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04/10/2017 - Minutes1 City of Port Orchard Economic Development and Tourism Committee Meeting Minutes Monday, April 10, 2017 Committee Members Present: Council Members Bek Ashby (Chair), Fred Chang City Officials and Staff: Mayor Rob Putaansuu, City Clerk Brandy Rinearson, Associate Planner Keri Sallee. Guests: Amy Camp, Matt Murphy, Nick Taylor, Kathleen Wilson. The meeting was called to order by Chair Ashby at 9:05 a.m. 1. Discussion: Port Orchard Film Festival/Noise Ordinance Hours Extension. Nick Taylor and Amy Camp, owners of the Dragonfly Cinema on Bay Street, requested a one-hour extension to the 11:00 pm – 7:00 am noise restriction hours per POMC 9.24.050, on May 5 and 6, 2017. The extension would allow live bands to perform until midnight at the Brick House 714 Bar and Grill, as part of the inaugural Port Orchard Film Festival. The committee expressed its support of the request, which will be brought forward to Council at its April 11 meeting. 2. Discussion with Business Representatives. Kathleen Wilson said that the Port Orchard Bay Street Association (POBSA) has submitted street closure applications for two events. Matt Murphy said that the City should take the lead on deciding the level of importance that tourism will play in the future of downtown, and the Chamber of Commerce will respond to that guidance. He said that Port Orchard does not have a “unique selling proposition” for tourism as defined by Roger Brooks. Murphy said that while Port Orchard can build on being a popular weekend destination for festivals and other events, it is not going to be a major tourist destination. Chair Ashby agreed, and said that the city needs to continue working to make Port Orchard a great place with attractive amenities for its residents as well as tourists. Mayor Putaansuu presented a conceptual drawing showing the proposed expansion of the City’s waterfront park and the new Rockwell Park by the Comfort Inn on Bay Street. He said that recreational amenities such as these will draw more people downtown, although the long-term solution for getting more people to spend money there will depend on redevelopment that results in 300-500 more people living and shopping downtown. Ashby said that she looks forward to these issues being addressed in subarea planning in the near future. Ashby said that the next Roger Brooks presentation will be on April 12 at 8:30 am. It will be a summarization of the first three presentations this year. 3. Discussion: Ban on Sale of Puppy Mill Dogs and Cats. The committee discussed a letter from a citizen requesting that the City Council enact legislation to ban the sale of animals from puppy and kitten mills at stores within the city limits. If the City pursued this, there would be attorney expenses and future enforcement issues, and the City’s current contract with the Kitsap Humane Society (KHS) for pet store licensing would need to be renegotiated. The committee decided that the proposal would not be forwarded to Council at this time. 4. Discussion: Tourism Promotion Strategic Plan. The committee went through the redline changes that had been made since the last meeting. The allowable uses and reporting requirements for Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) funds were discussed. Final revisions to the draft document will be made at the May EDT meeting before it is forwarded to Council at the May work-study meeting. 5. Discussion: Street Closures for Special Events. At the committee’s direction, City Clerk Rinearson will draft a policy for special event street closures, for review by the committee and the full Council. When a 2 policy has been approved, an application for street closures and a cost estimate will be provided in the City’s online toolkit. Rinearson will also explore policy options for use of the vacant lot at 640 Bay Street. 6. Discussion: Central Public Restroom. Council Member Chang asked if the committee wanted to consider the potential addition of a public restroom building downtown, similar to what the City of Port Townsend currently provides. The committee decided that a restroom addition would not be considered at this time. Ashby adjourned the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Audio/visual recording was partly successful. Next Meeting/Location: The next EDT meeting is rescheduled for May 1, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. in the Council Chambers.