City Council Minutes 1999 02 16 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mimi Gillatt, 912 Garfield Avenue, Louisville, expressed support for the moratorium until Council establishes the FAR and parking guidelines that will determine the development of historic downtown Louisville. She stated that Louisville, as a community, has an opportunity to look towards the future and determine what kind of thriving downtown they would like to have. She felt that throwing this opportunity away or to squander it with hasty decisions would be a sad day in Louisville's history. She expressed appreciation for Council's willingness to host the recent Saturday workshop. She stated that since the first Louisville Futures Conference fifteen years ago, the citizens have been speaking out loud and clear about their vision for Louisville. The town has grown three- fold since then, but the vision still remains the same; to preserve the historic character of the downtown area and to encourage a mix of specialty retail, restaurants, and office space. She stated that the current Council has responded to this vision by providing $3-4 million in improvements to the downtown core area. She felt that the current Council's belief and support for a healthy, growing downtown is solid and can't be questioned. She was puzzled why some business owners claim that Council is trying to kill downtown prosperity. She felt it was their own personal greed that threatens to strangle the downtown area with anonymous, inappropriate buildings, traffic jams, and parking miseries. She urged Council to take a stand now before the build-out of the core historic area destroys Louisville's heritage and is unsuccessful, leaving vacant buildings and tumbleweeds in the streets. She stated that the current PUD applicants knew the building guidelines were in flux when they applied. She felt that some actually want to be exempt from the existing guidelines and, at the same time, hustle their projects through before the new downtown framework can be adopted. She urged Council to please take the time they need now to adopt a framework that will work for future generations. She expressed disappointment in the business owners who, she felt, are criticizing and trying to bully the Council. She stated that she did not believe Louisville could rely solely on the business community to lead them down the correct path. She felt that Louisville should consider the needs and desires of all the community members, not simply the needs of a few anxious, impatient business owners. She urged Council to fully represent all of their constituents and keep downtown Louisville a historic, friendly and prosperous place that everyone wants to visit. She stated that voting for a building moratorium, including current PUD applications, until the framework plan can be adopted is the wise and effective way to achieve these goals. Erik Hartronft, 817 Lincoln Avenue, Louisville, part owner of 801 Main Street, Louisville, stated that he, his wife, and his business partner have invested a lot of money into downtown Louisville. It takes a lot of money to develop downtown and those who want to be downtown are willing to take the risk to put the money into downtown. The City of Louisville has also spent a lot of money to improve downtown. He agreed that if Council feels they have to have a moratorium in order to allow them time to make some difficult decisions, then they should do so. However, he questioned selectively targeting a few proposals that have been working with Council through the process. He felt that to change the rules right before the proposals are ready for their final hearing is unfair. He stated that if Council decides against a moratorium and votes to adopt ordinances that drastically change the ability of people to utilize and expand their businesses downtown,