a uniform entity representing the variety of Village stakeholders under the supervision of a city employee will facilitate the decision making process.

Community meetings and initiatives with Mill village Ministries

5.2b Education of Local Communities on the Planning Procedures

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Sharing the knowledge on the planning processes will provide for the mitigation of existing and prevention of potential conflicts over the changes in the area. A widespread understanding of the roles and responsibilities of private and public actors will help the community members address their questions, requests, and complaints properly and promptly. This approach also will help engage communities in the area of improvement with better communication and predictable results.

Resources:

This policy requires an organization representing community leadership and an existing venue functioning as a community center to support locals and work with the established infrastructure and communities. Involved community members, city representatives, and the local media will support the knowledge sharing. The educational program Citizens Planning Academy launched by Upstate Forever will be a good start for this recommendation. Upstate Forever has a clear and visually intuitive web portal, the audience’s knowledge, interest in building a sense of belonging, and knowledge of cityscape development and character protection. When the Conservation Board starts its operation, it can conduct these meetings in Poe West as a trusted and spacious venue.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

The community-based organizations and advocacy groups representing public interests compensate for the lack of city staff and officially empowered authorities in Poughkeepsie. Non-profits held by engaged citizens keep track of the new developments in the area to protect the historic character

and locally owned businesses. Scenic Hudson, Hudson River Housing, Dutchess County Historical Society, Sloop Clearwater, and Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson are all parts of the interconnected and collaborative Poughkeepsie ecosystem. Organizations run educational programming to support the revitalization and sense of belonging. As such, the Middle Main Initiative of Hudson River Housing organization helps share the understanding of demands and conditions of the surplus assets through the “Vacant to Vibrant” program (See Exhibit C for more details). It employs dynamic strategies to build upon them. Those organizations are supported with the state programs targeted at the art and local communities development. The not-for-profit organization Upstate Forever advocating for smart and balanced growth runs the Planning Academy for motivated citizens. This initiative must be taken as an example and partner in educating citizens on local planning and policymaking.

Specifics of the action:

The Village of West Greenville art district`s liaison, Conservation Board and respective non-for-profit will organize an educational series of meetings with communities and different actors involved to promote mutual understanding. As a short-term solution, the Village portal and the city might share knowledge on the city, county, and developers’ roles in a visually clear manner. The cartoons illustrating which spaces and actions are within different authorities and responsibilities will familiarize potentially conflicting communities and bring them into constructive conversation. In the long run, the community meetings will allow for mitigating the development conflicts before they exacerbate them.

The program might invite speakers from the Upstate forever academy for the chosen sessions and further focus the attention on the processes happening in the Village of West Greenville. The Village Conservation Board and its representatives will be required to go through the program to obtain a broad and fact-based understanding of the legislative and administrative context of the area. This knowledge will also help residents understand when and whom to appeal to in case concerns over the area’s development arise.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: There are two significant impediments to this initiative - fragmentation between community groups and an anti-development conservative attitude. The time and vision resources of the local philanthropies and

creative community will contribute to this initiative and improve collaborative efforts. As mentioned in the Village Micro plan, the Village of West Greenville is currently zoned as an RDV or a redevelopment district. An RDV is not compatible with the current character of the Village, which means future development will not reflect the surface in terms of density and appearance. This has been reflected through potential developments like the Woven Project. The current structures are one-story masonry buildings in the commercial district, and the residential is mainly made up of one-story mill houses. The Woven Project plans to create a high-density, mixed-use building for retail, commercial, and residential. The associated threats of local traffic congestion should be mitigated while keeping the community’s trust in the city and potential area development.

Citizens Planning Academy sessions conducted by Upstate Forever

5.2c Village Arts Foundation

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Promoting the area status of the creative district will facilitate the local community and city in general in cultural and economic development. Multiplication of the tourist inflow and service economy will be possible with the branding. Broader sharing of the local attractions will enforce education and engagement of the leaders of the art community and attract more target audiences to the area.

Resources:

The Foundation involving the main creative actors and services will create a map of the area, calendar of events, and art news on a visually intuitive web platform. We recommend building this initiative upon the resourceful organizations already in the area. Since the art community is specific and needs strong shared values and goals to collaborate, the Metropolitan Arts Council will be a trusted platform to promote the Village of West Greenville as a separate branch within the Greenville ecosystem of cultural leaders. The Village of West Greenville Business Association is also a potential partner of this initiative. The Foundation will use social media to promote the area’s art and small business scenery. Mill village ministries might provide media support and accommodate Foundation events within its network of local projects as an umbrella association interested in bringing equity and prosperity to Greenville communities. Art and creative community, the status of an art district, and web publications of the interviews and stories from local business owners will contribute to the attractiveness of the local art for visitors. In the longer timeframe, the

policies targeted to support young artists and professionals are needed to build a more robust art network. The existing art venues, such as the Greenville Center for Creative Arts, the Flatiron Studios, and Arts Bomb, can be initial locations for the foundation meetings. The Village’s art events need to partner with the Friday Gallery crawl. The Village Launch Business Entrepreneur Academy can provide a needed place, audience, and ecosystem for this initiative to enforce art leadership and accelerate the Arts Foundation web portal.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

