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4A Wichita Falls Economic Development Minutes - 04/21/2022 MINUTES OF THE WICHITA FALLS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION April 21, 2022 Present: Leo Lane, President § WFEDC Members David Toogood, Vice President § Phyllis Cowling, Secretary-Treasurer § Darron Leiker § Brent Hillery § Paul Menzies, Assistant City Manager § City Administration Blake Jurecek, Assistant City Manager § R. Kinley Hegglund, Jr., City Attorney § Jessica Williams, Chief Financial Officer § Terry Floyd, Director of Development Svcs Chris Horgen, Public Information Officer § Paige Lessor, Recording Secretary § Henry Florsheim, President and CEO § WFCCI David Leezer, V.P. Business Attraction § Matt Anderson § Sherrill&Gibson,PLLC Jana Schmader § Downtown Wichita Falls Development 1. Call to Order Leo Lane called the meeting to order at 2:34 p.m. 2. Strategic Discussion—City's Downtown Rezoning Initiative. Mr.Paul Menzies introduced Mr.Terry Floyd,Director of Development Services,to the Board and provided a brief overview of the history of the City's downtown development initiative. In 2017,the City Council put together a downtown steering committee of 11 members, including the mayor, city councilors, downtown stakeholders, and 4B Corporation members. The committee members included Mayor Santellana, Councilor Chenault, Councilor Brewer, Danny Ahern, Rick Hatcher, Cody Magaiia, Scott Poenitzch,Ripley Tate, Christy Whiteley, Dusty Potter, and Dave Clark. By 2018, several subcommittees had formed to make recommendations to the full committee. The committee put together a 14-point plan,with one of the plan items being a proposed rezoning or realignment of the downtown zoning districts based on recommendations from a hired consultant.After delays due to Covid and city staffing levels,the City finally proposes carrying out that downtown plan. Mr. Floyd addressed the Board and stated that Freese and Nichols created the 14-point plan, and it encompassed three main areas: zoning,the development process, and economic development. Mr. Floyd said that zoning realignment was the most high-impact item outlined in the plan that could be accomplished. Mr.Floyd stated that a Property Maintenance Code and Vacant Structure Registry were added in December 2021.Both are high-impact items.Other things done to date are the zoning alignment for improved services WFEDC Minutes 4/21/2022 Page 1 of 3 downtown,the TIF4 Board has been activated,and the 4B improvement grants.The City applied for a grant to do the Downtown Streetscapes Project and continues to pursue funding for that project. As of today, there have been five meetings. There was a public forum at the MPEC in December, and then communication with each zoning area was established. There are four different zoning categories in the greater downtown area: River Development District, Central Business District, Light Industrial District,and General Commercial District.Letters were mailed to individual property owners who will have their underlying zoning changed,and the public information office worked with Downtown to help promote the work. Meetings were held in March and April in the library, with approximately 10 to 15 property owners in attendance. The sessions had substantive input, information and questions, and the attitude was generally very favorable toward the proposed plan and how to move it forward. Now the City will start to finalize the zoning amendments. Mr. Floyd presented a PowerPoint presentation with a map of the current and future zoning in the greater downtown area. He explained that there are 824 parcels downtown and described what specific zoning changes would be made. One hundred eighty-three properties will have an underlying change. He explained that there might be some non- conforming properties with this zoning realignment.If the use of the property ceases for a certain period of time, it may lose its grandfathered non-conforming status,but there is an appeal process. Mr. Floyd explained that the zoning ordinance section would be a table, which would allow potential business owners and city staff to have a clear and concise definition of what different uses are permitted. He told the Board that the draft information is available on a dedicated page on the City's website. Mr. Floyd gave a timeline of the implementation, stating that on June 7, he will provide the City Council with an update. On June 8, a work session with the Planning and Zoning Commission will begin. Then on July 13, the ordinance will be reviewed, considered, and recommended to be adopted by the Council. On July 19,there will be another Council update that would potentially put the ordinance on the August 2 Agenda for consideration and possible adoption. Once the ordinance passes,the City would start notifying owners of its passing. Mr.Floyd explained that this is not a change that will be immediate and will take time,but he thinks the zoning aligns with the future of Downtown,allows for more uses, and clarifies those uses. Mr.Lane asked if,for example,if a fabrication shop's zone changes,what would happen.Mr.Floyd answered that nothing would happen for the entirety of that use. As long as the building and business are active, a non-conforming business will be allowed to continue to operate. However, if that business were to close and remain vacant for a certain amount of time, it would lose its non-conforming status. This timeframe has not yet been decided. Currently, it is two years, but Mr. Floyd stated that the City feels that one year is a good compromise. Ms. Cowling asked if a business decided to sell to another entity that does the same type of work, would that non-conforming status follow the business or go with the property. Mr. Floyd stated that the status would go with the property. Regardless of who is occupying the space, as long as they are doing the same type of work,the property will keep its non-conforming status. Ms. Cowling then asked what the objective of the realignment was. Mr. Floyd explained that the changes in Downtown are happening quickly, so as Downtown is reshaping organically,the rezoning will help match that vision in the future. 3. Consent agenda a. Approval of minutes(February 17,2022) Mr. Leiker moved to amend a statement made by him, Ms. Cowling moved to correct the spelling of her name, and Mr. Toogood moved to clarify that no discussion or action was taken regarding Panda Biotech. Mr. Leiker moved to approve the minutes as amended. Seconded by Mr. Toogood,the motion carried 5-0. b. Financial Report WFEDC Mmutes 4/21/2022 Page 2 of 3 Mr. Menzies stated that five months into the fiscal year, sales tax is running 16.5% above last year. If this trend were to continue to year-end, there would be an extra one million dollars in sales tax revenue that hadn't been budgeted. The WFEDC has a little more than $1,000,000 in unencumbered funds. 4. Executive Sessions Mr. Lane adjourned the meeting into executive session at 2:57 p.m. pursuant to Texas Government Code §§ 551.087 and 551.071. He announced the meeting back into regular session at 4:45 p.m. The subjects posted in the Notice of Meeting were deliberated, and no votes or further actions were taken on the items in executive session. 5. Adjourned. The meeting adjourned at 4:46 p.m. Leo Lane, President WFEDC Minutes 4/21/2022 Page 3 of 3