PORT TOWNSEND — Two federal grants will soon solve two city problems.
A $200,000 Preserve America grant was awarded to the city on Jan. 16 to create signage in the downtown area.
The grant means the city can now address the concern over sandwich-board signs cluttering the downtown area and out of compliance with city code.
Also, Public Safety Analyst Ken Horvath said he was “99 percent sure” that the city would be seeing grant money from FEMA to refit the downtown sidewalks.
The sidewalks throughout most of downtown Port Townsend are hollow underneath and are being supported by 100-year-old rebar and cement.
“We have been told that the hazard mitigation grant has been recommended for award,” Horvath said.
“That means we’re probably going to get it, but we haven’t been assigned the money yet.”
City Manager David Timmons said if the grant through FEMA is approved, the city will receive $879,000 to repair the sidewalks along Water Street.
Both topics have been brought up in the last year as points of concern for public safety — and now it looks likely that both problems will be addressed by the end of the year.
Voids under sidewalks
Horvath said the most accessible void is under Taylor street — there people may enter the empty space from a flight of stairs on the sidewalk on the west side of the street.
Underground he points up to a section of concrete where the rebar has become exposed.
Cracked and rusted, it’s clear the sidewalks need some work, Horvath said.
“The sidewalks are decaying internally,” he said.
“In a seismic event, all the sidewalks could collapse into tunnels beneath them.
“This grant allows us to go in and fix that.”
Horvath said there would be no filling of the voids, but rather a removal of the old sidewalk lids and a complete reconstruction of the sidewalks.
“Most of these are the basements of storefronts, and they are being used,” he said.
“In the case of Taylor Street, they are trying to lease the space out.
“So no, we won’t be filling them in.”
The reasons for the holes vary.
In some cases, sidewalks were built over old basements, coal chutes or fuel-storage tanks.
In others, only piers hold up the sidewalks, Horvath said.
Decay has eaten away the support structures of some areas of sidewalk.
In 2007, the city was advised by a structural engineer to take immediate action to reinforce the sidewalks.
City officials had heavy, brick tree planters removed from the walkways along Taylor Street, and some sections of sidewalk were given temporary reinforcement while grant money was sought.
After the city hired engineers to scan for voids last May, Horvath said the big concern now is a large earthquake.
Even if all the sidewalks are repaired, the downtown area is still considered a liquefaction zone, and unless all the buildings are seismically refitted, a large quake could take down a lot of historic downtown.
“There is a fault along Whidbey Island capable of throwing off magnitude 7.2 earthquakes, and that would likely take out some sidewalks, streets and buildings,” Horvath said.
Horvath is currently rewriting the hazard mitigation plan for not only the city, but also all the special districts in the county.
“We do the plan as a multi-jurisdictional plan, so every fire, school and water district are included in it,” he said.
“That is what allows us to apply for grants to fix the problems.”
Horvath said the rewritten plan will be completed in November 2009.
“It will include downtown in that plan,” he said.
When that is completed, it is possible that the city will be able to apply for more grants.
In the meantime, Horvath said it is safe to walk on the century-old sidewalks — just don’t drive delivery trucks onto them.
“Give them credit,” Horvath said.
“Those sidewalks are 100 years old, and they’ve done a pretty good job.”
Horvath said he expected construction on the sidewalks would begin later in the year.
Signage
In July, the City Council heard recommendations from both the Planning Commission and an ad hoc sign committee regarding the number of sandwich boards on the sidewalks.
The council voiced concern that the clutter from the signs caused safety hazards on the sidewalks as it bottle-necked pedestrians.
Also, the council voiced concern over how bad the signs looked.
The catch was that the city has a sign code, but it had been suspended in 2004.
“The city put a code into effect and didn’t enforce it,” said Timmons at the meeting in July.
“That’s why we’re at where we’re at now.”
City Planner Rick Sepler gave the council an overview of the situation in July as well.
A survey of signs in the National Historic Landmark District — which includes downtown and uptown — taken in 2007 found that only 45 percent of sandwich-board signs are legal.
All sandwich-board signs outside of the district are illegal unless they are used for community-based events such as the Port Townsend Farmer’s Market.
However, all the signs remain because the code is not being enforced.
“There are several businesses who have followed the code and have gone through the permitting process,” Sepler said.
“Meanwhile, their competitors have not, and that creates an unfair advantage.”
Sepler added that their frequency in the downtown area has prompted some to consider them clutter.
Several council members inquired whether the goal of the council could be to have no sandwich-board signs at all.
Sepler informed them that both the ad hoc group and the Planning Commission had echoed that sentiment.
No decision was made to change the code or to begin enforcing it.
One suggestion was to add kiosk signs to the downtown areas where entrepreneurs could purchase signage directing pedestrians to their businesses.
Horvath said the Preserve America grant will create that opportunity.
With the money, the city will design and implement a way-finding sign and marker program that will guide visitors to important destinations throughout the town.
On these signs, the space will be available for business advertisements.
“It’s basically for unifying the cultural and historic features of that area,” Horvath said.
“And yes, this might get rid of the sandwich-board signs.”
The council would still have to make a decision on whether to remove the signs once the kiosks go up — a project also expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Sepler said that any changes to the ordinance must be consistent and fair and would require further thought.
“It’s a very emotional issue,” Sepler said.
“Getting folks in the door isn’t just a challenge. It’s a matter of surviving.”
Jefferson County reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
