Skyline Planning and Preservation Alliance
  
Skyline Parkway status
As part of SPPA's action plan, particularly point 8, SPPA is working with the City to see a corridor management plan written for Skyline Parkway, and to have Skyline Parkway listed as not only a State Scenic Byway, but also a National Scenic Byway.

This page collects material relevant to that effort.

WSPPA meeting, September 19, 2000

(These notes from Nancy Nelson)

About 20 people attended the WSPPA meeting on Tuesday September 19. Our speaker, Bill Majewski from the City Planning and Development Department, explained what is involved in designating Skyline Parkway as a local historic landmark. To summarize very briefly, his recommendation is that the corridor management plan should be completed first, then we can approach the Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) to move forward with designation as a Local Heritage Preservation Landmark. Those who attended the WSPPA meeting agreed that we should pursue this designation.

In 1997 the Duluth HPC received a grant from the MN Historical Society for an evaluation of Skyline Parkway. This evaluation was completed by Patrick Nunnally, a consultant from the Twin Cities. According to Nunnally's report, Skyline Parkway meets the following three (of seven) criteria listed in Duluth's ordinance for Historic Preservation Landmarks (only one is required for designation):

(a) It has character, interest, or value as part of the development heritage or cultural characteristics of the city of Duluth.
(c) It is identified with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the culture or development of the city of Duluth (Mayor Sam Snively).
(g) Its unique location or singular physical characteristics represent an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community, or the city as a whole.

In 1998 Skyline Parkway was designated as a State Scenic Byway. (This designation is separate from the local designation.) One of the requirements for a State Scenic Byway is the preparation of a corridor management plan. Thanks to the efforts of Jill Fisher (before she left her job with the city), the city recently received a grant of $77,500 to prepare the corridor management plan for Skyline Parkway. The management plan will be done by a hired consultant and the planning process will include public input. The corridor management plan will address the following issues:

  • Roadway improvements, especially in relation to maintaining the route's historic character.
  • Completion of the route in areas where it was planned but never constructed.
  • Landscaping, especially to enhance and maintain senic vistas.
  • Signage to alleviate current problems with following the route.
  • Traffic safety concerns over conflicts between different user groups (joggers, bicyclists, motorists).
  • Recreational trail enhancements.
  • Interpretive opportunities.
  • Estimates of costs for restoration work and new improvements as identified.
  • Timeline for capital improvements and identification of possible funding sources for physical improvements.

The corridor management plan has not yet been started. The city council approved acceptance of the grant money at their last meeting. It is possible that the consultants that have been hired for the comprehensive plan will also do the corridor management plan.

Once the corridor management plan is completed, we will meet with the HPC to recommend local heritage preservation landmark status. If the HPC agrees with the request, they must hold a public hearing, then the planning commission must review it, then the city council must review it, and another public hearing must take place. The designation could then be approved.

What is the significance of designation? The HPC ordinance says "Upon final designation of a heritage preservation landmark...the commission shall adopt heritage preservation guidelines specific to the landmark or district. Such guidelines shall detail allowable architectural and/or site modifications, essential features to be retained, and any other criteria by which future proposals for modifications shall be judged. These guidelines are intended to provide assurance to owners of properties within the heritage preservation landmark that any permit review process will be based on clear and objective standards rather than the taste of individual commission members."

Stay tuned...we will notify WSPPA members as soon as more definite information is available about plans for preparing the corridor management plan.