RDA RAC Workshop

JOINT REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY AND REDEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES June 19, 2013 I. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Andy Hafen called the meeting to order at 1:41 p.m., at the Henderson Convention Center, 200 Water Street, Henderson, Nevada. II. CONFIRMATION OF POSTING AND ROLL CALL Sabrina Mercadante, City Clerk, confirmed the meeting had been posted in accordance with the Open Meeting Law by posting the agenda three working days prior to the meeting at City Hall, Multigenerational Center, Whitney Ranch Recreational Center, and Fire Station No. 86. Present Redevelopment Agency: Redevelopment Advisory Commission: Chairman Andy Hafen Chairman Mark McGinty Member Debra March Commissioner Tom Fay Member John Marz Commissioner Richard Serfas Member Gerri Schroder Commissioner Stan Southwick Absent: Absent: Member Sam Bateman Commissioner David Chavez Commissioner Tom Foster Commissioner Laura Jane Spina Staff: Jacob Snow, City Manager Bristol Ellington, Assistant City Manager Sabrina Mercadante, City Clerk Tracy Foutz, Acting Director of Community Development and Services Tracy Bower, Sr. Director of Public Affairs/Economic and Cultural Development Andrea Primo, Director of Cultural Arts and Tourism Michelle Romero, Redevelopment Manager Tiffany Reardon, Redevelopment Comm Specialist Tedie Jackson, Minutes Clerk RDA and RAC Joint Workshop/Charette Page 2 June 19, 2013 – Minutes III. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA (Motion) Member March moved to accept the agenda as presented. The vote favoring approval was unanimous. Chairman Hafen declared the motion carried. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no comments presented by the public. V. ITEMS OF BUSINESS a. Welcome and Workshop Overview Chairman Hafen welcomed everyone in attendance and thanked Windom Kimsey, Tate-Snyder-Kimsey Architects, for hosting this workshop. Mr. Kimsey explained that the purpose of this workshop is a brain storming session to discuss downtown redevelopment efforts in the Water Street District. Via PowerPoint presentation entitled “Downtown Water Street Visioning Charrette.” Jacob Snow, City Manager, showed slides of buildings designed by Daniel Burnham, architect, of the Pearl District in Portland and a successful redevelopment effort in Oregon. He noted that the goal is to get in touch with the soul of the community and rebuild downtown Henderson. b. Case Study Review Windom Kimsey, Tate-Snyder-Kimsey Architects, continued showing slides from the PowerPoint presentation depicting several photographs of Water Street businesses, and he pointed out that downtown offers good existing infrastructure and great connectivity with trails. He noted that the Henderson Space and Science Center has been put on hold and there are ongoing discussions of possibly locating it downtown. Regarding comparative case studies of successful redevelopment areas, photographs were displayed of Abbot Kinney Street in Venice, California; Mill Avenue in Tempe, AZ; and Nob Hill, Albuquerque. RDA and RAC Joint Workshop/Charette Page 3 June 19, 2013 – Minutes c. Team Breakout Individuals broke into teams to discuss the following topics: Urban Planning, Housing, Transportation, Sustainability, Civic/Cultural/Education; and Economic Development/Redevelopment. Note: The team breakout session lasted from 2:15 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. d. Team Findings Urban Planning: Create anchors for Water Street; define and capitalize on the history and character of Water Street; create identifiable landmarks on Lake Mead/Water Street; create environment conducive to walking (shaded walkways); create connect framework of systems (connectivity of roads parking, open spaces transit, biking); provide convenient parking; encourage mixed uses (food, entertainment, office, bars, residential); continue and enhance events on Water Street; capitalize on and retain existing assets (hospital, history); create and develop a friendly environment (how to incentivize developers to downtown); identify a target market. Housing: Housing or business first? Evaluate area; promote housing; creating ease of entitlements; planning for mixed use; increase in density will help businesses; walkability; drawbacks of housing and commercial; drawbacks of prevailing wages too low prohibits future growth; varying levels of density in area; existing base infrastructure (hospital, bars, schools). Transportation: Flow around Water Street; bike trails and routes on either side of Water street; local access through areas and maintain flow; how to leverage assets to enhance flow; entries and gateways; access to Water Street; pedestrian lanes and bridges; how to attract people via transportation; during special event parking (how to service the area); improving access routes and provide safe access to the area; offsite access from Henderson Express from RTC; improve speed of the route; community gardens and pocket parks help connectivity; Basic Road is key component (improve that corridor); Boulder Highway is a key area to draw traffic; linking the trail system through Water Street. Sustainability: Thriving environment (sense of place with nodes of activity); terrific infrastructure to work with; provide frequent and regular monthly events; mix of uses (need more residential, retail, office, higher density residential); essential to have community involvement; remember sense of historic pride; creating a new energy and demographic downtown; public participation and private partnerships; make Water Street memory lane (incorporate pride of history); sustainability is a process and not an outcome. RDA and RAC Joint Workshop/Charette Page 4 June 19, 2013 – Minutes Civic/Cultural/education: Challenges to consider include a disconnect between the north and south end of Water Street; lack of population density to support certain activity; lack of sense of community; need to understand what developers need to invest in the downtown area; parking issues. Opportunities include a need of permanent anchors; tap into those who live downtown and those who work downtown; focus marketing and development to meet all needs. Possible anchors is cultural events center, market, theater or similar venue, educational cultural anchor, career tech tied into McCaw School of Mines, space and science technology school, culinary urban gardening, tutoring school, magnet school, nursing school with St. Rose. Economic Development/Redevelopment: Opportunities include extending lifetime of the redevelopment agency; capital markets and tax credits; new market tax credits; City capital investments for transportation, wifi; utility upgrades; Cadence development of 11,000 homes; urban lounges; wave fees; add multi-family housing, increase density; special events; lack of restaurants; sports events; density bonuses; place making (capitalize on main street activity); and create Lake Mead and Water Street gateway; free parking with parking garages. Challenges include attracting people downtown; funding for infrastructure and other improvements; condemnation (individual parcel owners); address homeless population; population growth versus business growth – balance housing and business; perception of perimeters of Water Street should attract people; need critical mass, too low density to support activities; diversity of ownership of individual parcels. All participants were given color-coded dots to place on images of five boards representing dining, shopping, housing, art, and cultural. Members will vote on the categories via a visual exercise. Tate-Snyder-Kimsey will tabulate the dots and report back next week. A formal presentation will be made to the City Council on August 7, 2013. Member Gerri Schroder thanked everyone for their participation in this workshop. RDA and RAC Joint Workshop/Charette Page 5 June 19, 2013 – Minutes VI. PUBLIC COMMENT There were no comments presented by the public. VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to be discussed, Member Gerri Schroder adjourned the meeting at 5:05 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, _________________________ Tedie Jackson, Minutes Clerk