Arts Mid-Hudson portal and Travel Hudson Valley were established to promote the area as a scenic and attractive creative destination. Marketing experts, communitybased cultural centers, local activists familiar with the stakeholder network, innovative businesses, and new developments - all these assets and actors are represented through the web-resources. Organizing the tourist portal for the wider area with all the local stakeholders and attractions provides easily accessible information to facilitate business owners, community-based organizations, and visitors. Also, it helped bring cross-jurisdictional and cross-boundary collaborative branding and programming based on the local creative community – festivals, exhibitions, and closedstreets days. The program ties city assets and natural landscapes to multiply the inflow and interest to the designated sites, emphasizing the art scene. The source of support for the project - county office of tourism and New York State programs.

Specifics of the action:

The community liaison, primarily assigned as head of the district board - needs to communicate with the Metropolitan Arts Council to unite the actors of the Foundation and start the portal. As the short term action, a web-portal shall be activated under the Foundation supervision. The Metropolitan Arts Council along with City and State sources might be contributors in terms of the upfront funding and informational support. To assure the suitable maintenance and operation resources, the newly organized not-for-profit organization shall apply for the state grants such as the South Carolina Arts Commission General Operating Support (https://www. southcarolinaarts.com/grant/gos/). Most local active art and business community representatives will be involved in regular

interviews to provide engaging content for publications. Business incubators, educational institutions, historic resources, and ongoing startups support the Village’s creative activity and will enforce the operation of the Village Arts Foundation in the long run.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

The Village represents innovation and helps facilitate it further by investing in the creativity that supports its micro-economy. Artists were driving the new wave of the Village’s vitality in the 2000s. They took over abandoned buildings with cheap rent, turning them into galleries and studios. This stimulates creativity in the area and brings interest to the local art scene. Local philanthropies, artists, and business owners will provide the Foundation’s task force to present local values publicly.

Greenville Center for Creative Arts events and activities

5.2d Tactical Urbanism

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Temporary and short-term outcomeoriented improvements involve the local art community in the streetscape development and amplify the voices of residents and community stakeholders. The co-creative process helps build bonds and reinforce the sense of belonging, local community requests and demands fulfillment, and empowering people to take proactive decisions. The gradual, “testbefore-invest” approach to streets improvement and active art representation will encourage transportation connectivity and bring attention to the historical highlights and now-defunct industrial buildings.

Resources:

To integrate tactical urbanism in other city-run participatory planning efforts, political leaders will need to coordinate funding support for local artists and further communicate the timing with the Transportation department. Metropolitan Arts Council can lead the first tactical urbanism events as a part of the First Fridays gallery crawl. As soon as the city assigns a community liaison person, the Conservation District Board might provide this alley for participation, working with the creatives in a more specific way. Then the ideas for the tactical interventions might be submitted and accepted competitively, with broad outreach and call for proposals from the community. The newly established Village Art Foundation and the respective web portal will help promote and inform on the planned and ongoing events. Temporary installations at specified locations might be supported with materials and resources from the local business owners or take a minor part of the annual

street improvement budget. Both organizations will be in charge of fundraising through state and federal programs and collaborating with businesses. As the best practices demonstrate, local businesses - stores, restaurants, studios - can benefit from the temporary outdoor walkable spaces, serving as promotional installations.

Examples of successful applications from cases: The city of Poughkeepsie initiated the Market Street Connectivity one-day event within the more comprehensive City Center Connectivity Project. The initiative aimed to develop improvement solutions involving artists and local communities instead of arranging another charrette to a certain extent, demonstrating the need for more public interest and results. The experiment included closing up Market Street for traffic, setting tables and planters, and asking street visitors for feedback in surveys and interviews. The approach allows testing out and empirically assessing new street designs before making capital improvements associated with financial and political commitments to permanent infrastructure. The demonstration projects allowed for a “test before invest” approach and showed that desired changes could happen quickly, especially when the collaborative effort involved most of the communities and the city provided light and temporary materials to accomplish a test intervention. Different purposes encourage differing forms of installations, as it can be seen from the multiple examples of tactical urbanism in practice. For instance, the NY Department of Transportation is partnering with the local organizations to reclaim the public space for temporary plazas. While the DOT funds the improvements, the organizations are required

