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10 <br /> City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br /> September 23, 2003 <br /> Page 10 <br /> 1 conservative and would not push too far. He reminded Council that, in this case, 72%of the . <br /> 2 buildings were found to be structurally substandard and met code deficiencies. <br /> 3 <br /> 4 Mr. Gilligan explained Council was finding the district met the requirements by approving the <br /> 5 TIF plan and the report served as a basis to vote for the resolution. <br /> 6 <br /> 7 Councilmember Thuesen stated he was encouraged that the City"would be covered"; however, <br /> 8 he indicated it was discouraging there was so much blighted property in the area. He added it <br /> 9 was good something was finally being done. <br /> 10 <br /> 11 Mayor Hodson asked if any residents wished to address Council at this time. <br /> 12 <br /> 13 Dennis Cavanaugh, 2909 St. Anthony Boulevard, stated he wished to thank those involved for <br /> 14 all the work they had done and he stated the project had been open to the residents. He indicated <br /> 15 Apache Plaza should probably never have been built and he had seen a lot of proposals come and <br /> 16 go. He complimented Mr. Shardlow and Ehlers and Associates, as he felt they had done the <br /> 17 most thorough planning in the history of the City's property development. He noted this project <br /> 18 had taken a long time to happen and he agreed it was a difficult piece of land to develop. He <br /> 19 stated he admired the people who had tackled it. <br /> 20 <br /> 21 Mr. Cavanaugh stated he understood how a marriage of retail and housing was needed for <br /> 22 economics. He noted it was difficult to stay in the first-ring suburbs and find affordable housing. <br /> 23 He added there were seniors who wished to move out of their homes into something they could <br /> 24 afford. He noted affordable housing only stayed affordable for one cycle and he felt this was an <br /> 25 important issue, as the residents wished to have a diverse community. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 Mr. Cavanaugh commented on the criticism of Wal-Mart. He stated we are now in globalization <br /> 28 and the "Big Box" seemed to be the direction retail was taking. He felt Wal-Mart would benefit <br /> 29 . the community, as it would expand the economic choices available. <br /> 30 <br /> 31 Mr. Cavanaugh noted TIF was the economics of doing redevelopment, although it had been <br /> 32 weakened by property tax reform. He stated this property needed help and TIF was what was <br /> 33 available. He restated if the housing development had affordable components it would be good <br /> 34 for the community. He applauded those involved for tackling a tough project and stated they <br /> 35 would not be able to please everybody. He commended the staff, developer and consultants for <br /> 36 doing an excellent job and asked them to "stay the course." <br /> 37 <br /> 38 Jake Cadwallader, 3800 Apache Lane, stated he wished to ask a question that had been <br /> 39 addressed to the Planning Commission and City Attorney and was never answered. *He noted <br /> 40 action had been taken to rezone and plat his property; however, the application required he sign <br /> 41 it. He stated he never signed the application; therefore, the City took action on property he <br /> 42 owned without his approval. <br /> 43 <br /> 44 Mr. Cadwallader also had questions regarding the redevelopment district. He noted the <br /> 45 redevelopment district had been established as a large parcel for quite some time and, at recent <br /> 46 meetings, some of the parcels had been included in the district and others excluded. He asked <br /> 47 why the US Bank building was removed from the TIF district, for example, as they were well <br />