Downtown Merchants seek to offset impacts of up to 1 Million feet of new retail in town of 18,000
June 21, 2007 (Press Release) --
Press Release
For Immediate release June 20, 2007
For more information contact: Timothy Bishop, CMSM
Ellensburg Downtown Association 509-962-6246 info@ellensburgdowntown.org
Ellensburg Downtown Association Proposes Mitigation Measures to Offset Impacts of Proposed Regional Retail Development
The Ellensburg Downtown Association has developed a list of proposed measures to help offset the potentially damaging impact that proposed new regional retail development on the outskirts of town may have on Downtown. The Association will present their recommendations to the City Council at a special council meeting June 20th at 7 p.m. at City Hall (501 N Anderson).
The City Council is currently considering an ordinance that would establish the permitting guidelines for up to one million square feet of regional retail at the two highway interchanges on the edge of town. The Ellensburg Downtown Association is requesting that the City council include provisions to mitigate the impact of this development on the Downtown as part of the permitting ordinance. “We believe it’s very important that these issues be worked out at the front end of the process” according to Association Director Timothy Bishop.
The Ellensburg downtown Associations proposal includes four (4) key elements.
· A request that the City dedicate a percentage of sales tax revenue from new regional retail development to fund downtown revitalization efforts
· A request to include a developer fee based on the amount of square footage to be built with these proceeds going to support Downtown marketing, promotion, and revitalization efforts
· Establish a minimum leasehold storefront size for regional retail to both ensure that business are large enough to create a regional draw and to minimize the recruitment and or relocation of existing downtown businesses
· That any regional retail development be subject to an economic impact analysis study prior to permitting to ensure that the size of the project does not exceed market capacity
The Ellensburg Downtown Association will present their recommendations at the June 20th special Council meeting and the Council is scheduled to hear the proposed permitting ordinance at their regularly scheduled council meeting on Monday June 25th.
For more information contact the Ellensburg Downtown Association at 509-962-6246 or by email at info@ellensburgdowntown.org
Note to reporter. The following two pages contain the proposed mitigation provisions in detail
Ellensburg Downtown Association
Proposal to Mitigate the Impact of Regional Retail
#1 Dedication of 30% of sales tax revenue from regional retail for downtown revitalization efforts. This is based on the North Bend example.
This position has been supported throughout the discussion by both the EDA Board and the council
#2 Development fees based on square footage of regional retail leasehold space payable at the time of permitting.
Thi
For Immediate release June 20, 2007
For more information contact: Timothy Bishop, CMSM
Ellensburg Downtown Association 509-962-6246 info@ellensburgdowntown.org
Ellensburg Downtown Association Proposes Mitigation Measures to Offset Impacts of Proposed Regional Retail Development
The Ellensburg Downtown Association has developed a list of proposed measures to help offset the potentially damaging impact that proposed new regional retail development on the outskirts of town may have on Downtown. The Association will present their recommendations to the City Council at a special council meeting June 20th at 7 p.m. at City Hall (501 N Anderson).
The City Council is currently considering an ordinance that would establish the permitting guidelines for up to one million square feet of regional retail at the two highway interchanges on the edge of town. The Ellensburg Downtown Association is requesting that the City council include provisions to mitigate the impact of this development on the Downtown as part of the permitting ordinance. “We believe it’s very important that these issues be worked out at the front end of the process” according to Association Director Timothy Bishop.
The Ellensburg downtown Associations proposal includes four (4) key elements.
· A request that the City dedicate a percentage of sales tax revenue from new regional retail development to fund downtown revitalization efforts
· A request to include a developer fee based on the amount of square footage to be built with these proceeds going to support Downtown marketing, promotion, and revitalization efforts
· Establish a minimum leasehold storefront size for regional retail to both ensure that business are large enough to create a regional draw and to minimize the recruitment and or relocation of existing downtown businesses
· That any regional retail development be subject to an economic impact analysis study prior to permitting to ensure that the size of the project does not exceed market capacity
The Ellensburg Downtown Association will present their recommendations at the June 20th special Council meeting and the Council is scheduled to hear the proposed permitting ordinance at their regularly scheduled council meeting on Monday June 25th.
For more information contact the Ellensburg Downtown Association at 509-962-6246 or by email at info@ellensburgdowntown.org
Note to reporter. The following two pages contain the proposed mitigation provisions in detail
Ellensburg Downtown Association
Proposal to Mitigate the Impact of Regional Retail
#1 Dedication of 30% of sales tax revenue from regional retail for downtown revitalization efforts. This is based on the North Bend example.
This position has been supported throughout the discussion by both the EDA Board and the council
#2 Development fees based on square footage of regional retail leasehold space payable at the time of permitting.
Thi
Email
Print
SPAM
LEAVE A COMMENT
