Downtown Beautification Project Gets Strong Public Support in Survey
Nearly 300 residents respond to online survey as Norris Design completes first phase of public engagement
This article and corresponding image originally appeared in the Lake Powell Chronicle.
The Downtown Beautification and Revitalization Project received overwhelming support in its first round of public engagement, with 294 people responding to an online survey and 63% expressing excitement about the project.
Norris Design presented preliminary results to the Page City Council Oct. 8 after completing the first phase of public outreach that ran from Sept. through early Oct.
“We are a little over a month in, had a several-week run of kind of active engagement, and now we’re about to take a break and process and prepare for the next segment where we’ll be showing some design options,” said Claire Eddleman-Heath of Norris Design.
The survey results showed strong participation from the community.
Of the 294 total respondents, 239 were residents of Page, 23 were business owners, 74 work in downtown Page and 208 visit downtown daily.
“That’s a great number,” Eddleman-Heath said of the survey response.
At the end of the survey, 127 people took time to provide additional written comments.
Public Sentiment
Eddleman-Heath broke down the sentiment of the written comments for the council.
“63% were really excited about the project, or had very helpful information, things they’ve noticed, and I’ll talk a little bit about some of the themes from that,” she said.
Another 26% were neutral comments or concerns about items outside the project scope, such as changes to the curves of Lake Powell Boulevard, which are not part of the current project plan.
“But there were 11% that just really said, we want Page to stay as is, no changes, please. So I want you to be aware of those too,” Eddleman-Heath said.
“But overall, we heard a lot of green lights, and even had some people say thanks, or glad the City Council is taking this direction. So mostly looking positive here,” she said.
Key Themes
The design team identified several recurring themes in the public comments.
Pedestrian friendliness and safety for pedestrians came up frequently.
“Family-friendly spaces and activities. Shade, with an emphasis on natural shade, trees, and how that relates to pedestrian friendliness and using the site,” Eddleman-Heath said.
Respondents also wanted the project to be unique to Page.
“So the themes and colors and design aspects we’ll be exploring. Wanted to see that really represent this community and this place,” she said.
Heritage was another important theme, including both the history of Page and representation of Navajo culture and history.
Safety concerns about personal safety and incidents in the project area also came up.
“So looking at ways to incorporate that into the design, and also teaming with the City on ways for it to be maintained and operated too,” Eddleman-Heath said.
Navigation and visibility were also mentioned, with residents wanting clear wayfinding for visitors.
“For local residents, they see people coming out of town and wanting them to have more tools and things to find where they need to go,” she said.
Outreach Methods
The first phase of engagement included multiple outreach strategies.
The team posted A-frames with QR codes at events like Oktoberfest and placed posters on community boards, including at the recreation center.
They developed a project website where people could learn about the project and created social media posts and announcements on the Page app.
One weakness in the first phase was in-person turnout.
A town hall held Oct. 7 had low attendance.
“That’s going to be something that we’re looking at for next steps because we really want to see the in-person turnout as well as online turnout, and so thankful that we have a long process here to come up with ways to get people to turn out a little more, or a lot more,” Eddleman-Heath said.
Next Steps
The second phase of public engagement launches Nov. 1.
“That’s going to be when we’re going to show two design options for this space, incorporating a lot of this feedback,” Eddleman-Heath said.
The team plans to increase outreach to business owners and add independent engagement with them.
“We did get 23, but with the comments, there’s a lot more to chase. And also understanding some of the grant requirements, that’s going to be an important piece,” she said.
The preliminary demographics showed the 34-and-under group was underrepresented, despite being a big part of park users, especially from the high school and families.
The final in-person events will take place the week after the Christmas parade Dec. 6.
The team plans to coordinate announcements with the Balloon Regatta Nov. 1 to maximize exposure.
Council Suggestions
Councilor Tom Preller asked about the Nov. 1 start date.
“Is that going to be like a townhouse? That’s our Balloon Regatta that day, and there’s a lot of vendor fair and everything like that,” Preller said.
Eddleman-Heath clarified that Nov. 1 would be the kickoff for opening a new survey and announcement campaign.
“So the final dates will happen after the Christmas parade Dec. 6. That following week we’ll be back to do in-person things. So that’s just the kind of kickoff so we can have announcements timed with the regatta so that we’re getting a lot of exposure,” she said.
Councilor Amanda Hammond suggested engaging with schools.
“I would encourage you to tie into the schools and find out what’s on their calendar, both with the theater and sports. Basketball is hugely attended. So I imagine even if you had like handout QR codes, I don’t know how many people you could get to stand still and give you engagement at the game. But even if you had, like I said, flyers or something to give out and encourage more people to attend later, if you could engage them at a basketball game, you’d get a lot of great input,” Hammond said.
Councilor Debi Roundtree emphasized the value of getting input from Balloon Regatta attendees.
“A lot of people who come to the Balloon Regatta come every year for the regatta. And so they visit Page regularly, and it would be interesting as a council to have people who are outside of Page’s opinion or impressions of the beautification process. So I would like to see a big event during the regatta on people’s input and asking for input at that time,” Roundtree said.
Timeline Considerations
Councilor Kenna Hettinger raised a scheduling concern.
“It sounds like Dec. 6-ish time is when you’re planning on wrapping up. And I think we did plan to get rid of both of our December meetings, so we might need to bring back that first December meeting if they’re going to be here in town or consider extending this period,” Hettinger said.
Mayor Steven Kidman asked how much time the design team would need after the Dec. engagement period.
Eddleman-Heath said they could look at different options and might report back to the council in Jan. since they won’t start stage three until Feb. .
“That helps for us because we should start booking that pretty soon,” she said.
Hettinger clarified she wasn’t trying to rush the process.
“I just wanted to make sure that you didn’t plan to come up here and none of us were planning to be here,” Hettinger said.
Preller asked whether the survey data would be released to the city or public.
“Yes. We should talk about it, it’s not always typical to release the full data, but we will be providing a more detailed summary,” Eddleman-Heath said.
She said the high-level results, including visual preference survey results that need more time to process, would be transparent and posted to the website.
Hettinger noted that some survey questions indicated users could select multiple options but the functionality didn’t work properly.
Eddleman-Heath said the team was aware of the issue.
“In the next stage, we’re going to take the top selected, as well as the one people had trouble selecting, and add that to the survey so that we really make sure people had a chance to do it,” she said.
The Downtown Beautification and Revitalization Project is funded through federal grants and focuses on improvements to the downtown area, excluding any changes to the curves of Lake Powell Boulevard.