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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/26/1973MINUTES ADJOURNED MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA Monday, November 26, 1973 - 7:30 P.M. City Hall Pledge Roll Call: PRESENT: Councilmen Brown, Graham, Gurnee, Norris, and Mayor Schwartz Citv Staff: ABSENT: None PRESENT: J. H. Fitzpatrick, City Clerk; R.D. Miller, Administrative Officer; A. J. Shaw, Jr., City Attorney; D. Williamson, Assistant Administrative Officer; D. F. Romero, City Engineer; E. L. Rodgers, Police Chief. 1. The City Clerk reported that the purpose of the meeting was a public hearing on a resolution of intention to establish a parking and business improvement area within the downtown section of the City of San Luis Obispo and setting a hearing and date thereof. The resolu- tion was requested by the Downtown Association to establish a parking and business improvement district under the provisions of the California Streets and Highways Code, Sections 3600 et seq. The area to be included in the boundaries of said district were generally described as follows: California Boulevard from Highway 101 to San Luis Drive southerly across the Southern Pacific Railroad right -of -way to Pismo Street, Pismo Street from the Southern Pacific Railroad right -of -way to Archer Street, Archer Street to Marsh Street, Marsh Street to Highway 101, Highway 101 to California Boulevard. The area would include also the businesses front- ing on both sides of the boundary streets and all four corners of inter- sections of said boundary streets. The proposed uses for which the tax revenue from said area would be spent for were: 1) Acquisition, construction, or maintenance of parking facilities for the benefit of the area provided that said facilities shall not impair the City's ability to produce revenue for the payment of parking district no. 1 obligations. 2) Decoration of any public place in the area. 3) Promotion of public events which are to take place on or in public places in.the City. 4) Furnishing of music in any public place in the area, and 5) The general promotion of retail trade activities in the area. The proposed tax revenue would be derived from a percentage increase in the City's business license tax for all licensed businesses in said area. Said percentage increase would vary among different classifications as follows: Retail sales - 100 percent increase in the license tax General business - 100 percent increase in the license tax Professions, vocations, and other businesses - 50 percent increase in the license tax. City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page 2 A. J. Shaw, City Attorney, explained the legal steps necessary for the formation of the district under the California Streets and Highways Code provisions, this being the first step, a public hearing to ..get the feeling of the property owners and business license holders in the proposed district. The City Clerk then reported that in accordance with the provisions of the resolution under consideration, notices had been sent out to 496 businesses with a total business license revenue to the City of $44,652. The City Clerk then presented the following letters: One from Harry E. Woolpert, Attorney at Law, 1305 Marsh Street, objected to being forced into taking part in the establishment of a parking and business improvement area in the downtown area. He felt that the im- provements should come through voluntary downtown businessmen associa- tions and not through another special district supported by the taxpayers. Lachlan P. MacDonald, Chairman of the City's Promotional Coordinating Committee, spoke in favor of the formation of the business improvement district. The committee wished to go on record unanimously to approve of the concept that a business improvement district could assist in the goals of promoting San Luis Obispo. Communication from Shipsev & Seitz, Attorneys at Law, 1119 Palm Street, opposed the formation of the district first on the basis that City requirements force them to place off - street parking on their private property with no help from the adjoining businesses. Secondly, there were no public places, exclusive of the courthouse, close to his business and he could not envision any amounts of money being spent to decorate or promote the area. And finally, he did not feel that business license taxes should be used to promote retail trade in the proposed district as it should be done by the businesses involved. Further, he felt that if any tax money were to be spent on promotion, the City should also consider the Foothill merchants, Madonna Road shopping area and other places within the City from which revenue was derived. Communication from George Shreve, Cenco Employment Agency, submi.tted a strong protest to the funding of this program on downtown improvements which would double his business license. He felt the promotion of the City of San Luis Obispo was and should be a function of the Chamber of Commerce