Pasco Will Reflect Commitment to Renewing Downtown

Pasco's Downtown Master Plan and the city's mural initiative will be on display during the Washington American Planning Association (APA) Conference next week.

The conference will bring city and professional planners from across the state to Spokane to discuss constant changes in the planning profession such as requirements from the legislature, updated regional planning guidance and growing community expectations.

Attendees will include representatives with the City of Pasco. They plan to discuss what they've done to build widespread community and business support for inclusive planning.

"We've done so many things. Some that are less visible to the public are developing a downtown overlay district which allows policy to be specific to the downtown area. One of the big things we did with that is eliminate parking requirements in the downtown for any redeveloping businesses, which really helps facilitate development." said Jessica Brackin, City of Pasco Long Range Plan Coordinator.

Brackin says the conference is also an opportunity to highlight the city's first public art and mural program.

"We also helped deregulate our murals program. It got rid of some of the overly restrictive rules around displaying public art," Brakken said. "The biggest restriction was on size. You were only allowed to use a quarter size of the wall. So, there's not a restriction on size."

Other highlights planned for the conference include initiatives such as the redesign of Pasco's downtown streets and updated zoning incentives to accommodate more housing and mixed-use developments.

For a look at the Downtown Pasco Master Plan, we've set up a link here.

The Washington State APA Conference will be held October 11-13. Keynote speakers include Governor Jay Inslee and urban designer and independent researcher Megan Oliver with Hello Happy Design.

Get our free mobile app