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09/11/2017 - Minutes 1 City of Port Orchard Economic Development and Tourism Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, September 11, 2017 Committee Members Present: Council Members Bek Ashby (Chair), Fred Chang, Clancy Donlin City Officials and Staff: Mayor Rob Putaansuu, City Clerk Brandy Rinearson Guests: Dave Jeffcoat (Kitsap Bank), Matt Murphy (Port Orchard Chamber of Commerce) The meeting was called to order by Chair Ashby at 9:10 a.m. Chair Ashby acknowledged the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Mayor Putaansuu said that he would read a proclamation about 9/11 at the next day’s City Council meeting, which will also be placed on the City’s web page. 1. Discussion: Street Use Permits (Ashby): Prior to the meeting, Ashby provided a copy of the city’s street use ordinance and street use permit application to the Chamber of Commerce, and suggested that specific items be questioned for review. After one of the committee’s televised Roger Brooks seminars earlier in the summer, a downtown business owner had expressed concern that he might not be able to place seating on the sidewalk in front of his business. He asked that the city review its current application process to see if any changes could be made to make the process more understandable and streamlined. Matt Murphy said that almost all sidewalks on Bay Street are 8-9 feet wide, so having street furniture while still meeting ADA and other requirements should not be that difficult. Ashby noted that the street use permit applies to a number of uses and actions in the right-of-way other than just street furniture. 2. Downtown Business Discussion (Ashby): Ashby summarized the most recent Roger Brooks seminar, which had several suggestions to make downtowns more vibrant. These included: find a “champion” to promote downtown; get elected officials on board; find a focus for improvements; be creative; make sure property owners are engaged; have a vibrant business mix with an anchor tenant; encourage downtowns to be active outside of business hours; make the downtown inviting and welcoming. Ashby said that the city has done a good job to make downtown inviting and welcoming, with flower baskets and clean streets. Mayor Putaansuu said that the city will be getting better downtown trash receptacles soon. Ashby said that the County employs 631 people in its Port Orchard offices, the City has 84 employees, and Kitsap Bank has 56 employees. City offices get at least 500 visitors per month, and the Port Orchard library branch averages 14,640 visitors per month. Kitsap Bank probably serves more than 100 people at their ATM each day, and has over 100 cars per day going through their drive-through banking lane. Putaansuu agreed that downtown has plenty of people in the downtown area during the day, and needs to work on attracting people in the evening hours after they get home from work. He noted that the children’s park is always busy. The downtown gym and dance studio also bring people downtown on a daily basis. The summertime festivals also bring in large groups of visitors. The Roger Brooks seminar also encouraged a city to have a plaza or central gathering space. Putaansuu said that although Port Orchard doesn’t have an actual plaza, it has several centralized parks and other public gathering spaces. Putaansuu noted that future plans for the shoreline park and boardwalk areas will create more plaza-like spaces. Ashby said that many of the elements that Roger Brooks recommends are already in place and being enacted in Port Orchard. Many existing businesses have been in downtown Port Orchard for decades. The downtown businesses can build on the opportunities provided by the large number of employees already there, and find ways to attract them. The downtown needs more residents, a broader mix of services and goods, and more open space, but it has a solid foundation to build on. Donlin said that more restaurants should be encouraged to locate downtown. Putaansuu said that the city’s code is currently being updated 2 to encourage better design standards and more density. Ashby said that these codes should be in place by the time developers are ready to start on downtown redevelopment projects. The committee agreed that full-time and consistent hours of operation are essential for the success of businesses and for downtown as a whole. Murphy said that marketing and promotion is also essential for downtown’s success, which the Chamber of Commerce and POBSA both strive to do. He agreed that many downtown businesses are more like “hobbies” for their owners instead of full-time occupations, and it has been difficult to get people to participate in educational opportunities, Chamber and POBSA activities, and to operate their storefronts consistently. Dave Jeffcoats said that if rents are so low in some downtown buildings that tenants can afford to stay closed 3-4 days per week, the building owners need to come together and agree that rents need to be market-competitive to attract full-time businesses that will stay open and be an asset to overall downtown vitality. Ashby said that building owners also need to consider their building maintenance and updates to attract tenants. Jeffcoats said that more involvement and forthright dialogue needs to take place among property and business owners, and difficult subjects need to be discussed instead of avoided. Murphy said that while downtown had several outstanding volunteers, it could greatly benefit from a full-time “champion” to focus on its specific issues. Ashby asked if it would be helpful to continue having a half-hour at each EDT meeting for downtown business discussions, and it was agreed that these discussions would continue. 3. Carter’s Chocolates (Chang): Fred Chang said that he was concerned that Carter’s Chocolates had not had their lease renewed and was having to relocate. He was puzzled why a downtown building owner would not want to renew a tenant’s lease when there are already several vacant commercial spaces on Bay Street. Bremerton has been trying to encourage Carter’s to relocate there. Donlin agreed that Carter’s is a big downtown draw and has been a successful, consistent business. The committee agreed that while it is not the City’s role to become involved in negotiations between landlords and tenants, or to make private business matters public, the owner and tenant could be informally asked why this decision had been made, and the resulting information could be useful for the City’s understanding of the overall downtown situation. 4. Discussion: Vacant Commercial Buildings (Ashby): Putaansuu said that Port Orchard currently has the best value for commercial rental space on the peninsula, although downtown buildings are older and often require a lot of expensive tenant improvements when businesses move in. Chang said that the County Assessor’s office is currently assessing all commercial buildings in the county, and this may provide useful information. Putaansuu reiterated that the city’s land use and design codes need to be amended to require better redevelopment and maintenance before downtown revitalization efforts will succeed. Murphy noted that building owners are not going to do a lot of building maintenance or tenant improvements for “hobbyist” tenants who don’t pay market rent. Putaansuu noted that although the Growth Management Act (GMA) encourages cities to become more dense, many local developers are not willing to do the expensive, quality development that density requires to build community character and to attract both residents and businesses. Ashby noted that in the neighborhoods she saw on the urban design field trip, the commercial spaces were largely occupied by services that could meet the needs of residents on a regular basis, instead of retail. She also said that she saw lots as small as 1,500 sq ft with quality residential development, and that extensive landscaping and open space was provided throughout neighborhoods for an attractive look, privacy, and separation of uses. Some of Port Orchard’s current design issues could be mitigated with better landscaping standards. Putaansuu noted that many cities have removed density standards entirely, and rely solely on parking and height limitations along with the market to dictate development density. He also said that Port Orchard may want to reconsider its current requirement that the entire first floor of mixed-use buildings be commercial, and should consider allowing stand-alone apartment buildings in some mixed-use areas. The market will dictate how much nearby commercial is required to support a neighborhood. It is the 3 Council’s responsibility to be forward-thinking, and to put the tools in place for quality development and redevelopment throughout the city. Murphy asked to speak about sign permit applications. He is putting together a sign application guide for businesses, but is concerned that the application process for portable signs is overly burdensome. He would like to see it require less detail for drawings and site information. Ashby requested that Murphy put together a request for Council to consider this issue at an upcoming work-study meeting. Ashby adjourned the meeting at 10:28 am. Audio-only recording was successful. Next Meeting/Location: The next EDT meeting will be on October 9, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers.