'Event' routing questioned at Town Council meeting

by Wanda Combs
Editor

The issue of traffic congestion in the town received attention at the Town Council meeting Thursday night.
Citizens attending the recent public input meetings for the Comprehensive Plan, being developed for both the town and county by the New River Valley Planning District Commission (NRVPDC), had listed a focus on event routing as one of the top priorities. Altogether, there were 220 participants in the meetings, held in Indian Valley, Willis, Floyd, and Check. Jack Whitmore of NRVPDC said residents at the meetings received postcards and they were asked to prioritize issues they were given after hearing comments from Lydeana Martin, the county’s Community and Economic Development Director. In regard to tourism, Whitmore said the participants indicated they wanted to “embrace it, but balance it. They like the historic nature of Floyd and want to preserve it.”
He said citizens liked the “scenic-ness” of the roadways and they had a desire to keep the main intersections into town as a two-lane thoroughfare. He added planners needed to figure out some of the alternative routes Council thinks would be acceptable. He suggested looking at Oxford Street as a possible alternative route for events, saying he would envision road improvements there if that were the case.
That got a reaction from Vice Mayor Michael Patton. “We are a community of 500 people, and we have to live here 24/7. This council member is not receptive to funneling traffic through residential neighborhoods.”
Kevin Byrd, also of the NRVPDC, told Council the citizens at the public input meetings had said traffic congestion is a “health and safety issue.”
Council members agreed.
“Something has to be done on Friday nights or somebody’s going to be hurt,” commented Mayor Will Griffin.
Council member Bruce Turner remarked, “I think the event coordinators on Friday have a responsibility to keep people out of the streets.”
Patton said the town hosts a Jubilee once a year and is the setting for Dickens of a Night every December and in those cases has closed off a portion of the streets. He noted that is different from the business-generated activities on Friday nights. He added the town is also used for the Christmas parades and Veterans Day parades, and he believed the town already adequately handled all of those events. “We’ve managed well up to now.”
The definition of “event” is also something Patton questioned. He said he viewed the Jubilee, Dickens of a Night, and parades as events, but he didn’t view the traffic the Country Store generates as an event. “I view it as a byproduct of that business.”
The Mayor remarked there are probably more people in the Town of Floyd on Friday nights than there are at the Jubilee. Council member Ross Miller added he thought the Friday night activity in town “has become a weekly event.”
“We hope the crowd is bigger after all the money we’ve invested up there,” Patton said. He commented that the benches were put in that area to help draw people off the street. “There’s always been a concern for safety.” Patton said Council wants to be supportive of business.
Responding to earlier suggestions for road changes in town, Patton asked council members, “Are you going to be happy if we lose more parking? That’s one of the biggest needs we have in Floyd.”
Council member Karen Bingham said there is a problem with traffic on Oxford Street now. Patton reemphasized he didn’t like the idea of “dumping a solution” on a residential district.
The Mayor told the representatives from the NRVPDC they had touched on one issue “that got our emotions going.”
Town manager Lance Terpenny asked when an overall draft of the Comprehensive Plan would be available. Later this fall, Byrd replied.. “You have your own plan. The county has their’s.” He added the Plan is a working document.
“I appreciate all the PDC does for us,” Patton said.
“I’ve learned a whole lot talking to 220 people,” Byrd remarked.
Other priorities suggested by citizens included: limiting big box and franchise establishments, increasing recycling and energy conservation, preserving agriculture, increasing the number of trails and sidewalks in the community, protecting agriculture land and water resources through zoning.
A Comprehensive Plan is required by the state every five years.