to coordinate the public outreach, participate in design with the DOT team, program community activities, and maintain the space. (https://www.nyc.gov/html/ dot/html/pedestrians/nyc-plaza-program. shtml) Smaller but still valuable changes can be obtained by local scale greening and planting, as the placemaking on the Newark Downtown District parklets program

demonstrates (https://downtownnewark.com/ ndd-programs/placemaking/) . The board of this non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing Downtown Newark supervises the Special Improvement District within the city downtown and organizes the parklet as public spaces in support of the local businesses located nearby. The funds needed for these improvements are raised by the organization.

The city of Poughkeepsie Market Street Connectivity event

5.2d Tactical Urbanism

Specifics of the action:

In the short-run city might imply this policy by aligning temporary improvements with existing event programs in the areato multiply the benefits of the community activities and road diet on Pendleton Street. First Fridays have the great potential to accommodate and promote tactical urbanism as they engage local artists already involved in the art event. Further, these initiatives will help connect the Village of West Greenville to the West End and Greenville downtown with a temporarily improved streetscape and walkable environment in previously disconnected

parts of the city. In the long term, Village Arts Foundation can arrange road diet days and community workshops with the streetscape improvements. The resulting scheme and the feedback collected from visitors will be incorporated into capital improvement plans. The vision of local artists allows more creative solutions to further capital improvements, and the temporary and playful format creates the opportunity to promptly collect feedback from a broad range of stakeholders. Working with the SCDOT to narrow or temporarily close the existing roadway will enforce connectivity, walkability, and a community sense of belonging.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

The temporary improvements and related events must be organized in advance in close coordination with the SCDOT. This might help prevent conflicts over SC 124 (Pendleton Street). Energized stakeholders and the existing cultural programming will help draw the public attention to the area improvements and collect the broader community’s feedback. Local restaurants and coffee shops will be good in developing the cultural program for pedestrian-friendly interventions and pedestrian days. Greenville’s Center for Creative Arts in Brandon mill near Pendleton Street can provide a temporary location for launching

the workshop. This supports local artists and serves the community through education while promoting the First Friday art walks. Art galleries in the Village, including Art Bomb Studios in Brandon Mill’s original General Store, can also serve as platforms for developing creative proposals for different street segments. Mill village Ministries also run an event called Village Launch: Third Thursdays, on the third Thursday of each month, showcasing minorityowned and women-owned startups in the Poe West parking lot. The tactical improvements will contribute to the connectivity between the commercial and cultural nodes while empowering the local community to build a better-shared neighborhood vision.

Tactical Urbanism Scenario 2 - Weekend road diet on the loop connecting Brandon mill with the core of the Village

5.3 Connectivity

5.3a Introduce Wayfinding Strategy to Communicate Resources and Attractions Visually

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Though the Village is small, it currently needs more connectivity to its major anchor institutions and developments that do not exist on Pendleton Street. These buildings include Poe West, West Village Lofts, the Art Bomb, and the Greenville Center for Creative Arts (GCCA). The Lofts at Woodside Mill are slightly outside our designated study area but also merit a connection approximately 1500 ft from Pendleton Street. A couple of art galleries are also located off the main Pendleton corridor, making them hard to find, and seemingly “out of the way.” While these amenities, retailers, and multi-use buildings, such as the West Village lofts, provide opportunities for residents and guests, they need help locating amenities. The Village should promote all it has to offer! Still, even some businesses on Pendleton Street are not known or well-marked. This will increase business for some of these places, giving them more direct linkages and connections to the well-trafficked Pendleton corridor. While Pendleton Street is designed to prioritize pedestrians, without appropriate guiding signage, it becomes hard to find Poe West, though it is only a short walk away. Signage and wayfinding could help direct pedestrians, multimodal transportation options, and vehicles through the corridor and residential areas more clearly and safely.

Resources:

This project will require decent funding, and while wayfinding is very obviously important for the commercial corridor, it is also basic to the economic viability of artists

and other businesses not on the main drag. It is an extremely important need for the Village to create a more robust sense of place, strengthening its identity within the larger City of Greenville. The Village has so much to offer, and it should be identifiable, supporting and encouraging the growth of local institutions and businesses. It can add great value to a resident or visitor’s experience in the Village. This project could be partially funded by the City of Greenville Tourism Fund (created through the Accommodations and Hospitality Tax) and also supplemented by the funds fathered through the Business Improvement District. Partnering with the city will be essential to help bring this vision to life.

