Open Agenda Ep 25: Mayor Randy Taylor
Show Transcript
Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
you're watching open Agenda here's our
host Joe
White welcome to open Agenda I'm your
host Joe White in the studio with me
today is Dr venosa thanks for coming out
Joe thank you Joe so uh early part of
December yep and so we just had our
first County council meeting of the
month um the six o'clock meeting and at
this meeting they did a couple things
that that really impacted how the
Horizon fund for the county side this
does not affect the City part correct uh
the county part did uh on this later in
the agenda I want to cover this first uh
Bob Benson the the lawyer uh County
council's lawyer introduced a bill
legislative Bill to Sunset The Horizon
fund correct and so talk about that a
little bit Yeah well as people may know
uh The Horizon's program was sort of
designed supposedly years ago as a kind
of incentive program for development in
regards to waving certain fees uh to
Spur different kinds of project projects
uh you know that would happen within the
county well we even property tax
property taxes impact fees all sorts of
things yeah and essentially what
happened well not essentially what did
happen yesterday or excuse me on Tuesday
was that the county voted 70 to uh
effectively uh Sunset the program with
the kind of stipulation that there might
be in the future a similar program or
something designed to continue the idea
of certain sort of um incentives because
the Horizon fund is only for the central
business district correct I think some
of their interest lies in maybe some
sort of incentive program that allows
development in in other areas maybe not
any area but but bigger broader bigger
broader yeah yeah yeah so the the county
side of the Horizon fun is a 10-year
program the city is 20 20 um but the one
the one entity that feels like they were
entitled to the subsidy was the Ross
program right correct and was actually
very early on in the agenda they did
this through resolution right yes so how
did that go well this has been obviously
for those that have been watching it uh
it's been hotly debated over recent
months uh what happened was several well
about a month and a half ago the council
initially had a resol had the same
resolution and it basically stalled 3
to3 with one exstension uh basically you
had um councilman's Hastings Canon and
Merritt voting for it at the time and
then you had councilman Holloway
councilman win councilman Baker voting
against it with councilwoman Shany
Shields to uh voting to abstain okay
Shany Shield she's from district one
which is right in salsburg correct um
and that effectively tabled it in the
short term and it's come back there's
been discussions as we know in the
community you know between the council
and the developers about it there's
obviously a lot of people that wanted it
to pass and ultimately it did as of this
week uh because uh councilwoman Shields
decided to change her her vote well you
said a lot of people wanted to pass I
mean I I would actually say a lot of
people don't want it to pass a lot let
me rephrase a lot of residents and local
people didn't want it to pass a lot of
people in the orbit of the developer
wanted it to pass well let's talk about
a little bit of why this is even a vote
one uh it when they passed this four
years ago uh to start this Pro many more
maybe more than four years ago uh John
Canon council president put in there
that one of the stipulations is it has
to actually still be approved by the
County Council as we find out later also
by the county executive we'll talk about
that more later but um but inherently
they they missed a deadline right they
did uh and not by like by by several
months yeah yeah and so and I and I
gathered this from the work session they
had in November I stayed for the for the
work
session the the developer uh mentis and
and Nick Simpsons associated with that
basically their argument was that there
wasn't an application process for for
him to fill out but at no time in those
many months was any communication even
sent to the county to say hey hey we
think we're owed this right correct
there was there was nothing done up to
that point and then way past the
deadline so what are we talking about
here about how much money well again
it's there's a little bit of of uh of
difference in estimations but anywhere
from $2 to $2.5 million okay spread out
over 10 years spread out over 10 years
yeah so so what that basically means is
by voting to allow through resolution
this exemption to pass or to be
processed the Count's out upwards of $25
million
so the the resolution passed this time
four to three four to V the only
difference was Shany Shields Chang
Shields changed the vote from an
abstention to a affirmative yeah yeah
and and I mean over the course of the
last several weeks we we understand that
the former mayor jakee day is has has
made his opinion very well known that I
mean this was a a a project and a
process that he touted when he was mayor
of Salsbury yeah he wanted to see this
this happen right yeah I mean I there's
there's there's been many conversations
in the community uh bring up the fact
that our former mayor who now has a very
influential role at the state level as
Secretary of Housing um you know has
done his best to try to tip the scales
on some of these votes now there's some
