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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 8.3 DowntownStdyTaskForce ,t.~~. CITY CLERK File # D(i]~[aJ~~[] . AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: August 5,1997 SUBJECT: Establishment of Downtown Study Task Force and Approval of Work Program (Report Prepared by: Eddie Peabody, Jr., Community Development Director and Greg Reuel, Economic Development Manage.r) EXHIBITS ATTACHED: None 4. Approve establishment of Downtown Study Task Force Authorize recruitment of Task Force members Establish September 24, 1997, as:first meeting of the Task Force Designate a representative (s) from the City Council to . participate on the Task Force RECOMMENDATION: y 1. /Q-1 2. 3. . FINANCIAL STATEMENT: The 1997-98 budget includes $4,000 for overtime clerical support . anJ supplies for the Task Force. Staff time from existing Staff would be spent to handle meetings, research and report preparation. Additional funding may be required if the Task Force establishes the need for a market analysis or additional traffic information. Such requests would be reviewed by the'City Council before expending funds. DESCRIPTION: On February 25, 1997, the City Council adopted an objective to create a Downtown Task Force as part of the City's 1997. Goals and Objectives Program. At that Meeting the Council indicated that the pmpose of the Task Force was to convey information to Dublin businesses regarding future impacts on the Downtown, to develop a plan to maintain the economic vitality of the Downtown and to study whether it was desirable to establish. a Business Commission for the City. In order to accomplish this objective staff proposes that the City Council discuss and approve the following process. . ~------------------------------------------------------------------ COPIES TO: ITEM NO. .6.; H1cc~forms/aadastmt.doc ""..'11\'\:,. TASK FORCE COMPOSITION The Task Force should be comprised of citizens, downtown property owners and ~ownro' merchants/tenants. In addition, Staff would recommend that the Planning Commission and City Council appoint one or possibly two representatives from their respective bodies. It is also important that the Chamber of Commerce be invited to designate a representative to participate and represent the Chamber's viewpoint. The Task Force members would be solicited through a newspaper display advertisement and the City Council would:finalize the appointment of Task Force Members on September 2,1997. PROPOSED TIMELINE Staff proposes that the timeline for the selection and duration of the Task Force be as follows. 8/5/97 City Council Approval of Task Force 8/1 0/97 Newspaper Display Advertisement 8/25/97 Application Deadline 9/2197 City Council Appointments to Task Force 9/97 Task Force Convenes 9/98 Anticipated Completion Date The Task Force and/or its committee will meet bi-weekly at a time that is most convenient for th. participants. TASKFORCE SUPPORT Eddie Peabody, Community Development Director and Greg Reuel, Economic Development Manager will provide Staff support, with the City Manager's assistance on an as-needed basis. Consulting services such as economic and traffic engineering consultants may be required, depending upon the direction of the Task Force. These consulting services are not currently budgeted and may require an additional appropriation of funds by the City Council. PROCESS As part of the City's CUITeIlt business retention outreach, Staff often finds that local businesses are not familiar with tJ,tose issues, impacts and projects which will occur in the future that may be of significant importance to the success of their respective businesses. Staffwould propose that the entire Task Force initially convene to be oriented on the pmpose of the Task Force and to receive information on the following items. (1) The 1987 Downtown Specific Plan (2) Downtown Traffic Circulation Update (3) Current/Anticipated Development in the City of Dublin. . -J. - . . . .' ~'>..... The Task Force would then develop specific Downtown Subcommittees to focus on different Trade Areas i.e. Village Parkway Area, Mervyn'sfTarget Area, etc. The subcommittees would identify issues and proposed solutions for each respective trade area. Once the subcommittees have completed their work, the entire Task Force would reconvene to determine how each trade areas' issues and solutions could be integrated into a comprehensive Downtown Economic Strategy Plan. The Task Force could also address broader issues which are common to all areas of the Downtown as well as the issue of a Business Commission. In order to ensure such a plan can be successful, it is important to have broad support from the business community, especially those major landowners in the downtown. Since some of the major landlords are out of the area, it will likely be necessary for representatives of the City to visit those major landowners as part of an outreach effort to solicit their participation and/or input during the plan development. Although all meetings of the Task Force and subcommittees are public meetings, it is also proposed that the Task Force hold at least one wellwadvertised public fonnn/workshop to solicit comment from affected members of the community. The Staffwould provide regular reports to the City Council regarding the progress of the Task Force, with a final report to be provided to the Council in September 1998. RECOMMENDA nON It is recommended that the City Council approve the formation of the Task Force as outlined above and designate a rcpresentative(s) from the City Council to participate. - .,~-