Thoughts on UDC’s Proposed Lamond-Riggs Campus Plan

Posted by nextstoprp in UDC Lamond-Riggs Campus & Expansion (formerly Bertie Backus Campus)

The Zoning Commission is having a public hearing on UDC’s proposed Lamond-Riggs campus plan on October 30, 2023, at 4:00 pm (ZC case no. 23-16). Instructions for how to sign up to testify orally or to submit written testimony are in the hearing notice. Note that the Zoning Commission encourages individuals to submit requests to testify orally at least 24 hours before the hearing. All written testimony must be submitted to the record at least 24 hours before the hearing.

ANC 5A voted to support the campus plan with conditions at the ANC meeting held on October 25, 2023. (I will link to the letter once I get a copy of it. Update 10/31/2023: ANC 5A Letter of Support).

UDC’s Lamond-Riggs campus, formerly known as the Bertie Backus campus, is located at 5171 South Dakota Avenue NE. The campus, which occupies a large city block between Galloway Street and Hamilton Street NE, houses the university’s community college program. UDC is proposing to double campus enrollment over 10 years, from a current enrollment of roughly 1,500 students to 3,000 by 2033. UDC is proposing a two-phase campus development process.

UDC’s campus plan website is https://www.udc.edu/campus-master-plan.

Phase 1 would involve renovating the existing buildings on campus. Edited to add: UDC is requesting to proceed with Phase 1 renovations as a matter of right. The university would return to the Zoning Commission to proceed with Phase 2 activities.

Phase 2 would involve constructing a new wing on the campus.

UDC has stated that they envision Phase 2 activities taking place during years 5-10 of the plan.

A few informational documents below

Filed Documents

Campus Plan Requirement

Universities are required to submit 10-year campus plans for approval by the Zoning Commission. When UDC submitted the most recent plan for its main campus (Van Ness) in 2021, the Zoning Commission told UDC that the university also had to submit a plan for the Lamond-Riggs campus. So that’s how we got to this point where UDC is submitting its first campus plan for the Lamond-Riggs campus.

The goals of the campus plan regulations are to ensure that campuses are:
1) well-planned and designed;
2) have long-term facilities plans;
3) minimize negative impacts that universities may have on surrounding residential neighborhoods; and
4) have planning processes that are consistent and transparent.

These factors are what we need to keep in mind when we think about UDC’s proposed Lamond-Riggs campus plan.

My thoughts

Recall from this post that a few years ago, a neighbor and I approached UDC about making some much needed improvements to the existing campus, and I worked with the council to get some money in the budget for some small improvements. I think UDC has done a good job about making the small improvements with the little bit of money budgeted–repairing broken windows, replacing the rusted chain link fence, repairing broken concrete, replacing faded banners, and other small fixes. It took some time to get these things done and more is needed still, but I think UDC has done a decent job so far. Even though this was separate from the campus plan process, I want to start off by saying something positive before getting into where I think UDC went off track with the campus plan process.

I think UDC officials could have done a much better job stewarding this campus plan process. I acknowledge that the pandemic was hard time for everyone and producing this plan during a pandemic presented challenges. The university was also going through a search for a new president during this period and that required a lot of time and attention.

So I think university officials treated this campus plan process the same way they treat the campus itself, like an afterthought. From the very beginning, it was unclear who at the university was really taking ownership of this process. At meetings, basic questions went unanswered or were met with either dismissiveness or defensiveness. Follow-up through “official” channels was terrible. The campus plan site was not kept up to date and even when I pointed out numerous times that it would be helpful to keep the site up to date, UDC officials still took several months to update it. None of this really engenders trust that when buildings start getting renovated and construction starts in earnest, that UDC will communicate effectively about anything.

I shared some thoughts about specifics in the plan with UDC officials and the ANC. They mostly concern the transportation, sustainability, community relations, and campus character elements of the plan. Summarized below.

Transportation

UDC and DDOT have to do something about the South Dakota Avenue & Hamilton Street intersection. UDC is relocating loading/servicing to the Hamilton Street side of the campus. UDC got around to letting us know that they plan to have trucks less than 30 feet servicing the site between 9:00 am & 4:00 pm, while requesting flexibility to adjust those hours. Currently, loading/servicing is accessed via Galloway Street.

