Sedona
Main Street Program enthusiastically nominates Ralph Woellmer for
Arizona Main Street Individual of the Year. He has served as a Sedona
Main Street Program (SMSP) Director for the past five years during which
he has served multiple roles as an Officer on the Executive Board and
chairs a committee. He is both a property owner and business owner in
the SMSP District.
During
this past year, Ralph made three major contributions to the success and
livability of our Main Street district. First, he took it upon his
shoulders to be the main force for representing stakeholder interests in
the north end of the district during our uptown enhancement construction
project, attending all stakeholder meetings, keeping shop owners abreast
of developments and traffic interruptions, making sure signage and
pedestrian directions were clear and accurate, and clearly communicating
with the contractor and city officials on issues that needed attention,
on behalf of SMSP. Second, he saw a potential pedestrian safety and flow
problem and donated approximately $50,000 of his property to the
City for sidewalk right-of-way in the District. Finally, he spearheaded
a public/private bench program that combined the resources of a local
artist and business owners to make possible artistic seating for
pedestrians throughout the enhancement project area in the SMSP
District. This involved input on elements of seating design, meeting
with property owners to embrace bench donation and locations, and
negotiations with the City to secure approval and cooperation. As a
result, Sedona's multi-million dollar sidewalk and streetscape
enhancement exudes human friendliness.
Ralph
recently made a significant impact on another project that culminated in
May of 2006. He played a major role in the movement to get design
guidelines for our District adopted by the City. He literally gave
hundreds of hours of his expertise and passion to transform old
guidelines into the Sedona Main Street and Character Districts Design
Manual, adopted by Council as a modification to Sedona’s Land
Development Code for our historic Main Street District. This project
involved three years of extensive work including acquisition of a
funding grant for consulting services, input/review on text & format,
provision of photos/exhibits, negotiations and revisions based on
extensive input via design professionals, P & Z Commissioners and City
Council.
Ralph
plays a major role in projects that shape our District. Examples
include: Development reviews to ensure buildings, major renovations and
additions meet the new standards to preserve the character of our
District; Negotiations and relationship building with timeshare
representatives to address street solicitation, employee behavior, and
created a Timeshare Industry Code of Ethics (instrumental in getting
ordinance passed to prevent “time-share hawking” in District & control
timeshare signage); reviews potential sites and way-finding signage for
visitor parking and circulation. He also played a lead role in
developing SMSP’s Hwy. 89A turn-back proposal and stakeholder support to
retain on-street parking, successfully transitioning control from ADOT
to the City and retaining the character of our “Main Street”.
He not
only leads, he participates. Ralph works on all aspects of the Program
and its Committees, from the mundane to the extraordinary – newsletter
articles, meeting arrangements, reinvestment statistics, work plans and
issue papers, Development Reviews, City ordinances and proposals. His
businesses are an exemplary model for all SMSP Businesses with his
capital reinvestment, membership, Program support, and community
involvement.
For these reasons, we believe Ralph is Arizona Main
Street’s 2007 Individual of the Year.