for which dues were paid by contributing merchants. Secondly, he felt that firms such as insurance companies and banks paid no business fees but whould share in the benefits of such a district. He also felt that competition from shopping centers as well as other areas would create a desire for the downtown merchants to compete and if the prdce was right there would be no need for this type of promotion. And lastly, he felt that all business people should support the retail merchants in- dividually and not through a government.district. Communication from Arthur F..Spring, San Luis Motor Company, opposed the proposed business improvement district. It was his feeling that the businessmen should support their own development and not expect the City to develop sales for them. Finally, a letter from Hilda J. Roza, 704 Mission Street, opposing the formation of the business improvement district as she felt the City had other more important things to do than to help promote and develop the businessmen of San Luis Obispo. R. D. Miller, Administrative Officer, submitted for the City Council's information the per capita business license taxes levied on businesses comparable in Cities., ten larger and ten smaller than the City of San Luis Obispo. Mayor Schwartz declared the public hearing open. 1 1 l _! City Council Minutes November 26,1973 Page 3 Rudy Silva, Brazil's Jewelry, President Downtown Association, spoke in favor.of the formation of the business improvement district and listed the reasons why the Downtown Assocation urged the establishment.of such a district and said the Downtown Associiation would manage the district for the good of San Luis Obispo business. He then introduced Mr. Bill Riley, Manager- Director of the Oxnard Business Improvement District and Mr. Dan Wilson, Watsonville Radio, who spoke on the business improvement districts in Watsonville and Santa Rosa. Tom Shevlin, Bob's Car Wash, improvement district, except for more parking. He was op advertising, music, etc. He put to a vote of all license just a few supporters. spoke in support of the proposed business he would only support it if it would pay )osed to the other items such as promotion, also suggested that this matter should be holders in the proposed district and not William McWhinney, Pacific Street, was opposed to his inclusion in the proposed business improvement district as professional persons would receive no benefit and their rates would be extremely high. He did not feel that the professional businesses on the outskirts- of the central business district would receive any of the advertising, promotion or music as envisioned. Elmore Reynolds, San Luis Cyclery,Monterey Street, stated that 32 businesses on Monterey Street, opposed being included in the business improvement district as they would not receive any benefit from their increased fees. Per Mathiesen, Monterey Street, questioned the Downtown Association's right to use tax funds for their own benefit, for their own staff members, etc. Neal, Performance Motors, was opposed to the formation of the business improvement district as he would not receive any benefit from the in- creased costs on his license. He felt that the proposed district was too large and said also that San Luis Auto Parts were also opposed to this district. Bob Reich, 952 Higuera Street, was in favor of the formation of the district as he felt it would benefit his business and all others in the downtown area. Mid -State Electronics, Monterey Street, opposed the formation of the district as it would not benefit his operation as he was too far from downtown and the ones who benefited should be the ones who paid the bill. Harry Murphy, Attorney, who also spoke on behalf of Dick Willett, said he felt that the proposed district boundaries were too encompassing and too large an area, as he felt the only ones who would benefit were the stores in the downtown core of the City, and it seemed to him that the Downtown Association was trying to have their far -flung neighbors pay for downtown promotion to help the core businesses do better. He was opposed to the district formation as presently conceived and the purposes listed. Universal Auto Parts was opposed to the proposal as they felt it would not benefit their business, and that if anyone wanted promotion it should be paid for by the individual or by a group of businesses working through the Chamber of Commerce. Jerry Caylor, Premier Music, was opposed to the formation of the district as proposed. He also opposed the City using tax money to advertise and promote downtown business as it would only benefit a few retail downtown stores. Pat Smith, Westside Auto Parts, 1329 Monterey Street, was opposed to the formation of the district as presently conceived. City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page 4 Ed Randall, Westside Auto Parts, 1232 Monterey Street, was opposed to the district. He felt there was no benefit outside of the small core area. Dr. M. 0. Noszlopi, 1363 Marsh