Examples of successful applications from cases: Explore Asheville, Asheville’s Department of Tourism, played a significant role in the wayfinding signage for the River Arts District. Merje Design partnered with the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau to create wayfinding signs, kiosks, and landmark signs to structure the district with more accessibility (2023 MERJE, 2022). Building off the River Arts District’s identity, wayfinding signs were created using a common theme. Some features, such as a map with color-coded markers linked to signage, could add tremendous value to the Village of West Greenville. The color-coded signage was created in an easy-to-read format for multiple users, whether walking, biking, or driving. Asheville was able to successfully fund this endeavor by utilizing the city’s Tourism Product Development fund, funded by occupancy taxes that are paid by visitors to the area.

According to Explore Asheville, the intent of this fund is to “support community infrastructure projects that enhance Asheville’s sense of place for residents and visitors” (2022, p. 8). As of 2022, Buncombe County has updated its legislation in order to allow for one-third of this entire fund to be funneled into community capital projects (Explore Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2022, p. 8).

Specifics of the action:

Steps from the city will require consulting a design firm in order to begin strategizing and designing future wayfinding materials. It could be unique and appropriate to involve artists in the Village, further encouraging community members to take ownership over the growth and direction of the village. This contributes to the unique local identity of the Village. Creating brochures or pamphlets that aesthetically align

with signage would be an appropriate addition for the end product. This would be well-linked with the village branding goals promoted by Village leadership in collaboration with the City, and perhaps in the longer-term, in cooperation with Village Arts Foundation.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: This should remain one of the first and most urgent priorities for the Village. Providing structure and defined direction would be a great basis for beginning to redefine, enliven, and invite people into the area. New signage will provide positive attention for the Village, keeping Greenville residents interested and curious about the happenings here. This project could go along with the branding initiatives and resources, additionally strengthening the Village character.

Wayfinding signage in the River Arts District at different scales, with banners color-coded by section

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Annexation of the Village into the City of Greenville can help promote coherence for the Village as a whole in order to implement strategic policy and Village-targeted projects. Parts of the Village and more significant residential areas that make up the Village’s neighborhood are not within city limits, hindering the ability for city financing. While the City of Greenville is currently prioritizing annexation, continuing to strategically annex in this area would greatly benefit the community by providing more access to city resources.

Resources:

Along with city support of the action, property owners will need to agree to annexation. Educational outreach and resources on the benefits of annexation will help with public understanding for extending the city limits. If the Village’s future BID shows success with projects, this could be an example of the potential avenues for benefitting the broader community through city resources. The conservation board for the Village could play a role in distributing this helpful information and showcasing how continuity and coherence throughout the village’s land use patterns can benefit the community as a whole. These strategies may be helpful in encouraging and “planting seeds” for community members to consider annexing their properties.

Specifics of the action:

Becoming a part of the city provides different services and benefits residents would otherwise not have access to living in Greenville County. Existing under the city’s jurisdiction also provides residents in the community with

the opportunity for better representation to advocate for themselves and their community’s needs. Residents and landowners will need to buy into annexation and believe it benefits them. This will require considerable “messaging,” which can be indirectly promoted through the City’s continuous involvement in Village improvements, or through strong Village leadership with any one of the recommended organizations. Continuing to include our study area in future plans and Village-related information will show commitment to address the village as a whole into the future, rather than forgetting about the areas situated within the county. The tactical urbanism recommendation can also act as an engaging strategy to augment the annexation agenda.

It would be less abrasive for the Village community if the city strategically annexes in a targeted manner, slowly bringing more of the village under its jurisdiction. By starting with likely parcels, the slow accumulation of properties will allow for those who question the benefits to see it play out, and perhaps relax their worries of city control. Perhaps the city could continue annexing areas that are informally considered a part of the village, such as Brandon Mill. Emphasizing annexation across the rail line will also help achieve more consistency toward the commercial corridor.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

With the growing political conflict and the pressure of development in the area, this action could be controversial. Some landlords may prefer staying in the County due to various differences in rental housing upkeep and standards.

5.3b Annex Additional Village Land Into the City

Differing political opinions as residents, business owners, or property owners can affect the view on whether or not annexation is “good” for the Village. Development pressure is creating fear of gentrification and increasing political differences. Gentrification will likely occur at some point in both city and county, but with the Village under the city’s jurisdiction, Greenville could provide development incentives to allow responsible and effective growth. Some residents distrust the city, and others do not wish to see any growth in the area. Collaboration and communication will

be essential for this action to be followed through successfully. Communicating the benefits of annexation will be necessary. Some of these benefits can provide city residents with higher quality services, opportunities for public engagement, police and fire protection, lower water rates, and the potential for more flexibility in commercial zoning regulations (Be a part of Greenville’s future!, n. d). Woodside Mill is a great example of City improvements post annexation with enhanced streetscapes and improved signage.