level of frustration here there's
there's been several times where the
public could go and make comments uh
there's also been several times at
public comments where people have spoken
against the Ross Yes I mean at the end
of the day do you get a sense of why
this passed I I get a sense of why it
passed for the simple reason that a lot
of these programs have historically
passed um in my own blunt estimation uh
rich people get away with a lot of their
interests because they have influence
and you know your regular citizen who
might not be a investor in these
multi-million dollar properties doesn't
have the same clout that the Secretary
of Housing might or an investor who has
millions of dollars at their disposal
and I also do think that there was
perhaps the concern or or the possible
threat of lawsuits that would be brought
up by the uh developers if this didn't
go their way yeah I mean lawsuits are
always unfortunate but sometimes to
stick up for what is right for the
taxpayer that they're necessary and and
a lawsuit would be cheaper than $25
million so that's the the frustrating
part from our end so the this part is
past uh except for we found out at the
very or towards the end of the meeting
the legislative session yeah um
councilman Holloway actually spoke up
and and had the County's attorney Paul
Wilbur come up to the table and speak
yes uh what was his question and what
was the answer you got yeah I think Mr
Holloway should have been a lawyer in a
different uh life so he so during this
coun meeting councilman hway asked for
the county Executives attorney um Paul
Wilbur to come up and clarify something
and what he asked Mr Wilber was because
this is a
resolution does it not also have to have
the approval of the county executive and
after a bit of waffle making on his part
Bob Benson also chimed in as the county
council's lawyer and they both agreed
that yes the county executive at this
point also has to approve of this for it
to happen now that's contradictory to
what she said on her executive exclusive
show last week yes she actually spent
several minutes discussing that she has
no dog in this fight oh yes and and and
because it's a resolution she doesn't
have to sign off on it either way she
might not have a dog but she has 50% of
the dog yeah um because what is going to
happen right now then is she is now
going to have to decide whether to give
away $2 and5 million dollar of our tax
money to a developer or to keep that in
check all right so did not allow this
one subject to be seen in a vacuum let's
talk about the the holistic approach
here we're we're really not far from the
budget season budget budgeting I mean
we're already into the CIP part of this
yeah we're going to be into the
operating budget in those hearings at
least by May in April too yeah um it
would be really interesting to to to
remind folks on the County Council and
in the executives office who who push
for and V voted for additional money for
the Civic Center for moving the library
even spending 2026 money in the library
yeah when we have to fund the schools
correct well and let's let's also bring
up this point and ironically of all
people councilman Hastings made this
point who voted for this what we feel as
a taxpayer giveaway He also mentioned
that because of the fact that we are now
uh looking at some severe state budget
cuts that that's going to include our
disparity Grant so when we talk about
the projects that we're going to have to
be funding we also have to be aware that
that's going to happen in the context of
other massive Cuts yes and where it
stands right now is and this was
mentioned at the County council meeting
a few of the people who spoke during
public comments who work for other state
agencies have said hey folks just so you
know we're already being told that cuts
are coming so this is a train that we
can begin to see well whenever the
government is short of money there's
only two ways they can really solve it
correct they cut yep and they can raise
taxes correct now also not part of this
vacuum was again our our appointed
delegate Barry beum at the CIP meeting
back in November yeah got up in front of
everyone and stood and said hey you know
who here would in essence like to see
removal of the revenue cap now that's
only about 35% of the County's revenue
and they still see increases from things
like income tax but as a taxpayer in
this County um the the the problem is
not today but the the solutions to our
problems of Tomorrow need to be talked
about today right the way to put it yeah
we're we're running out of days right we
are running out of days so what should
people do well there's several things
you could do obviously we always
encourage citizens to come to these
meetings to make their voice heard
particularly if you have contacted your
representatives uh at both the city and
Council level and maybe even the
executive um you know letting them know
what your concerns are asking the
questions about these policies and I
would say specifically ask your
representatives from a financial
standpoint what are we looking at with
the budget what are we going to possibly
have what are we not going to have what
are we going to have to cut and what are
the priorities because right now if
you're looking at it from the outside it
seems that we're trying to make
everybody a priority particularly if
they're a developer and we have a budget