Street, felt no benefit to professional men. She felt the benefit would only be to retail businesses in the core area. She felt the district boundaries were too large, too encom- passing. Dr. William J. Schanberger, 1500 A Marsh Street, was opposed to the form- ation of the district if he was included. He felt there would be no benefit to professionals and did not feel that the business people were being fair in wishing people outside the district to pay for their promotion. Shirlev Thomas, apartment owner, Pismo Street, opposed to the formation of the business improvement district. She felt it would only benefit retail stores. Mrs. Forsvthe, 1323 Morro Street, said she was not notified and felt if she was not told about the meeting, how many others were not notified? She was opposed to the district as she did not feel it would benefit anyone except those in retail business. Mr. Garcia, Wholesale Auto Parts, 565 Higuera Street, was opposed to being included in this district. It would not be of any benefit to his business and would only help the retail stores in the central part of downtown. Peter Nelson, Dentist, Fremont Plaza, Peach Stre included in the business improvement district as were too large. It should only include the core would be derived by the majority of the people. Dr. M. McRae, Fremont Plaza, was opposed to the as it would not be of benefit to him. Dt, was opposed to being he felt the boundaries area where the benefit formation of the district Don Mueller, Uptown Market, was opposed to being included in the business improvement district. He felt the area was too large, his business would not benefit as it was too far from downtown, and further felt that if he wished to promote his business with his neighbors he felt he should get together and do it on that basis. Clifford Hansen, Safeway Store ,Manager, Marsh Street, was opposed to the formation of the district and having his company store included. There was no need for such a district, there would be no benefit to his bus- iness and it would be the equivalent of an increase 5' times their taxes. Thelma Copeland, Copeland Shoes, Sports Store, etc., Higuera Street and Monterey Street, was opposed to the formation of the business improvement district. She felt that each business should pay for their own adver- tising and promotion. She felt the district was too large and did not want the City to pay for promotion and felt that most of the money collected would go to staff and for expenses of someone running around doing the errands for the association. Andrew Renetzkv, Attorney, 911 Palm Street, stated he was in support of the formation of the business improvement district, as He felt the Down- town Association had done a good job and they needed the support that this money would bring to the business district. Dr. Von Stein, Dentist, Fremont Plaza, was opposed to being included in this district. Chet Becker, Draperies, Marsh Street, was opposed to the entire idea of a business improvement district. He felt that only those who benefited City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page 5 should pay and not expect others to pay for the central core's adver- tising and promotion. Jim Moyer, Jim's Campus Camera, 756 Higuera Street, in support of the business improvement district felt that combined promotion and advertis- ing would benefit the entire community. Nate Levin, Arnett & Broadbent, thought that the Downtown Association should do their own promotion and not expect those who did not benefit to pay for their advertising. He was opposed to the formation of this district. San Luis Travel Agency was in favor of the Downtown Association's pro- posal but did not feel that they should be included as they were too far out of-the district and would receive no benefit from such a district. Warnes, Warnes Paint Store, Monterey Street, was opposed to the formation of the district and did not like the idea of the City collecting'license fees for the Downtown promotion, staff, etc. Dr. Farmer, California Blvd., Tolosa Medical Center, opposed being in- cluded in the district and did not feel the scheme would benefit either downtown or the City as a whole. He would support a program that would help the City but he felt the boundaries as presently envisioned were too large and too unwieldy. Tom Brown, Brown's, Shoes, Higuera Street, in favor of the business improve- ment district felt it would benefit his business and all core businesses. He did not know where the district boundaries should be, but if reduced, who would carry the load of the promotion? Dr. Ben McAdams, California Blvd., was opposed to being included in the district. He felt that this was taxation without benefit to those who were required to pay. He did not feel that professionals in the outlying area would receive any benefit. Mortar & Pestle Pharmacy, 1239 Osos Street, was opposed to the district. He felt there would be no benefit to his business or to any professional. He felt there were other ways to revitalize