PC 10/14/1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commissioner Mahern questioned Mr. Iserson as to the possibility 0 increasing the installation of wooden sidewalks downtown, along with several that e already there. Mr. Iserson said they would hope to retain what is already there as it add to the charm of downtown. The design consultant is looking into the feasibility of in talling more, but that is not to say that all the sidewalks will be wooden. He thought there 'ght be some locations that wooden sidewalks might lend more appeal, such as at Dean's C e or where there are existing sidewalk overhangs. Commissioner Mahern referred to page 14 of the staff report and as for further clarification as to the recommendation to permit only retail on the gr und floor of Main Street and the 90-day time frame to rent to a non-retail business if a etail use cannot be found. Mr. Iserson clarified the recommendation of the Task Force n this matter. Further discussion ensued between the Commission and Mr. Iserson n regard to the retail- only concept. Commissioner Wright stressed that he would hate to think that the re preclude the possibility of having another gas station go in should th Street leave, as have two others. He felt it was important to have 0 'l-only concept would existing ones on Main in the downtown area. In response to Chairman Hovingh's question, Mr. Swift replied that ut of the 8.25 percent sales tax, the City receives 99 percent of one cent, or less than one nt. Chairman Hovingh questioned staff as to the cost of keeping one Ian open during construction and the rationale for closing it. Mr. Iserson noted that. was the consensus of those working on the Task Force, in conjunction with many other di cussions, that it would be less disruptive to the merchants to close down a few blocks of M 'n Street for a portion of time to speed up the process of construction and simply get it ove with. TIlE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED, Shelby Martin, 450 Main Street, Director of the Chamber of Comm rce, thanked City staff members and all the business volunteers who worked on the Downto n Revitalization Plan for such a long time, noting that revitalization of downtown has bee a dream for over 13 years. She stated that the plan has been generally endorsed by the C amber of Commerce Board of Directors except for one concept that they are strongly op sed to which is the mandated first floor retail for Main Street. They would rather stay ith the 1989 Land Use Plan as stated in the Specific Plan. She said the Chamber is in fav of encouraging retail in the first floors, but they do not wish to have it mandated. She fel that in mandating this concept that it sends a strong message to those people who are not r tail oriented that they are not as good as others, and are not wanted in the downtown area. She thought that would seem too much like prejudice to mandate retail-only. She was cone ed that should an existing retail merchant vacate a building and it was mandated that other retail merchant Planning Commission Minutes October l4, 1992 Page 9