UDC is proposing to add bumpouts at the intersections of South Dakota/Galloway and South Dakota/Hamilton in the second phase of the plan. I think if UDC wants to send trucks up Hamilton, they need to work with DDOT to address the fact that people going to the campus and the gym across the street from the campus continue to park all the way up to the crosswalk in the 500 block of at Hamilton and sometimes even partially in the crosswalk itself. I have alerted DDOT, the MOCR, the council office, and the transportation committee about this on several occasions. It took DDOT years to put in a “no parking/no standing” sign on the south side of the street and while appreciated, as we already knew would happen, people just ignore the sign and park wherever they want even though there is free validated parking for gym patrons in the garage across the street. DPW does spotty parking enforcement. Trucks are not going to be able to make that turn onto Hamilton if nothing is done about people parking their cars right up to the intersection.

UDC said they cannot install bumpouts in the first phase because of work DDOT is planning for South Dakota Avenue. But DDOT has not communicated what it is planning to do on South Dakota Avenue or a timeline for that work so it seems strange for UDC to say that a bumpout can be installed in Phase 2 but not Phase 1. UDC needs to work with DDOT to keep people from parking too close to the intersection at South Dakota/Hamilton sooner rather than later. And while they are at it, they should fix the crumbling curb outside the campus before a car ends up on the sidewalk.

We have also asked about installation of a bikeshare station on or near the campus grounds on the east side of South Dakota Avenue. DDOT has said for a couple of years now that a bikeshare station will be installed on the west side of South Dakota Avenue near The Modern but my understanding is that that plan has been held up. Seems like a bikeshare station could go on the east side of the street.

Sustainability

I think UDC should have recycling cans outside its campus near Hamilton & near Galloway. There are two 7-Eleven stores in the vicinity. People going to the campus and to the gym or just generally walking by sometimes just drop bottles, cans, and trash along the street. I know UDC has recycling receptacles inside the building. I think they should put a couple outside the building. UDC said this request is out of scope of the plan. That is really an odd thing to say when there is are two public trash cans outside on the campus grounds and UDC could simply make accommodation for a recycling can next to them. The same way public parks and schools in the city have outdoor public trash and recycling cans, I do not see why UDC thinks it is too much to ask for there to be an outdoor public recycling can on the campus.

UDC also talks a lot about the activities of the food hub on the campus but I would not exactly describe what is written in the plan as accurate. I will just say that I think the food hub is a great civic asset to the neighborhood and I think the university needs to do a much better job of managing the food hub at this particular location.

Also, I think the university can be a good neighbor by picking up trash daily along Hamilton, South Dakota, and Galloway, and also picking up trash along the parkland in the 500 block of Galloway. UDC is planning a new wing that will embrace views of the parkland so might as well help to keep the parkland clean.

Community Relations

I think UDC needs an actual outreach and communications plan. It is weird to me that UDC did not have an open house about the campus plan at the campus at all. Nor did UDC put any information about the plan at the campus itself. It is clear from this process that UDC does not have an actual plan about how it will conduct outreach and it is honestly baffling. The most obvious places to start are the ANC, civic association, and Main Street. Information could be placed at the campus itself and at the Lamond-Riggs Library. Once they have a plan, again someone really needs to take ownership of that piece so that it is done effectively.

Campus Character

UDC has big plans for the campus development. I think the university should think about ways to connect the university with the surrounding neighborhood. That can be done through signage, programming open to the public, internship opportunities at this particular campus, highlighting educational opportunities at the campus, and connecting the dots between the community college and pathways to careers that offer family-sustaining wages.

Other thoughts

Building upon these suggestions, other recommendations that residents made were for UDC to have a transportation demand management plan, provide information about bicycle access, seek ways to improve pedestrian connectivity to the campus and nearby destinations, and outline steps to reduce waste.

If you would like to let the Zoning Commission know your thoughts, instructions are in the hearing notice.

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