the downtown without doubling the business license fees. He also felt that those who benefited should pay. Dr. Jorqensen, California Blvd., was opposed to the business improvement district. He felt the boundaries were ,too all encompassing. He felt that his clinic would not benefit from the license fee increase. He felt the City Council should take an informative vote now before forming the district. He felt the boundaries should be reduced so that only those who benefited would pay and not those who received no benefit. Ron Idler, Idler's, Broad Street, was in support of the formation of the business improvement district as he felt his business and all other down- town retail businesses would benefit. Bill Riley, Executive Director, Oxnard Business Improvement District, spoke on behalf of the Downtown Assocgation's attempt to form a business improvement and parking district in San Luis Obispo. He felt that with- out the power of the City to collect the taxes, the merchants would not ban together and do the advertising and promotion that they needed. He did not know about the limits of the district, but he supported the concept of the business improvement district as allowed by State law. Dan Wilson, KSBW -TV, Salinas, spoke on his experiences in Watsonville and Santa Cruz in promoting businesses in these cities through the provisions of Chapter 241, AB 103. He felt that the Watsonville experience was a good example of the benefits that a parking and business improvement district brought to the merchants, which he claimed increased business in one year by 31 percent. He also felt that the concept of the B.I.D. was good but could not speak as to the boundaries submitted by the Downtown Association at this time. City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page 6 Mayor Schwartz declared the public hearing closed and declared a ten - minute recess. 9:30 P.M. 9:45 P.M. The meeting reconvened, all Councilmen present. Rudy Silva, President of the Downtown Association, stated that during the break he discussed with the directors the comments at this meeting and submitted the following compromise on boundary of district, using a zone concept. He suggested Zone 1 would have a full assessment and Zone 2 would be 50 percent of the assessment. Zone 1 would be the small area of Palm, Santa Rosa, Pacific and Nipomo Streets. The balance, Zone 2 would be the balance of the proposed district. He stated he was still in support of the district concept as he felt it was the only way that the Downtown Association would get sufficient funds to do the promotion that was'necessary. He felt that it was impossible for the merchants to get together, and he gave his example of his own experience in his organization.and in the Chamber of Commerce. Upon question, Mr. Shaw, City Attorney, stated that if the City Council were to make any changes in the boundary, it would require a new mailing, new advertising; and a new public hearing as it would be a complete new proposal. All the Council could take action on this evening is what had been advertised and what had been mailed out'to the individual business licensees. Councilman Gurnee, stated that he felt that a fair method to resolve this matter would be for the City to hold an election amongst the business and professional men of the City to see if they agreed with the concept and amount of fee-proposed. He felt a mailing ballot could be used. He felt the proposed district was too large. He felt that the majority of the ones in the proposed district would receive the least benefit. He also felt that the formation of the district based on dollar amount of license and not on number of licenses, was unfair. He also disagreed with additional promotion advertising with tax dollars. He did not oppose advertising if paid for by private enterprise represented by the private business people. Councilman Norris stated that he felt a great amount of opposition was submitted this evening and felt that the Council should amend the proposal ;to (1) include a reduced size of the district, (2) elim;i:nate professionals from being included, and look into a zone -of- benefit system of fees. He stated while he was still in favor of the concept of the business improvement district, he felt that the proposal of the Downtown Association was in error. Councilman Brown, stated that he did not feel that the present proposal could be approved. He felt that it must be revised and that a proposal submitted for public hearing and also that a ballot should be sent out so that each business and professional could support or reject the entire project. Councilman Graham stated he was in support of an improvement district to develop, promote and advertise the central core of business district. He felt that no one really knew what benefits the district would bring to can Luis Obispo!:s downtown. He felt that the business improvement . district organization would be a rallying organization for the business community. He said he felt that what