Pendleton street corridor entering the Village of West Greenville

5.3c Establish Trail Connections

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Increased connectivity to downtown Greenville and other significant connectors like the Swamp Rabbit Trail will better link the Village community with the City of Greenville. Stakeholders such as Ryan Johnston have worked towards this trail known as the “Circus Trail.” The trail would enhance livability in the area, providing alternative routes for alternative transit types. This would help residents and those traveling through avoid the high traffic levels on Pendleton Street while supporting and taking advantage of active mobility opportunities.

Resources:

Land acquisition from Norfolk Southern rail right of way will be the primary goal. The trails and greenways fund could help with this action, but a public/private partnership could also help this process. Acquiring rail right of way will likely be expensive and connecting this piece of land to the Swamp Rabbit Trail could open up more funding potential. It is important to be realistic in understanding that communicating with a railroad is extremely difficult, so as an alternative the City may look into the possibility of creating an easement.

Examples of successful applications:

Throughout the city of Greenville, the Swamp Rabbit Trail has shown that these connections are beneficial, valued, and a great asset to community members. Connecting the

Village of West Greenville would benefit more people, bring ties to another community, and further expand the swamp rabbit connections. This continually encourages health and wellness and provides safe, alternative multimodal routes while contributing to community resources and pride.

Specifics of the action:

This greenway would be beneficial as a multimodal, multi-use trail created in coordination with Unity park and the Swamp Rabbit Trail. Creating trail signage and easily distinguishable trailheads could be incorporated into the wayfinding strategy project, emphasizing the variety of opportunities within the Village of West Greenville. Getting in touch with Ty Houck, the Director of Greenways with Greenville County Rec, could help expand the information, resources, influence, and collaboration on this project.

Connecting with the Rails to Trails Conservancy and applying for grants can open up further funding opportunities. Grants such as the Transportation Alternatives (TA), a “competitive reimbursement program that includes most activities eligible under the historically funded Transportation Enhancements program,” and the Recreational Trails Program, that opens up funding for developing and maintaining trails and related facilities, could be applied in this context (Railsto-Trails Conservancy, n.d.).

In order to create a sense of belonging with the direct Village of West Greenville community, organized cleanups of the potential connector could be held as community events. This event could be promoted by any of the existing stakeholders or organizations in the Village today, or potentially held as a city event to show initiative in establishing the trail.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: Acquiring the right of way could be a long process, but incredibly worth it for the benefits to the community and connection to SRT.

Image of the Swamp Rabbit Trail retrieved from Greenvillesc.gov

5.3d Pendleton Street study and improvements

Desired outcomes and benefits:

While the Village is already scaled for humans and pedestrians, it lacks safe infrastructure for multimodal transit. The portion of Pendleton Street (124) within the commercial corridor is marked as a shared bike and vehicle lane on the Bicycle Master Plan. This right of way along 124 is rather narrow, especially as it is intended to support multimodal transit. Taking advantage of opportunities to advance active mobility and intentionally emphasizing safety for pedestrians and cyclists will further promote healthy and active lifestyles within the city.

Resources:

The Village of West Greenville Improvements fund ($100,000), and the Sidewalk ADA Improvements ($200,000) are potential funding sources. Creating development incentives for improved roadway safety projects could also help with funding. Grants through SCDOT, such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, can provide funding for surface transportation and transit projects and carbon reduction or resiliency programs (https://www.scdot.org/ projects/Grants-Activities.aspx).

Other grants such at the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program, Congestion and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program, and Surface Transportation Block Grant Program

(STBG), and Department of Transportation TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) funds, could all apply to the needs of this corridor, and would be worth applying for (Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, n.d.)

Specifics of the action:

Emphasizing pedestrian infrastructure through raised or decorative crosswalks using pavers will signal drivers and vehicles to slow down. This can simultaneously help with bicycle safety in the shared lane. Protected bike lanes farther down Pendleton Street toward Academy would provide better security and safety for cyclists. Lastly, better connectivity of sidewalks throughout the Village will further emphasize pedestrian safety, as it is fragmented in some locations. Design-based zoning that requires the inclusion of this infrastructure with new zoning codes could be another avenue of implementation.

Of course, the potential to support active transportation in the Village does not cease with the creation of dedicated bicycle lanes and sidewalks. Bicycle parking, self-repair stations, and street furniture (especially that which offers protection from the sun) would also help to activate these public spaces and encourage those living within the bike and pedshed to choose these modes over using their personal automobile.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: This opportunity provides incentives that take away from the heavy traffic flow on Pendleton Street. If people have a physical reason to slow down, such as designated bike lanes and emphasized pedestrian infrastructure through additional streetscaping projects, they will. This provides an opportunity for new infrastructure that will slow cars and encourage neighborhood safety.

