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STAFF REPORT Item: Downtown Plan Background: At the November meeting, Planning Commission members had a number of questions regarding the Downtown Plan. It is important to understand that the plan is not a technical engineering report,but a visioning document. The task of the plan was to visualize possibilities and create a development plan that helped transform the downtown into a regional destination. The bulk of the work, both in community meetings and in terms of staff time, went into preparing the concept plan that was presented to the Planning Commission last February. The visual concept plan lays out the vision of project participants and staffs design team for creating a destination. It includes increased parking, an enhanced pedestrian experience, an expansion of commercial areas and other aesthetic enhancements. The concept plan has been prominently displayed in the council chambers for nearly ten months. Staff has done a presentation on the elements of the plan to the Planning Commission and to the public at large on two other occasions. The universal feedback has been positive with agreement that the concept plan should be the target for which we aim. The augmentation of the concept plan with a supporting text document has been done primarily in order to provide a vehicle by which the City can apply for funding from state and federal agencies, although it will also serve as a planning tool for the City. Again, it is not a technical engineering report but a concept document that both draws from and reinforces concepts adopted in the Comprehensive Plan. Specific questions/comments forwarded to Staff after last month's discussion: • Before it comes to the Commission it should get some vetting by some of the business owners who participated in the focus groups. This can ensure they have ownership in the document and will give it more credibility with the City Council. The Planning Commission has the prerogative to do whatever they deem necessary in reviewing and making a recommendation on adoption. The visioning process included two individual mailings to all property owners within the project area and there was fairly high participation in the process, although not necessarily by existing business operators. It should be noted that, since the concept would be expanding the commercial area significantly, owners of undeveloped or underdeveloped properties in the study area would be more radically impacted than the existing business owners along Government Drive. • It lacks local statistical data. For example, who are the businesses in the downtown area (interestingly no one in town has a list), how long have they been in business, what businesses are they in (retail, service, etc), are there successful strategies we can share with other businesses or newcomers, etc. While this type of information may be interesting, it really goes outside of what the planning process was trying to evaluate or accomplish. The relevancy of what the existing businesses specifically sell and how long they have been there has little impact on the physical layout of the streets, pedestrian ways, and aesthetic elements. The background information in the written report is cursory as it is designed to provide a general overview of what is going on. City of Pequot Lakes Staff Report 13_1 December 14,2oo6