City Council Minutes 2019 06 11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes June 11 2019 Page 7 of 15 He stated Council can deny the application The project is trying to address dysfunction on Main Street. It doesn't function well as a retail corridor because of offices on the first floor The project would bring first floor retail If this project is funded with the rebate, it will not be using tax dollars from others He asked Council to evaluate this project on its merits Councilmember Stolzmann noted Mr Sinkey stated main floor offices are a blight factor She asked if this project commits to bringing retail to the ground floor of this building Sinkey stated it does not. Public Comments David Finamore, 720 Grant Avenue, noted the policy stated "projects must provide a unique and exceptional public benefit." He doesn't see that in this case This is an office building He does not support the application He doesn't support the LRC and questioned what it has done for us Businesses are failing and that is what we should be working on Main Street is not blighted He asked Council to deny this and turn their focus to the areas of the urban renewal district that really need help Mike Deborski, 601 Pine Street, stated he has property in the urban renewal district and the area has changed greatly since it was created His cost to relocate would be detrimental to the business TIF rebates would help companies like his to add a retail location What is being missed is that this is incremental money we would not have had if there was no project. Sherry Sommer, 910 S Palisade Court, stated it feels rushed to put a document in place and immediately use it for an application so large We need to define the public benefit of this project. Not every project in the urban renewal area (URA) is equal, Council should set priorities before making these decisions Mayor Pro Tem Lipton asked about the financials of the project. Rick Woodruff, Boulder Creek CFO, stated the debt is from doing the project for roughly $100 per square foot for land value Mayor Pro Tem Lipton wanted to validate that it reflects market value Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated in principle he struggles with providing the full amount of rebate for what might be a two story office building No one can guarantee first story will be retail, so he can't justify a full 90% rebate for what might be office He suggested a 50% minimum and up to 90% if warranted year-to-year He can't do the full amount for a two-story office and it would set a precedent for future requests for office buildings Councilmember Maloney suggested that knowing there is some uncertainly about the retail, perhaps look at the lower end of funding If there is retail, perhaps raise that number With the uncertainly of first floor commercial, only consider 50% for five years