Another aspect of enabling active transportation in the Village, and particularly

on Pendleton Street, would be to provide an alternative commercial route for trucks coming from Easley and the west going to downtown. Though Hwy 123 is the main route, some truck traffic seeks the shortcut through the Village, creating unnecessary noise that damages the pedestrian experience and threatens the safety of on-street bicyclists. In addition to the designation of a new truck route, the city should advocate for SCDOT to prohibit trucks of a certain scale from using Pendleton.

Pendleton street in the Village of West Greenville

5.4 Character

5.4a District Branding

Desired outcomes and benefits:

All stakeholders value and have great pride for the character of the village; however, this comes with different perceived views especially dependent on location. Stakeholders will need to come together to create a singular brand representative of the artist, businesses, and residents of the neighborhood as well as deciding how much of the area is considered “the Village”/ “West Greenville.” Establishing clear branding can increase outreach outside in other nodes of Greenville which can increase engagement and foot traffic throughout the Village.

Resources:

The various stakeholders involved with the community to establish the official brand. The status of Pendleton Street as a historic district to open opportunities for funding and grants to improve signage and the aesthetic of the area while maintaining its character.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

“Over-the-Rhine” saw the value of preserving its history and wanted to build on its historic character. To preserve its character, Over-the-Rhine was registered through NRHP as a historic district and worked on revitalization efforts through land banking. The community also came together to create local infill development guidelines to maintain its character and appearance as the district began to attract developers ready to invest in Over-the-Rhine. Branding can be done without historic designation; however, it’s unique historic character can definitely be used to the Village’s advantage to increase local tourism. Similar to Over-the-Rhine, embracing history through unique signage and wayfinding as well as funding will be needed to create a strategic branding strategy.

Specifics of the action:

There should be meetings with all stakeholders to discuss a singular identity for the brand (who are we?). These meetings are also tied with other recommendations mentioned previously. When a clear brand is determined, guidelines should be created for development that represent the identity of the Village if a local board is established. It will be important to gain community feedback on key elements that can attract people into the Village.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

With passionate and energized stakeholders, members of the community will be excited to come together and establish an identity for the VillageThe ability to create a Village brand that expresses its historic and eclectic character has many benefits for all parties. The largest struggle that will come with creating a branding strategy is getting all stakeholders to agree on a common branding strategy. This challenge will primarily be caused by different perspectives on the Village. For example, a resident may find the brand should represent the mill village whereas a local artist may want the brand to focus on the artistic vibe. It will be important for stakeholders to work together and find a single identity that can be used as exposure for the Village. Branding is also connected to the signage strategy, wayfinding can contribute to the branding and outreach for the Village. Creating a brand strategy can empower the community through collaboration while creating opportunities for economic development through exposure. Threats that face the Village through a branding strategy is the increased development interest that will come through as real estate values stay low.

5.4b Establish Village Website

Desired outcomes and benefits:

A website will contribute to the branding and exposure of the Village. The Village currently has a Facebook that is active; however, this eliminates a bulk of people who don’t use Facebook and it isn’t frequently updated. Additionally, a Village website is already active, but only has a blank home page with the logo in the center. A built-out website can be used to provide history on how arts were incorporated into the Village, while displaying important information like upcoming events, information about the local businesses and updated information about the current artist and their galleries.

Resources:

The website should be funded by the Village Arts Foundation which will be responsible for marketing the Village and its brand. Funding is needed to invest in branding and staffing . This will be provided from the City of Greenville, volunteers, and investments from local stakeholders. Working with City can also help the Village to receive grants. Federal grants are available for community preservation and housing preservation where a district or city are required to apply.

Examples of successful applications from cases:

Deep Ellum, Texas has a website that represents the identity of the city while offering different types of information. Deep Ellum’s website features the history of the area, information about their community organizations, and the various local businesses. Deep Ellum offers vibrant photos of the area while also offering different social connections through social media. Deep Ellum has the “Deep Ellum Foundation” which is a 501(c) (3) non-profit corporation, so they also receive funding from both donations and investments

that contribute to the “sustainable growth of the neighborhood”.

Poughkeepsie, NY and the Central District of Seattle both show exceptional ways of incorporating affordable housing into economic development. Poughkeepsie recognized the importance of preserving affordability for resident artists and provided affordable housing through building revitalization through mills (which has occurred in West Greenville). The Central District also incorporated affordable housing through land banking by working with a community land trust that acquired properties and created mixed-use development projects that provide affordable housing through corporate funding and city grants.

