InTucker Magazine

Planning Ahead: New Studies Direct Tucker’s Future Growth

As is true of any young city, Tucker has a lot of self-discovery ahead of it. Much of that work was done over the past couple years with the drafting of a Comprehensive Plan. Much more will happen though over the next 12 months. City staff is preparing to award contracts for a number of plans and studies that will do a deep dive into what Tucker is, was and will be in the coming generations. These assessments will impact how our parks are developed, how our roads are improved and how we grow as a destination for businesses and visitors.

If you haven’t followed the plans thus far, there will be ample opportunity for you to get involved in most of these processes in the coming weeks and months, whether through surveys, meetings or just providing online feedback. But for now, here’s an overview of what they may mean to you.

Downtown Master Plan
Anticipated completion: mid-2019
Purpose: To have a blueprint for the growth and redevelopment of Tucker’s downtown looking 20 years into the future. This is an outgrowth of the Comprehensive Plan’s goals to bolster economic development and enhance the downtown with a mixture of retail, restaurants and mixed-use developments.
Impact: This could shape what businesses you see on Main Street, the creation of additional downtown parking options, as well as new buildout in Tucker’s downtown.

Environmental Assessments of Park Properties
Anticipated completion: Summer 2018
Purpose: To assess the environmental condition of the parks and ensure that there are no hazards.
Impact: If the assessment shows any environmental concerns, the City will work to mitigate those, ensuring the health, safety and welfare of its citizens.

Geospatial Data Inventory
Anticipated completion: Fall 2018
Purpose: To provide Geographic Information System (GIS) data for all assets in Tucker rights-of-way, including signs, traffic signals, pavement markings, stormwater inlets, fire hydrants and sidewalks.
Impact: This will let the City know where it needs to improve the quality or visibility of certain assets (e.g. faded stop signs), thus enhancing public safety.

Historic Resource Report
Anticipated completion: Spring 2019
Purpose: To establish a baseline document that lists Tucker’s historic resources (buildings, cemeteries, archaeological sites, etc), as well as a history of the area.
Impact: This would aid in staff evaluations of development and rezoning petitions by indicating where valuable historic resources are located. It would enable the people of Tucker to better understand, grow and plan around their rich history.

Intersection Accident Analysis
Anticipated completion: Summer 2018
Purpose: To identify high accident locations, using data to rank the top 10 most dangerous intersections on state and local roads in Tucker.
Impact: The City will have hard data to use in its efforts to win matching dollars for intersection improvements, as well as to prioritize which intersections need to be addressed. This analysis will offer the City Engineer short-term, intermediate and long-term fixes for some of the issues at these intersections.

Parks Master Plan
Anticipated completion: Late 2018
Purpose: To create a road map showing how we want our Tucker parks to be in the future. Guidelines on future expansions, ensure there are enough parks for the community parks per square mile. This includes studies on staffing, programs, community needs, park ordinances.
Impact: Going forward, the City will better understand what residents want in their parks and will be better equipped to make that happen. You will see new activities and amenities in the parks, as well as better connectivity to the City’s anticipated trail system.

Parks Survey
Anticipated completion: Summer 2018
Purpose: To evaluate the boundaries of Tucker’s parks assets.
Impact: This will give the City better guidance on making decisions regarding potential park expansion or land acquisition.

Pavement Condition Study
Complete
Purpose: To assess every mile of public roadway in the City of Tucker. This survey employed state-of-the-art technology to determine road surface quality, as well as quality of the road base.
Impact: This information was used to prioritize which roads will be resurfaced first in the City’s SPLOST-funded repaving efforts. More than 20 roads will be resurfaced in 2018, with dozens more planned over the life of the six-year SPLOST.

Sign Ordinance & Overlay Rewrite
Anticipated completion: Spring 2019
Purpose: To rewrite the sign code to establish signage as a design element that can contribute to a sense of place, while balancing the needs of business owners to properly advertise and market their business. This would also amend Tucker’s three overlay districts to streamline the regulations and clarify the design requirements for each overlay. This aligns with the Comprehensive Plan’s goals by enhancing downtown, bolstering the economic base and creating gateways that will improve transportation connections.
Impact: This will create regulations that are more user-friendly and easier to interpret, as well as address items missing from the City’s current codes. It will also lead to more attractive streetscapes, a more business-friendly policy on temporary signage and a streamlined, easy to interpret overlay process.

Trail Master Plan
Anticipated completion: Late 2018
Purpose: To evaluate opportunities for trail connectivity, as well as new trails in the City of Tucker.
Impact: This will provide a vision for a connected, expansive network of trails to run through the City of Tucker. It could also lead to trail connections to neighboring communities.

Transportation Master Plan
Anticipated completion: Spring 2019
Purpose: To gather information with an eye toward improving pedestrian accessibility and safety, traffic congestion, and connectivity of roads and trails. This will take a broader look at the existing conditions of our transportation network and establish priorities, while assessing needs and budget guidelines.
Impact: This will enable City leaders to establish local priorities in terms of funding, as well as clearly demonstrate the needs of the community when pursuing state and federal funds.