East Sidney Expansion consultants address concerns

With two days of open-house feedback under their belts, East Sidney Expansion Project officials wrapped up the first round of public input with a 90-minute formal presentation Thursday evening at Cheyenne County Community Center.

“This is a very complicated project,” said Jeff Winston, master plan consultant of MIG/Winston. “It’s easy to build a home, but it’s more difficult to create a neighborhood.”

MIG/Winston is part of the consulting team put in place by Cabela’s, which on Nov. 19 announced its purchase of 480 acres of land, which has the potential of adding 800 or more new homes.

Sidney’s potential housing boom will take years, but in the early stages of the process, citizens here will have the consultants’ collective ear in terms of scope and direction of the plans. Public comment is being sought to determine the scope and direction of the project.

Citizens were able to attend open houses Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, and offer their input and opinions on a wide range of issues.

The neighborhood development will fall within the boundaries of Parkland Avenue, Fort Sidney Road, U.S Highway 30 (Illinois Avenue) and Highway 385 (L17 J-Link).

Sidney Regional Medical Center recently announced plans to build its new facility on a 40-acres sight in the area, and Winston said the expansion project is trying to keep pace.

“The hospital is moving ahead quickly,” Winston noted. “We are trying to move along, and this is a project that will revitalize attitudes in the community. We will also work closely with the hospital during this time. Additional housing was the number one issue in the city’s 2012 Comprehensive Plan, and we understand its importance.”

Numerous issues were discussed by the project team during the presentation, including utilities (sewer and power line concerns), drainage issues, potential elementary school construction, potential commercial properties, parks, trails, sports fields, and other convenience services.

Officials Thursday were touting the project — defined as a “partnership of the community and local businesses” — to perhaps create up to 1,000 homes, which could mean up to 3,000 additional residents. That number, figured in with the hospital staff, would lead to a need for daily amenities.

“People might have the need to have services in the area,” Winston said. “Things like a place to grab lunch, maybe a dental or eye clinic.”

Winston was quick to note that the project won’t attempt to lure restaurants or shops, in moving away from downtown Sidney.

“We don’t want downtown struggling because of this,” Winston said.

Two streets will undergo eastern expansion in the project, those being Toledo and Parkland avenues. Both will eventually extend to L17 J-Link. It is estimated that future daily traffic flow in the area could rise to 10,000 to 15,000 trips.

“New and existing roadway should accommodate the future traffic,” Winston said.

Winston added that in its current state, Sidney is already quite accessible.

“There’s no place in Sidney that’s not convenient,” Winston said. “You can get anywhere in four or five minutes.”

Designs of the housing were shown during a Power-Point presentation, with varying sizes. Most of the duplexes will have small front yards, and entrance doors will face different directions.

“We want bigger back yards,” Winston said, “and there will be plenty of space in the alley ways for people to have additional parking, or for people to park their boats.”

Recreation considerations include tennis courts, sand volleyball courts, a dog park, basketball courts, skate park, cricket pitch, soccer fields, football and possibly an ampitheater that could accommodate up to 300 concert-goers.

An extension of the current Legion Park along Lodgepole Creek could also be considered, as well as a disc golf course around the flood plain corridor.

“The idea is to activate this area,” Winston said.

Drainage in the proposed neighborhood should be able to run off towards the nearby water treatment plant, and water quality will not suffer.

Dennis Armstrong, Cabela’s corporate architect, was asked how the consulting team was created.

“The only way we felt we could make sense of the project was asking for a variety of planning consultants,” Armstrong explained. “We mostly focused on groups that knew the high plains and had dealt with small communities.

“Jeff’s team came with an approach of taking ideas from residents, and to use them to move forward

“People have a hard time seeing things on a piece of paper; by allowing them to interact with the consultants it allows those ideas to be visualized,” Armstrong said.

In addition to MIC/Winston, other consulting firms in on the project include Wolff Lyon Architects (design), Fox Tuttle Group (transportation), Martin / Martin (infrastructure) and MetroStudy (market analysis). All are based in the Boulder, Colo. area.

According to Winston, a review and refinement of the plan will occur in February, with a finalization of the plan coming in March.