Hatcher Road Project
Back in October 2004, when the Sunnyslope Business Coalition came together to identify opportunities for the community, they prioritized improvements for Hatcher Road, Sunnyslope’s image, and safety. Spurred by a desire to improve the visual appearance of Hatcher Road, one of the community’s main corridors, the business community saw an opportunity to transition the street into a pedestrian-friendly retail and commercial destination. The committee is chaired by Joel McCabe, Desert Mission Neighborhood Renewal.
Turning Hatcher Road Into a Destination
Hatcher Road and the greater Sunnyslope community are a home to thousands of people who are proud of their lives and experiences in and around Sunnyslope. But there was clear consensus from the community that we should concentrate efforts of the committee to improve the safety of this vital roadway and help support business and property owners along Hatcher Rd. from 19th Ave. to Cave Creek Rd. The community would like Hatcher road to be a pleasant pedestrian oriented multiuse shopping and dinning area. Creating a pedestrian destination on Hatcher road will not only give Sunnyslope residents a sense of community pride, but it will also improve public safety, reduce neighborhood cut-through traffic, and improve business.
Throughout the redevelopment planning process, stakeholders from the residential and commercial areas around Hatcher road expressed interest in seeing new development and redevelopment along the area’s commercial corridors be mixed use. Mixed use developments refers to developments on a single parcel or within a master plan development which contains some mix of uses, such as residential, office, retail, commercial, institutional. Mixed-use developments allow for street level retail and commercial close to the sidewalk and residential uses.
Success to Date
One of the least expensive methods to address crime and curb accidents is to add additional street lighting. Working closely with the City of Phoenix Streets and Transportation Department a funding application was recently approved by ADOT and the City of Phoenix for additional street lights. This project adds 21 new street lights and poles with high pressure sodium lights to Hatcher Rd. Additionally 19 street lights will be added to existing poles and 17 existing street lights will be upgraded. This award is approximately $1,000,000.
The committee has also received approval for a CMAQ grant through the Maricopa Association of Governments. This grant funding provides approximately $840,000 for pedestrian improvements (widening sidewalks and landscape improvements) along the portion of Hatcher Road between 3rd and 5th streets. Combined with federal and city of Phoenix grants, total funding for this project is approximately $1.2 million.
Most recently the committee has been working on establishing an overlay for the Hatcher Rd. corridor to further implement the revitalization plan. The purpose of this overlay is to:
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Encourage economic development |
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Allow full utilization of small or irregularly sized parcels |
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Assist in unifying the overlay area as a cohesive and attractive commercial corridor |
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Create a pedestrian-oriented streetscape |
Through a community driven process the text of a proposed overly has been drafted. The committee began to draft a proposed overlay district to provide design standards, parking options, development incentives and entitlements for existing businesses and future business/property development.
For more information about the Hatcher Road Committee and its plans, e-mail joel.mccabe@jcl.com or visit www.sunnyslopecommunity.org.