City Council Minutes 2019 03 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes March 19 2019 Page 10 of 16 rebate is only a ten-year deal and the building will outlive the deal He stated that precedent does not apply to a governmental body; decisions on future projects would be on a case -by -case basis. He stated people say sales tax revenue is solid, but many of the retail shops in downtown are struggling Costs are up across the board as is intemet competition Having this project will help increase the likelihood retail can afford the rents. The DBA supports the agreement. John Leary, 1116 Lafarge, stated this project will forever change the historic character of downtown The voters of Louisville have taxed themselves for preservation The growth rate in downtown has far outpaced the rest of town The City should let nature run its course. This is a subsidy based on the premise that downtown is blighted However, any place can be found to be blighted based on the criteria Allowing this without modifying parking codes along with the subsidy will encourage large projects with parking deficits. This will lead to a request for a large parking garage Chief John Willson, Louisville Fire District, stated the LFPD is in support of redevelopment in Louisville as it keeps us thriving He noted the District is funded by property tax and he would like to discuss with Council and LRC the impact on emergency services demand this redevelopment will have on the District while collecting less revenue. Caleb Dickinson, 721 Grant Avenue, stated the City has asked for changes to the building against market interests. The market would say build the third story and they aren't doing it at the request of us, the government. He stated Council should use this tool to say thank you for doing this type of redevelopment; offer this rebate so it is still profitable As Vice President of DBA, he stated one of the biggest issues for restaurants is not having viable daytime traffic and a daytime population Retailers are dependent on restaurants to bring people here. This project would be huge for them, as would Boulder Creek leaving downtown It is important for retailers and restaurants to have this project. Councilmember Stolzrnann stated she would prefer a policy discussion with the LRC first to talk about how to address blight in the urban renewal area The policy question is about providing direct assistance for private gain We shouldn't make decisions based on what other cities are doing, we need to represent our community An urban renewal authority that is appointed and has no constituency to answer to sometimes does not listen to the public input. She felt the LRC should have a constituency to answer to She feels saying it is their money we are giving back to them is not a real argument. We wouldn't give tax money back to homeowners If the money is for blight, there were only two blight factors on this property, one being power lines and danger to life or property from fire or other causes. The fire department is doing a good job without revenue growth and will be asking the taxpayers for more money as they are not getting the money they should from the areas in the urban renewal area. Life safety issues impact other rate payers and is not a fair way to do this and not how we should be funding things. We don't have real blight in our downtown, it is a vibrant downtown We should use the money for public infrastructure Downtown is vibrant because of organic growth over time with a