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Downtown Development Steering Committee Minutes - 08/06/2018 M INUTES OF THE DDSC(DDSC) OWNTOWN EVELOPMENT TEERING OMMITTEE August 6, 2018 P: RESENT Mayor Stephen Santellana § DeAndra Chenault (3:39 p.m.) § Danny Ahern § Dave Clark § Rick Hatcher § Cody Magana § Scott Poenitzsch § Dusty Potter § Ripley Tate § Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager § City Staff Dana Schoening, Director, Community Development § Jim Dockery, Deputy City Manager § R. Kinley Hegglund, Jr., City Attorney § Marie Balthrop, City Clerk § John Burrus, Director, Aviation, Traffic & Trans. § Russell Schreiber, Director, Public Works § Pat Hoffman, Property Management § Bobby Teague, Assistant Dir. Community Dev. § Susan Morris, Environmental Administrator § Rita Miller, Code Enforcement § A: BSENT Jesse Brown Christy Whiteley ______________________________________________________________________ 1. Call to Order Mayor Stephen Santellana called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. 2. Approval of Minutes of Meetings of July 2, 2018 3:30 p.m. Motion made by Mr. Hatcher to approve the minutes of the July 2, 2018 meeting. Motion seconded by Mr. Poenitzsch and carried by the following vote: Ayes: Santellana, Ahern, Clark, Hatcher, Magana, Poenitzsch, Potter, and Tate, DDSC Minutes of July 2, 2018 2 Nays: none 3.Sidewalk Improvement Plan Presentation Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager 3:31 p.m. Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager, presented a recap from the last meeting in reference to the law on the Maintenance of the Right-of-Way between the property line and the curb being the responsibility of the property owner. Mr. Menzies discussed the sidewalk maintenance and the liability issues involved if the sidewalk is not maintained and someone is injured. Once the Public Works Director determines there is a nuisance, the property owner will be notified and will have a 30-day time period to rectify the issue, according to the City of Wichita Falls Code of Ordinances. Mr. Menzies stated that the plan is to take a more lenient approach to enforcement. Mr. Menzies discussed the current law and how it applies to the current issues in photos that were provided. Mr. Menzies presented Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Streetscapes Plan and suggested using the same phases for the sidewalk improvement plan. The initial focus will be from now until mid 2019. Mr. Menzies presented a proposed general compliance timeline. Meeting with property owners Courtesy notice mailed to affected property owners (not 30-day notice). Will have 120 days to meet with city to discuss compliance and funding. The goal is that each property owner will be aware of the issues before the courtesy notice is sent. After initial notice if no response the official 30-day notice will be mailed if necessary. April 2019 Tree planting deadline Mayor Santellana discussed concerns with asking the property owner to repair the sidewalk before the tree issue is taken care of. Mr. Menzies stated that each situation will be unique. We have readily admitted that part of the problem was due to a city tree planting program implemented over twenty years ago. To assist with that, it is recommended that the 4B Economic Development Corporation increase their annual program for Downtown. This program has up to a $5000 match to property owners for sidewalk repairs. Mr. Hatcher commented on the 120-day window and suggested maybe a 60-day window in order to give more time on the back end for compliance. Mr. Menzies stated that the same concerns came up during staff discussion, and that the earlier deadlines all ended up being right around Christmas and staff did not to want any of the deadlines to fall during that time. Mr. Poenitzsch stated that he really likes this approach. Mr. Ahern asked about who would pay for the trees, and it was discussed that if property owners choose a tree off the list of about five species, and a tree at least diameter, then the 4B money would be available. Mr. Ahern asked if it was a possibility to not replace the tree and it was stated that yes that is a possibility. Everything will be decided on a case by case basis. DDSC Minutes of July 2, 2018 3 Russell Schreiber, Public Works Directed, clarified that the decision to remove or leave a tree will be left up to the property owner. Oak trees are causing most of the problems and almost all of those need to be removed/replaced. Planter boxes are allowed as long as they do not obstruct the sidewalk but it will be the property owner maintain them. Mr. Schreiber stated that the city will only be dealing with about 15-20 property owners. There were concerns about allowing the property owners to make the decision about removing the tree and the possibility that multiple owners in a row will decide to remove their trees and we will just be left with sidewalk. It was discussed to possibly require some other type of landscaping if a tree is removed. Mayor Santellana reiterated the courtesy notice and the need to educate property owners before the letters are mailed out and asked Jana Schmader, Director Downtown Wichita Falls Development Inc., to assist with that. 4. Committee Reports 3:50 p.m. Historic Preservation Delores Culley was not present. Lifestyles Cody Magana presented a slide presentation on cleanup efforts downtown. Multiple items were submitted through the Access Wichita Falls App. A total of twenty-six items were submitted. Twenty-four of the items have been resolved and two are pending. The committee received fourteen responses, eight of which stated that the concern reported was not in violation of current city ordinances. Two volunteer groups have worked over the last couple of months to help with the cleanup. Volunteers were able to complete substantial weed/rubbish cleanup over the last four weeks. Mr. Magana asked about maintaining the cleanup efforts going forward, and discussed the items that are beyond the scope of volunteer work. It was suggested to find a way to upgrade the parking areas downtown. Mayor Santellana commended Mr. Magana for not just submitting complaints but also being proactive about the solutions by getting volunteer groups to help with cleanup. Marketing Dusty Potter stated that the marketing committee did not have a report, but the Downtown Art Walk had the biggest turnout yet and that Crosswalk Art will be coming soon. 5. Committee Reports and Possible Action DDSC Minutes of July 2, 2018 4 Streetscapes Scott Poenitzsch presented a slide presentation and gave an update on the streetscapes subcommittee. Mr. Poenitzsch discussed short term and long term th actions. The sub-committee has identified Indiana and 8 Streets as the highest th priorities