Specifics of the action:

The goal of establishing a website is to increase insight about the Village with emphasis on the current artist and local businesses. The Village isn’t nearly as large as Deep Ellum, so promoting their branding through insight about the artists and their galleries will be important. Short-term action would be obtaining funding after district branding is established with community stakeholders and the City of Greenville.The history will also be important to emphasize on the website since it plays a large role in the Village’s branding. The Village actively has programs that display the artists in the Village, but there isn’t clear information about the artist or sufficient map of the galleries. A village website will provide clarity and exposure that will be important when attracting tourists.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges:

Establishing a website can give the Village credibility and exposure for tourists interested in learning more about the neighborhood. A major weakness of establishing a website is the need for it to be created and funded; however, there is no funding available to go towards branding for the Village. The fragmentation between stakeholders may also create difficulties on what should be on the website. It opens opportunities for increased foot traffic during the different events happening in the

Village. Local tourists could also be interested in visiting the local business when more insight is provided through the website. The Village also has the opportunity to take advantage of both social media and local news outlets like the Greenville Journal for exposure. Social media can be a quick option that offers an opportunity for exposure with less funding needed. A major threat of establishing the website is the ability to have funding allotted for general maintenance and keeping information up to date.

The Village of West Greenville public page, Facebook

5.4c Advocate For and Address Housing Affordability

Desired outcomes and benefits:

Gentrification and displacement are concerns of residents within the Village of West Greenville. Local artists are also at risk of displacement as housing costs increase. Incentives to encourage more affordable housing will be important to maintain and increase affordable housing as development comes into the Village.

Resources:

The resources are the Greenville Housing Fund (GHF) as well as the city and County of Greenville. The conservation board will work with Greenville to apply for rehabilitation grants for current housing. The Conservation Board will also work with GHF to acquire properties through land banking and grants that will produce affordable housing opportunities.

Specifics of the action:

The City of Greenville currently provides incentives for developers in a special tax assessment; however, incentives should be expanded in areas with higher risks of displacement. Incentives will be created with the both stakeholders and the city of Greenville to preserve naturally occurring affordable housing and produce affordable housing in the Village. Incentives should include the opportunity for density bonuses for multiunit developments that provide a percentage of units for affordable housing, which can be also provided by LMO. The percentage will be decided by the stakeholders and within the limits of City of Greenville approval.

Incentives to preserve affordable housing should include general maintenance funding for current houses to prevent demolition or major renovations for resale. For example, any residential development must at least produce 10% affordable housing based on the proposed amount of units. Incentives should also be produced for maintaining affordable housing for the resident artists. These incentives will be decided with The Arts Foundation, local artists and the City of Greenville.

Anticipated opportunities and challenges: Preserving and producing housing affordability can ease the housing cost for current residents, potential residents and local artists. Residents feel that future development will not only change the character but push people out who call the Village their home because of the lack of affordable housing. Incentives to preserve affordable housing can be helpful in a complex situation. Though affordability also leads to limited returns on investment for developers interested in the Village, incentives like the special tax assessment with other incentives along with less tension with residents may intrigue developers to provide more affordable housing. The biggest challenge will be the funding that can be allotted to maintain current affordable housing. Another challenge is the developer interest in affordable housing when they can increase profit through market rate housing especially as Greenville continues to grow.

6. CONCLUSION

ȑ The recommendations we propose for the Village of West Greenville are focused on providing a framework to develop the Village as a vibrant art district grounded in the diverse and eclectic historical context. We structured this goal into four concepts and focused each on a specific resource and barrier to overcome. Conservation, Collaboration, Connectivity, and Character concepts result from the comprehensive analysis we primarily conducted. While working on the study, the main SWOTs we identified specified directions to guide the proposal and its actions so that the city of Greenville has a clear idea of how to apply recommendations.

ȑ The area’s historic character, community values, the potential for smart growth, and the risks of losing the authentic assets determined the recommendations to develop conservation and historic character guidelines, prohibit demolition of historic buildings, and establish a responsible administrative entity in control of revising and following those rules. Active and creative Village communities, various opinions, and the need to find common ground between the conflicting sides and perceptions for the Village’s future determined our recommendations to bolster collaboration. Assigning the Conservation Board representatives, uniting the creative actors under the Arts Foundation, improving the broader understanding of planning and administration, and finally empowering the communities to enhance the cityscape temporarily all aim to connect Village actors and stakeholders through collaboration and positive change. The connectivity concept is derived from the Village’s unique proximity to downtown, city gateways, and the pre-

existing valuable resource of the walkable local attractions. The latter could be more effectively communicated with uniform wayfinding. These recommendations include larger and more local-scale improvements: connectivity of the pedestrian network, the annexation of the area by the city of Greenville, controlling the part of Pendleton street within the boundaries, and introducing an explicit and site-specific signage strategy. Finally, the character of the Village is the core of the last strategy, addressing the issues of underrepresentation and lack of clear and recognizable market strategy for the Village actors. The lack of affordable housing is a major nationwide threat which we recommend to begin addressing with community advocacy and gradually raising awareness.

