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Council hears redevelopment, zoning and business‑incentive ideas for South Broadway
Summary
City staff and community strategy groups proposed changes to land‑use regulation, parking strategies, business incentives and targeted redevelopment of motels and auto‑oriented lots; councilors urged caution about displacing existing businesses and asked for detailed financial impacts on city sales tax
The Economic and Redevelopment strategy group presented recommendations aimed at retaining existing businesses, attracting uses that fit the corridor’s character and reducing auto‑oriented uses that limit walkability. Director of Community Development Brad Power and guest presenter Bill Ranshaw of Snyder Building Construction described a set of policy and program ideas developed in June and July with residents and business owners.
Proposals included amending land‑use code to allow phased, more deliberate redevelopment on South Broadway; working with motel owners on conversions; implementing distance‑based rules to limit concentrations of auto‑oriented uses; exploring incentives to reactivate vacant property (tenant build‑out grants, vacant property incentive grants); creating smaller, more affordable retail spaces; and investigating parking strategies such as locating parking behind buildings and encouraging shared parking between businesses with different peak hours.
The group also recommended investigating an expanded BERT (local circulator) or a targeted trolley-like service to help connect the corridor with other destinations; staff noted this would be costly and suggested piloting targeted service or seeking partner funding. Business owners who worried about code changes argued the city should avoid policies that would force out existing, invested small businesses.
Council members said they supported further study but asked staff to analyze fiscal impacts. Member Noonan Camp and others requested caution about potential sales‑tax losses if auto uses were reduced, and suggested phased incentives to backfill revenue. Several councilors said the city should pursue low‑cost beautification and small grants first rather than large, multi‑year incentive packages. Member Ward suggested code revisions to ease conversions of weekly‑rate motels to longer‑term housing without expensive retrofits (sprinkler requirements), a change that could facilitate housing conversions if legally and financially feasible.
Staff will continue outreach with property owners and return with analyses of vacancy, fiscal impact, and potential incentive structures.