and would like to begin with 8 Street. The Texas Stars and th landscaping are already completed on 8 Street, but it does need some sub-surface infrastructure repairs. Cost estimates prepared by Freese & Nichols were presented. Estimate of $3.2 million with an additional $200,000 for water/wastewater improvements. Mr. Poenitzsch discussed sidewalk and tree improvements, and the availability of 4B matching funds for these projects. Mr. Poenitzsch stated that the committee is asking for action on Focused Street th Improvement and focusing on 8 Street. Jim Dockery brought up the possibility of using TIF funds as a funding/borrowing source. TIF 4 is earning increments and those funds can be used to pay the debt. Regulatory Dana Schoening, Director of Community Development, presented a slide presentation of fourteen priority items that were brought forward listed from high to low impact. The first priority is to realign the zoning districts in the downtown area. This will restrict some of the uses currently in these areas to help remove eyesores. The second priority is to update the Central Business District for the downtown area to match the vision. This will include some architectural requirements for new construction to keep consistency in the buildings in the downtown area. It would also include looking at parking requirements and parking lots in the downtown area. The third priority is to develop an overlay district for the downtown area. This will assist with uniformity in building requirements specific to the downtown area. The fourth priority is to adopt the International Property Maintenance Code in the greater downtown area so that we can apply enforcement, and there is an option to bring forward a Standard of Care Ordinance. Mr. Schoening expressed his appreciation to Mr. Magana for bringing forward the concerns via Comcate that have assisted with deciding what can be done going forward to help maintain the downtown area. The medium priority items are direct code enforcement efforts downtown, implementing incentive programs, capitalizing on downtown improvement grants, and creating a position for a downtown development coordinator. There are six lower impact items discussed from the diagnostic plan including revised regulations of the river development district, parking issues, required bike parking, incorporating a schedule of the development process, educating the public about development assistance, and amending the outdoor dining ordinance to reflect streetscapes recommendations. DDSC Minutes of July 2, 2018 5 Mr. Ahern discussed that most of the recommendations on this list came from the consultant. Mr. Ahern is asking for ½ of the list to be pushed forward to the City Council item numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 10, and 12. There is no expected cost at this time, and these items can be accomplished with staff time. Paul Menzies discussed that several of these items will be moving forward simultaneously, and we do not feel we will need to spend money on a consultant due to there being enough staff expertise at this time. Moved by Cody Magana to move these items forward to the City Council. Motion seconded by Rick Hatcher. Ripley Tate stated that he wanted to make sure that we are not omitting the other issues, but rather just moving forward with these eight items at this time. Paul Menzies clarified that this motion just moves the items to the council, council will take this forward to staff. Mr. Tate stated that this will follow the normal Planning & Zoning process. As future development moves forward these new regulations will be in place to be consistent with priorities for downtown. The Motion carried with the following vote: Ayes: Santellana, Ahern, Clark, Hatcher, Magana, Poenitzsch, Potter, and Tate, Nays: none (Councilor Chenault left the meeting prior to the vote at 4:29 p.m.) Finance Dave Clark thanked the finance committee for their work. Mr. Clark discussed potential ways to raise money to fund projects and stated that there is a list of funding options on the cities website, which should be easier to find. It was recommended that either a new program be set up or possibly use the existing program and adding an additional $50,000 to the 4B grant with a specific push to be used for sidewalk and tree issues. It was suggested that TIF #4 meet and give priority to some of the items discussed today. The finance sub-committee also recommends further development on the business improvement district which would require a meeting with the downtown property owners. Mayor Santellana expressed his appreciation for the finance committees work coming up with multiple funding sources. Ripley Tate asked if they have come across any other funding mechanisms that are not tax based or possible grants. Mr. Tate stated there are several public businesses that fund grants when you advertise their names on the improvements that are made. DDSC Minutes of July 2, 2018 6 6Public Comments . 4:57 p.m. Sam Pak asked about the concrete and if the property owner no longer wants the tree on their property will the city install the concrete? Mr. Pak discussed his concerns about consistency in the work completed. There was brief discussion about agreements that were signed with original property owners. Pat Hoffman, Property Management Administrator, stated that the original agreement ties to the property address, not the original owner. Concerns were discussed about this not being disclosed to new property owners. Pat Hoffman suggested that new agreements be signed and filed. Kinley Hegglund, City Attorney, stated that there is no enforcement on the prior agreements signed by previous property owner unless it is addressed by ordinance. Mr. Pak is concerned about having some teeth moving forward for enforcement, and having the agreement transferable and full disclosure during the sale of the property. Mr. Hatcher discussed that this will be addressed in the predevelopment meeting. Mr. Pak asked about the five trees that they have selected for the list and asked who came up with the list. Mayor Santellana stated that a certified arborist identified the five types of trees. 7. Other Business 5:10 p.m. Upcoming meeting with Freese & Nichols th Next meeting with Freese & Nichols has been moved from August 16 to th September 17 and the meeting will be held after 5:00 p.m. so that downtown property owners can attend. This would be the first step of implementation and educating property owners. The second part of the meeting will be to sit down with the consultant to address property maintenance ordinances specifically to the downtown area. 8. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:11 p.m. ______________________________ Mayor Stephen Santellana, Chair Downtown Development Steering Cmte.