ȑ Implementing these strategies takes a long-term commitment to its goals and understanding the essential first steps. As such, the initial steps include assigning a city staff member responsible for helping facilitate the Village of West Greenville conservation district and board. This liaison will work with different teams on strategic concepts. However, this staffer will have most of the knowledge on the area and its stakeholders to facilitate better village collaboration around the shared goals. The city and the community are encouraged to collaborate and contribute to building frameworks for successful negotiation and decision-making within the Village. The indepth outreach and public engagement will require additional work from the city liaison and city planners to create clear and explicit stakeholder maps based on interviews, social surveys, and community meetings.

The resources and key actors identified on this stage include neighborhood associations, art and media not-for-profit organizations, private companies and entrepreneurs, locallyowned and creative businesses, and city and county authorities. They must be considered a holistic ecosystem for developing the Art District, especially important as its accelerators at the early stages. We recommend launching the process of shaping the Village organizations firsthand to drive the significant directions of Village improvement. This ecosystem will provide the basis and resources for a successful start. Several area neighborhood associations are essential partners in advocating for inclusivity - West Greenville Community Association and the neighborhood associations of Pickens county should be included along with the outreach. Art platforms and venues, including Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Flatiron Studios, and other galleries, will potentially serve as locations for temporary interventions and educational and creative events. Greenville Journal, Visit Greenville, Metropolitan Arts Council, and SC Department

of Parks, Recreation and Tourism portal

“Discover South Carolina” play an essential role in information and marketing needed to start communication and soft interventions towards the new image of the Village. Most are not-for-profit organizations, so the emerging Village Arts Foundation will learn from their experience and benefit from the partner network.

Furthermore, Mill Village Ministries, Village Launch, and Upstate Forever community programs can help support outreach and community educational sessions. Locally-owned businesses and art galleries - the Anchorage, miniature food and retail establishments along Pendleton street, and art galleries - are the core attractors and potential drivers of changes. These entities should all contribute to the temporary street improvements with tactical urbanism, brainstorm and provide ideas for the wayfinding strategy and maps, and accommodate small community meetings.

Actions needed from the city and the respective resources are either administrative (i.e. annexation, conservation district, NHRP overlay, and Pendleton street management), coordination such as facilitating the establishment of the responsible Village organizations and addressing the political issues and media, and community planning like the websites, tactical urbanism, and signage strategy. The short-term steps include community outreach with the media and above mentioned communities’ support. Building relationships will take time and can form along with inventorying and promoting the local groups and initiatives. Starting a discussion on the Village boundaries and feasible stages of annexation are also needed from the beginning.

The medium-term actions are facilitated by the assigned members of organizations in collaboration with the operating Village actors and with the support of raised State and Federal funding. In establishing and developing a uniform marketing strategy for a village, the first action needed from the city is assigning a Village Foundation representative responsible for launching web portals of the Arts Foundation and enhancing the Village website. This can be conducted with the support of the Greenville Journal, The Village Business Association, and further State and Federal grants to support the operation. Determining the brand is a longer-term process requiring the contribution of the artists and the conservation board to shape the collective vision. Holding

tactical urbanism events frequently will allow the city to collect feedback on the brand vision from the public. This feedback from community events can be implemented in the wayfinding signage.

In the long-term, the city needs to support and facilitate establishing control for the development guidelines and continue pursuing annexation and transportation improvements. While the development guidelines and policies result from community and Conservation Board collaboration, the level of control in design and development guidelines needs to be supported by the city through ordinance amendments. Affordable housing advocacy is a long process requiring county and city-level incentives to agree on the optimal amount of affordable units in exchange for tax abatements or other development bonuses. Annexation in the area is another long-term process essential to bring the parts of the art district under a cohesive, united authority. We recommend aligning this process gradually. Planning the stages according to the establishment of the Conservation overlay will help protect the parcels at risk and the area’s character. Empowering the active community and creative scene will join forces in recognizing further streetscape improvements. Through methodical action and commitment, the Village can become an area of successful revitalization and smart-growth where all stakeholders have their voices heard and institutionalized.

The illustrative roadmap of the Village of West Greenville Strategic plan

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