downtown San Luis Obispo needed was customer and employee parking which was lacking at this time. He would support the concept of a business -improvement district and felt the size of the district might be too large, but that if some type of zone - of- benefit could be worked out, he would go along with the proposal. Mayor Schwartz felt that the business community was not in full support of the proposed business improvement district, and he felt that any action that the Council would take would have detrimental effect on the business community. He also felt it would put the City Council in a position of 1 1 1 City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page 7 being a collector of funds for private promotion, development, and improvement, which he felt would also cause problems in the business community. He also felt that the proposed boundaries were too large and all encompassing. He too would favor an advisory of.straw vote as to each business person's feeling as to the formation of the improvement district. He suggested that the district should really contain the area within the Palm, Santa Rosa, Pacific and Nipomo area and that the profes- sional people should be left out of the district as they would receive no benefit from any of this promotion. Councilman Gurnee warned the City Council not to clutter up the straw ballot by sending one out with too many alternates. Councilman Norris stated that he wasinsupport of the advisory vote, which would define the new boundary and which would eliminate licensing of pro- fessionals. Rudy Silva, President of the Downtown Association, upon question stated that he feared the straw vote or popular vote would reject the proposal and he felt the City Council should follow State law without an advisory vote of all the licensees. He stated that the State law, as he understood it, was written so that the only way the improvement district could be stopped would be if 51 percent of the merchants were opposed to the formation. He continued that if the Council insisted on an advisory vote, it would be thrown out by the people. He stated this is why the State law was written to allow the protestors to object to the formation. He felt that this was put in the law so that the opposition would have difficulty in stopping the formation of the district. Councilman Gurnee felt that the State law was incorrect if this was the intent when it was passed. On motion of Councilman Gurnee, seconded by Councilman Brown that the City Council direct the City staff to draw a question for a straw ballot to be submitted to all businesses in the business improvement district for the Council's consideration, the ballot to contain the following: (1) Do you support the business improvement district as proposed? (2) Would you support a I.evy on your business license tax to support any sort of a downtown improvement district? Potion lost on the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmen Gurnee and Brown NOES: Councilmen Graham, Norris and Mayor Schwartz ABSENT: None On motion of Councilman Norris that the City Council work with the Down- town Association to formulate several specific proposals to submit to license holders within the City of San Luis Obispo for future hearing by the City Council. Motion died for lack of a second. On motion of Councilman Graham that the City Council continue the present hearing on Resolution No. 2510, refer to the Downtown Association for revisions and return to the Council for future hearing. Motion lost for lack of a second. Rudy Silva again appeared before the City Council, told the Council to follow the State law and not to try for a popular vote for advice to the City Council. City Council Minutes November 26, 1973 Page US Jack Ready, again asked the City Attorney to read section 36,023 on the formation of a business.;improvement district. On motion of Mayor Schwartz, seconded by Councilman Brown that the City Council authorize a straw vote ballot to be sent to all business licensees in the original district proposed under Resolution No.' 2510 as amended into Zones 1 and 2, and another ballot to licensses in the area bounded by Santa Rosa, Pacific, Nipomo, and Palm Streets. Questions to include the following: (1) Would you support the intent of the business improvement district as proposed in Areas 1 and 2? (2) As far as the boundaries of Area 2 are concerned, would you favor the elimination of a tax on professionals? (3) As far as boundaries of Area 1 are concerned, would you favor elimination of tax on profes- sionals? (4) As far as boundaries of Area 2 are concerned, would you approve the zone concept with Zone 1 paying 100 percent of the license fee and Zone 2 paying 50 percent of the license fee? Motion carried on the following roll call vote: AYES: Councilmen Brown, Graham, and Norris and Mayor Schwartz NOES: Councilman Gurnee ABSENT: None The City Council adjourned to Wednesday, November 2E, 1973 at 4:00 P.M. APPROVED: February 19, 1974 H. F TRICK, CITY CLERK; I 1