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AGFUO-Public comments provided to the Planning Commission for the July 28, 2021, meeting McNellis Partners I A Vaccine for Retail? http://mcnellis.com/news/articleJa-vaccine-for-retail In particular,trendy cities must abandon their mixed-use fantasies Too much bad retail—space that will never lease—has already bean constructed by reluctant office and apartment developers.Why?They were forced to by starry-eyed urban planners dreaming of turning their towns into Manhattan's west side.For retail to have a fighting chance,it needs three things:great access,visibility and traffic(whether vehicular or pedestrian).Few mixed-use projects offer even one of these prerequisites. "Second,loosen up the zoning"Isn't as catchy as do no harm,but ifs as important.Traditional retail zoning requires that a merchant actually sells stuff,hard goods like books or soft like clothing.Cities need to face the reality that those are the types of businesses on the double- secret endangered list,the uses most vulnerable to e-commerce;once they go.they're gone,Mandating only"true retailers"in a shopping district is like building a bird house for passenger pigeons.Won't matter how pretty It is,they're still extinct. How do you loosen up the zoning?Easy:First you shrink the retail districts themselves,then you allow In any business that has a customer, a patient,a client,a student,or any sort of visitor at all.You drop your prohibition against banks and financial services,you permit dentists. travel agents.gyms,yoga studios,doctors—even lawyers and palm readers—every personal service imaginable to occupy those otherwise unfillable retail storefronts. Also,if you truly wish to help your retail districts,you drop the prohibitions against chain stores.Every chain store in America started as a single store.Prohibiting chains is simply redlining success in the hope of keeping a given neighborhood unique.If you wish to have a not-so- unique collection of empty storefronts,you maintain the prohibition against stores at which people actually want to shop. "Third,cut the regulations"is less catchy still,but the fancy cities should take a page from the provincial towns that go all-out to spark development.A few years ago,we approached a small town on Interstate 5 about a supermarket we wanted to build.-When can you break ground?'was the city manager's only question.And,true to his word,the town approved our plans as fast as we could submit them. National retailers have choices about where to locate,where to expend their efforts Often,a given city Is no more appealing than 20 others. And retailers have feelings(most of them,anyway);they want to go where they feel welcomed.Hence,the great appeal of Texas. There is no panacea,but with effort and more understanding on the part of cities,retail need not circle the drain. 2 of 2 6/1/2021,12:51 PM Distributed to City Council for the September 7, 2021, meeting Page 19