ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
There has been much talk regarding redevelopment of the downtown area of Liberal, and some of that work could be coming to the community in the near future.
“A very big part of my job is the communications that come out of City Hall every day, but an even bigger part of that is the community engagement we do,” Chief Communications Officer Keeley Young said. “That entails bringing forth ideas from the community, distilling them, crunching everything up, and then bringing them to City of Liberal leadership and the commission. Despite what this agenda item is labeled, this is not solely about angled parking, it’s so much more than that involved. But it is important to recap some of the conversations that have taken place, provide some data that came out of those discussions, and then review some of the major themes from the Comprehensive Plan that could relate to what we want to do.”
Some of the discussions with local businesses, Young said, started in the fall of 2023.
“We did do a survey with businesses set up downtown between the railroad tracks and 4th Street. There were approximately 40 businesses there, and 24 of them participated in the survey, which was available on paper and digitally,” Young said. “I visited these businesses personally over and over again in order to get as many responses as possible. This survey was specifically geared toward angled parking, and the results showed 71 percent of those business owners were in favor of converting to angled parking. 54 percent believed that conversion would bring economic benefits to their business, and 25 percent felt it could negatively impact their business. And I think that’s really important to keep in mind because while we go in there just to shop and browse around, those business owners have invested so much into those ventures, so their viewpoints really need to be kept in mind. Some of the more frequent concerns shared included whether or not there would be more parking spaces available, whether or not it would help increase foot traffic and tourism, whether or not it would help traffic be calmer and safer, and whether or not it would help make downtown more of a destination versus just a drive-through area. There were also people who expressed concern there could be increased congestion due to a decrease in the number of lanes, a reduction in the number of people driving by because of fewer people taking that route, people unloading their trunks in the street, and businesses being less visible from the street because of the cars parked in front of them. And, of course, there were concerns about what would happen with train delays and what could happen.”
Much community input was also sought, Young said.
“We did do a public survey in the spring of 2024 that was super helpful. We had a total of 485 responses from the public, and we asked the question ‘Do you support making changes to parking and traffic flow in downtown Liberal?’” Young said. “51 percent of respondents were in favor and 49 percent were not. 58 percent of people who talk about their experiences did say they were concerned about the overall safety of the current parallel parking setup we have now. 32 percent of people said they never have difficulty finding parking. Again, this survey was very much geared around angled parking, so I think people were thinking more about the logistics of what that could look like versus what could it do for the downtown area, so things got a bit complex. We did have quite a few people say the city needed to bring in more businesses to the downtown area before making any major changes, and there were also some concerns expressed about the potential price tag that could come along with all the work that would need to be done. Some people said they felt there could be an increase in accidents, and some also said they felt there is already enough parking. There was also some concern expressed about emergency vehicles having difficulties getting to a scene.”
Redevelopment of the area, Young said, is part of the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
“The Comprehensive Plan included a community-wide survey along with multiple focus groups, a Steering Committee, and a lot of other input and engagement, and there were some common themes we continued to draw out of that process,” Young said. “It became apparent angled parking alone would not transform the downtown area – in fact, a lot of the needs expressed by people were very different from that. From the survey, about 66 percent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the image of the city in terms of the overall look and environment. When asked where Liberal should focus on new growth and revitalization, the most overwhelming response from people was wanting to see changes downtown. When asked ‘What do you like least about Liberal?,’ the top three responses were the lack of shopping and dining, lack of activities and recreation, and the city’s overall appearance. All of that comes together to give a pretty good picture of not only what improvements are needed, but also where they’re needed. All of that suggested there was a wider vision that was needed for downtown redevelopment and in a lot of the conversations we had specific to downtown, there were multiple key themes that emerged. Angled parking alone is not enough to address what our residents are really looking for, but it’s a step.”
Multiple other suggestions were given during the process, Young said.
“One of the more frequent requests was for increased promotion of mixed-use buildings with upper-story housing above businesses and for the city to make sure we don’t just have a bunch of empty storefronts and working with those owners to keep those buildings active,” Young said. “There were also requests for implementing more aesthetic improvements in terms of the overall look and feel of those downtown public spaces as well as the creation of distinct spots for community character and culture. People also want to see investments in infrastructure for businesses, that was another pretty common theme, as well as a comfortable and safe pedestrian experience. I know a lot of people, as we’ve talked about angled parking, they’re wondering how they’re going to park and how they’re going to drive through downtown, but consideration also has to be given to the people who are walking around and exploring downtown.”
With all of that in mind, Young said it is time to start having serious discussions about next steps given the potentially high investment involved.
“This could include turning lanes, bicycle lanes, traffic signals, sidewalks, crosswalks, safe parking access, lighting, etc., it just depends on how far the city would want to go,” Young said. “This could also include landscaping and greenscaping and the potential expansion of other areas to be turned into gathering spaces. Public art and aesthetic design is also a big deal, we don’t want just plain concrete sidewalks, we want to implement features that would help create that distinct space. And again, investments in infrastructure will also need to be looked at so we have that baseline. There are multiple aspects to look at when it comes to redevelopment like this, and it’s very complex since there are so many requirements and codes and studies that need to be kept in mind when coming up with even just initial ideas of what would and wouldn’t work. It’s important we do everything right when it comes to a potential project of this scale, and I can guarantee there are multiple times when we’ll have to go back to the drawing board. We also want to make sure we have the public’s support, so there will be that engagement that will be taking place.”
