Over 50 residents come to Staunton West End workshop
STAUNTON — Neither torrential rain nor the slick roads kept Staunton’s West End from coming out and planning its future.
On Tuesday, Central Shenandoah EMS Council hosted a workshop to gather feedback from West End residents. The turnout “exceeded” the expectations of Staunton Senior Planner Rodney Rhodes, who complimented folks for coming out despite the rain. By around 6:30 p.m., 55 people had come to the workshop.
Will Cockrell, one consultant hired by Staunton to work on the project, told The News Leader the city “is focused on creating a vision for the West End and revitalizing W. Beverley Street.”
“The West End has never had a plan that set a clear vision and a comprehensive list of recommendations before. That’s a big deal,” Cockrell said.
The West End project area is encircled by Woodrow Wilson Parkway and Churchville Avenue, ranging from Gypsy Hill Park to Fisher Auto Parts, and extending into the rural land south of Montgomery Hall Park.
The goal for the evening was to identify the communities’ needs, asking those in attendance to include their thoughts on several white boards. The challenges listed on the board included:
a lack of third places, a term referring to places people gather that are not home or work.
“golf course property can’t be used by the full community”
road quality
the streets are “pedestrian hostile”
“need small, local businesses” and “need to extend Staunton Downtown Development Association (SDDA) resources to West End businesses”
a “tent camp” for people who lack access to housing
Attendees were asked to place a sticker by adjectives they felt described the West End. The most stickers were placed by "economically depressed," "abandoned," "vehicle oriented," and "left behind."
The boards also asked about assets to the community, such as the parks, the Community Child Care Center, Jones Garden, and “vibrant people” with “lots of potential."
These data will compliment several previous studies on the West End, such as a Brownfield study in 2021. The Brownfield study, Rhodes explained, assessed specific properties and potential environmental concerns with redeveloping them. This project is more broad, looking at the entire neighborhood.
“We have collected that feedback and documented it,” Cockrell further explained. “If someone has participated in a previous effort, that did not get lost.”
The consultants for the project, EPR, P.C. should sound familiar -- the company recently worked on a similar effort in Uniontown. Uniontown organizer Barbara Lee told The News Leader the company was great to work with, and let community leaders guide the direction of the project and reports in December 2023. Rhodes agreed, saying, “We’re hoping something similar comes out of this project.”
Staunton councilmember Adam Campbell told The News Leader he was also impressed with the Uniontown Action Plan, and he is “looking forward to seeing what comes out with this study as well.” He also noted that studies like this are often the first step to writing viable grant applications.
The group will also collaborate with the Staunton West End Business Association and Historic Staunton Foundation.
West End residents, businesses, and property owners can also provide feedback online in a survey: https://eprpc.mysocialpinpoint.com/west-end. The survey will be active for approximately two more weeks.
“We’ve had about 35 responses to the survey so far,” Cockrell said. “I know I saw some folks filling out hard copy version tonight.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Staunton West End residents tell city planners their hopes and concerns
