Cheyenne officials begin work to set new vision for downtown

Nov. 24—CHEYENNE — City officials gathered Monday evening to begin discussing a new vision for downtown Cheyenne.

Members of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) and the city's Planning Commission met with community planning company Logan Simpson to talk about the development plans for the city's core.

The downtown plan of development is a planning document that is created by the DDA and reviewed by the Planning Commission, which then recommends changes or additions to the governing body, where final action is taken.

There have been several efforts to create this kind of guide since 1991, and Monday's meeting was the first public hearing on the newest one. Currently, Logan Simpson is looking at what the city has done historically, what is happening today and then investigating what Cheyenne should look at creating or changing downtown.

Cameron Gloss, representing Logan Simpson, attended the meeting to have a conversation about the plan with city officials. He said they will be working on background research over the next six weeks so that they can "hit the ground running" when the new year comes.

That background research will roll out in three phases.

First, Logan Simpson will be conducting community questionnaires. They intend to ask residents for their opinions on what changes they'd like to see downtown and how their views on that might have changed over time. Gloss also discussed taking walking tours of downtown to get a better understanding of the physical space.

Next, they will conduct audits of current plans to get a better understanding of what has worked and what has not met expectations.

The final phase is visioning. A large portion of this will be a public rollout though launching a website to solicit public interaction and responses. They will be at more public events going into the spring and summer, and then begin drafting the plan of development for downtown Cheyenne.

At Monday's meeting, board and commission members voiced their opinions on what has worked and what hasn't for the city's downtown.

One of the most common praises was the lights strung above a portion of 17th Street. DDA Board President Wendy Volk was particularly impressed with how well-lit cities like Fort Collins, Colorado, are and said she wants to make all of downtown Cheyenne "sparkle," and not just during the holiday season.

"In a magic world, I would love to see our downtown completely lit up year-round," Volk said.

Members of the joint committee also took pride in things like the bronze sculpture project, the Laramie County Library, Cheyenne Depot Plaza, and public events such as the New Year's Eve ball drop, Edge Fest and the Christmas parade.

Overall, there was a lot of agreement over what has been successful so far. Most of in attendance also agreed that success is not just measured by beautifying the area and putting on public events.

"I think something that envisions and draws investment, a vision that people get excited about and want to invest in, something that draws businesses downtown and then, probably most importantly, something that is attainable and within reach," DDA board member Brian Bau said.

Much of the discussion centered around defining success through economic development by bringing in new businesses and ensuring current business owners are satisfied. They would do this through encouraging more pedestrian activity to bring in more shoppers, incentivizing new development.

"Here, when you go to a place, you drive to it, park and go in that specific store. And then you're back in your car to drive to the next part of downtown to park and go into that one store," said DDA board member Landyn Medina. "There aren't enough stores with foot traffic ... to bring that amount of constant traffic."

DDA board member and City Council member Pete Laybourn also noted the importance of maintaining the basics of downtown before expanding too much — things like infrastructure maintenance and monitoring the quality of curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

Some joint committee members shared thoughts on aspects of downtown that could be better. Sometimes vegetation does not stay alive, museums and retailers closed on Sundays may discourage tourism, and some coffee shops and restaurants cannot make enough money to justify staying open late. While many expressed their support for the downtown indoor parking garage, there were some who thought it could be improved.

"It seems that [homelessness] is a problem that is continuing to grow here in Cheyenne, and I think it affects a lot of aspects of our downtown development," Medina said. "I think with our parking garage, we got a brand new, really good parking garage, but if you're going to a show, and it's anytime in the wintertime when it gets dark at 6 p.m., you don't want to park and walk with your family when you have 10 people from the halfway house smoking cigarettes right across from you.

"I'm not saying they're bad people. I'm not saying that we don't need them here. But I am saying that I think that it needs to be front of mind how to work with different agencies here in Cheyenne to work around that problem. I do think it's affecting more sectors of this plan than we all realize."

While all in attendance expressed support and confidence in Logan Simpson, some are worried that a new development plan may be just like some previous ones that did not spark much change.

"We've had roughly around 24 plans since 1991," said City Council member Richard Johnson. "That's why I'm kind of worried about this one, because we've kind of hit piecemeal on various parts of the plan."

He said that different groups stepping on each other's toes in what they think is best for Cheyenne is what keeps these plans from reaching their full potential.

Between budgetary concerns, various committees, and the desires of property owners and business owners, it can be difficult to find a happy medium, Johnson said.

Noah Zahn is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's local government/business reporter. He can be reached at 307-633-3128 or nzahn@wyomingnews.com. Follow him on X @NoahZahnn.