05/04/2000 EDAC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. Wessel stated the economic development issue was whether the city would consider participating in the reconstruction of Millers through a Redevelopment Tax Increment Financing District. Ms. Divine said the area would qualify, depending on what sites were included. Ms. Carlson mentioned the possible future rerouting of Main Street proposed by the county and requested Mr. Wagner be shown the county’s access plan. Mr. Johnson stated that the primary commercial focus has shifted to the Town Center and the CBD is a secondary business use. Mr. Wessel stated this discussion could continue after getting an update from the county. TOWN CENTER DESIGN STANDARDS Ms. Divine asked if members had an opportunity to review the standards. Mr. Rehbein stated the Town Center plan and standards hasn’t worked in other places and if the city wanted to do this kind of development it should buy the land. Mr. Chase pointed out that the civic complex, the bank and the clinic do not meet these new standards. Ms. Divine stated that is correct. The standards are designed to provide a traditional mixed-use neighborhood development rather than conventional suburban environment. Mr. Chase said the city needs to be assured there is a market for this type of development. Mr. Rehbein stated that he visited a development in Arizona based on this type of design and the stores were 50% empty. Mr. Jensen stated that a development would be use driven and no developer was going to do something that would be 50% empty. He added that the new Blaine development of a Target, Cub and Home Depot would affect the Town Center. Ms. Divine explained the purpose of the guidelines was to provide a quality “downtown” that would evolve and grow better over time, rather than need redeveloping in 15-20 years. She noted the design standards are very different from conventional zoning ordinances, in that they require “build-to” lines rather than minimum setbacks, allow a mix of uses within one area, allow on-street parking, focus on pedestrian scale, and have certain architectural standards. Mr. Chase said the master plan did not even meet the standards. Ms. Divine stated the master plan is the standards, therefore it does meet the standards. Ms. Carlson stated she believed the plan needed more flexibility so that this council and future councils could adjust if the market required. Mr. Johnson stated that the P&Z viewed these standards as a starting point from which to negotiate. He said P&Z believed the standards should be set high so that even if some relaxing of the standards was required somewhere, the development would still be of high quality. He noted that P&Z’s focus was planning, while EDAC’s was economic development.