Reinvorgorating Ramona

Just about anyone who cares about Ramona will converge downtown next week for workshops to look at encouraging pedestrian-friendly development .

Neighborhood groups, the Village Design Review Committee, county and Sheriff's Department representatives, fire agency personnel, property owners and the general public will weigh in on how to create building codes that will encourage shoppers to stroll along Main Street.

The workshops and the planning work that will follow—coordinated by the county’s Department of Planning and Land Use—are being funded by a $103,000 grant from the California Department of Transportation and $15,000 in Neighborhood Reinvestment Funds from County Supervisor Dianne Jacob.

“This is a great opportunity for Ramona residents to take part in a process that will help shape what their Main Street will look like in the future,” Jacob stated in a news release. “People who live in our unincorporated communities, like Ramona, know how important it is to maintain their community’s unique character.”

The intensive week-long effort will kick off at 9 a.m. Monday and conclude at 7 p.m. Saturday. It will begin with a tour of Ramona’s downtown area and include meetings between the various groups.

The goal is to conclude with design ideas to be forged into “form-based” codes. Proponents have described form-based codes as “grass roots planning by, and for, communities,” according to a county news release.

The Department of Planning and Land Use routinely works on special projects with unincorporated communities when opportunities arise, the release states. In the past DPLU helped Fallbrook create a Specific Plan tailored to its downtown area, and it is working with Jamul and Valley Center to create needed community evacuation plans. It also has committed to help Tecate create a Special Study Area.

The public can see the work under way by attending presentations from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday at Century 21, 2102 Main St., and 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at Ramona Community Center.

Ramona’s codes could eventually be included within the county’s zoning ordinance. For more information about the project, go to http://projectramona.com.