Have you ever thought out loud “Why can’t we…” or “Wouldn’t it be great if we have…” while walking in downtown Sultan? Well, on May 21, 2005, you have an opportunity to get your wishful thinking on paper and be heard by other fellow Sultan citizens at a

VISIONING WORKSHOP FOR DOWNTOWN SULTAN !

SO WHAT IS THIS VISIONING WORKSHOP ABOUT?

Visioning is a way of painting a picture of how we want the future to be like, whether for our own personal lives, or for our family, neighborhood or city. This “picture” may be drawn visually, or told as a story, or described as a collection of experiences. For instance, as children, we dream of what we will be when we grow up – doctors, firefighters, teachers, artists, etc. In our teens, we may have had a vision of our first car, our first job, our first girlfriend or boyfriend, or our life away from home, etc. Our vision eventually became a concrete plan, made up of a set of goals – how we are going to apply for that dream job, how we are going to save money to buy that dream car, how we will dress to impress the opposite sex, and how we will survive without our parents! Our vision provides us a destination point in life.

In the same way, we have a vision of our community, although we don’t consciously think about it. Some of us moved to Sultan because we dreamed of living in a small town where everyone knows their neighbor by name. Others may have moved here because they liked to live close to nature yet be accessible to the urban amenities of Seattle. When you talk to your neighbors, business people, public officials, and friends, you may have noticed that they too have their own vision for living in Sultan. Some of their vision may be like yours, others may not.

YOU CAN HELP CREATE THE DOWNTOWN OF THE FUTURE!

Downtown Sultan is the heart of our City; yet, we don’t have a clear direction for its future development. Although we saw some wonderful development such as the new City Hall in the last few years, our big challenge is how to make our downtown grow the way we want it to grow.

This is where your opinions and suggestions can help. You have been invited to this Visioning Workshop because you are one of the individuals whose presence in the downtown will make a difference in its future development. We want to get everyone

together so we can put together ONE unified vision for downtown Sultan. At the end of the day, we will have a Vision that will be a springboard for a Downtown Plan later on. This Downtown Plan will be our roadmap to realizing our Vision for a successful downtown.

Our keynote speaker will be Shari Stuart, a national and local expert in Main Street development. Shari will get us started with a great perspective on how to get results for our Downtown Vision.

THE VISIONING WORKSHOP WILL BE FROM 9 A.M. TO 4 P.M. ON MAY 21, 2005, SATURDAY. REFRESHMENTS AND LUNCH WILL BE SERVED COMPLIMENTS OF THE CITY OF SULTAN.

If you can’t make it to this one but wish to join us in future workshops, please call Donna Murphy (360-793-2231) so she can let you know about future workshops and planning activities.

This event is being organized by a group of professional planners, volunteering their time through the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association. Collectively, they bring hundreds of years of experience in small-town planning and economic development.

SHERI STUART, (Keynote Speaker)

Program Officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Main Street Center (NMSC), 1998 - present

Shari Stuart coordinates the technical services of the Main Street programs for seven states, including Washington. Her office is involved in program evaluations, organization development, work plan development, visioning, fundraising, volunteer development, promotion assistance, and needs assessments for small town main street development.

Prior to working for NMSC, Sheri served as Executive Director of the Port Townsend Main Street Program for eight years. During her tenure, the program received numerous state awards, as well as twice being recognized as a semi-finalist in the Great American Main Street Awards.

BEN FRERICHS (Facilitator)

Senior Economist/Principal, Economic Consulting Services

Mr. Frerichs brings to the Visioning Workshop 37 years of experience in real estate, municipal finance, economic development, community revitalization, growth and strategic planning. His experience has been diverse, ranging from typical real estate feasibility analysis to analyses of the implications for real estate values and development near land fill sites and public amenities; from the impact of fire code revisions on small businesses to economic development strategies to move a community toward its vision.

HEATHER MCCARTNEY, FAICP (Facilitator)

Planning Director, City of Mukilteo

Ms. McCartney served on the Stevens Pass Greenway Board for 9 years and has over 25 years of experience in comprehensive land use, energy, environmental and open space planning in the Pacific Northwest. She has been given two awards for redevelopment projects in Mukilteo, one involving the Federal Fuel Depot, the other involving the coordination with 4 regional transportation agencies and the Port of Everett for waterfront projects. With her intimate understanding of planning issues along the corridor, and her distinguished achievement in redevelopment plans, she will be a valuable resource at this Visioning Workshop

JOHN OWEN, AIA (Facilitator)

Chair, Seattle Planning Commission

Mr. Owen brings a wealth of experience in team-oriented community participation design for this Visioning workshop. As a partner at Makers, an urban design and planning consulting firm, Mr. Owen’s professional experience covers a variety of work, ranging from waterfronts and public improvement projects to site master planning, comprehensive planning, and urban design projects.

JERRY B. SCHUTZ (Facilitator)

Consultant, Balanced Transportation Concepts

Mr. Schutz is currently involved with the communities along State Route 2 corridor as Vice President for the West region of the Steven Pass Greenway Board of Directors. In his previous employment as the manager of the State Department of Transportation planning office, he oversaw the projects on SR 2. He is also the current committee chair of the Transportation Research Board’s Committee on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities. His in-depth involvement in transportation planning along SR 2 will help provide the transportation-related perspective to this Visioning Workshop for Downtown Sultan.

ROGER WAGONER, FAICP (Organizer)

Consultant, Bureau Veritas/Berryman and Henigar

Mr. Wagoner has been working for small towns and rural communities throughout Washington for many years. His experience includes comprehensive plans, downtown plans, economic development, development permit reviews, and transportation. His firm developed the Industrial Park Master Plan for Sultan and he will soon be working on Monroe’s Transportation Plan. He has also worked for other local communities including Gold Bar (Comprehensive Plan) and Skykomish (Comprehensive Plan, Parks, Trails and Open Space Plan, and Vision Plan).

AMY TARCE, AICP, Assoc. AIA (Organizer)

Senior Planner, City of Redmond

Ms. Tarce missed working on revitalization plans and conducting community-based planning workshops so she happily volunteered to organize this one. She has 7 years of experience in urban design, strategic planning, code writing, land use, and environmental planning as a consultant in Chicago. She has developed commercial area revitalization plans, streetscape designs, needs assessments and transit-oriented neighborhood plans.