now of upwards of $200 million or more
we're looking at requirements at the
state level we have huge education
funding that we're going to have to come
through with at the same time cuts at
the state level that we are going to
have to absorb or the dreaded unfunded
mandate from the state which is like a
like a tax increase that it is really
it's a it's it's a back doorx increase
right so talking about developers and
funding and and making sure that the
structural uh Financial Integrity of the
county or even the city uh
mayor Randy Taylor's going to come in
and we're actually going to get a chance
to to talk about this Horizon program
the density and really some of the inner
workings on how you do that math yeah
because at the end of the day when it
comes budget season the only right
answer is the math problem it ain't left
or right it's math yes well thanks for
coming out and uh we're going to have
Randy Taylor in so when we come back we
introduce the mayor of Salisbury Randy
Taylor and to see just how he feels
about some of the challenges and
opportuni for the city of Salsbury in
particular with the central business
district welcome back to open Agenda I'm
your host Joe White in the studio with
me now is uh Randy Taylor mayor of
Salsbury mayor Taylor thanks for joining
me thank you Joe appreciate you invied
me so you're a you're a resident of the
city and uh you're also a resident of w
comco County right yes so tell me a
little bit about U you know you've been
involved in local politics for for a
long time yeah I I've uh I've been
involved in local community activities
in including a little bit of politics
but from afar I've never sought or you
know public office but uh been lived in
the city the entire time I've been back
since I came back from college Years Ago
raised my family here and um and still
live about three blocks from from
downtown so what motivated you to to run
for mayor a few years ago primarily um I
just saw a bunch of stuff happening that
really didn't seem to enjoy a lot of U
transparency and I I just saw things
happening our town changing some in good
way ways some in in not so good ways but
just felt like there was a lack of
transparency and maybe directionally we
we probably need to make a couple course
Corrections in my view and uh decided to
run run for run for mayor it's
interesting you bring up transparency I
mean it's definitely one of the
challenges we've seen both with County
government city government uh it there
really I'm really no time that that you
ever get to the point where you're like
well that's transparent enough like the
most is the best right yeah um in
practice it's it's it's harder than it
looks um at the same time uh I think the
level we were experiencing it before I
think uh probably en enjoyed a little
bit of governing without public input in
my view okay um which is kind of what I
was hoping to change so when you when
you decided to run and and since you've
been mayor what what are some of the
challenges that you see face the city of
Salsbury first and foremost well let's
see so managerially the budget uh
offered a challenges right out of the
gate which we're of course correcting
now um you know the city's grown 60% in
revenues by a couple different means you
know effective rate has gone up
assessments have gone up and uh those
dollars have been have been collected
and of course spent so we're going to
probably flatten out in that regard so
it require some navigation in terms of
how we spend and how we make our
priorities um I think we were spending
money on things that weren't problems
and maybe not spending money on things
that were problems which I'm hoping to
again course correct on um
you know from a from a from a focus
perspective I think we you know we focus
a lot on the downtown um and not so much
about Street curb and gutter which I
think is important we've got challenges
with posos now with the water water
treatment plant which we're going to
have to spend some money on that um
depending upon what the legislative
environment looks going forward so um
those are all enough challenges for a
four-year term well what do you think
are some of the advantages that the city
has uh especially to confront some of
these challenges head on
well I mean housing is a problem for an
example in the city and we um have tried
to do some things with haris home and uh
and that's has been relatively
successful and I think we got to look
forward and figure out how to
incentivize again housing going forward
without compromizing our tax base or our
Revenue um you know right now um for an
example uh just to give people within
the city that are on the payroll a 2%
raise is a $750,000 conversation W and
that requires $75 million in new
assessments to go on the books to
collect our rate in order to just break
even and that doesn't really cover much
else so you know that's a it's an
interesting Viewpoint and I think that's
one that maybe a lot of folks in the
public don't see you know a city like
Salsbury needs a level of growth just so
the assessed value goes up that's
correct not not for any one individual
homeowner but for the city as a whole
right that's correct stay healthy yeah
yeah so
you know you talked about transparency
and and and one of the ways that that
we've seen you you fight that is is
through you you know questioning plans
that have been made and and like you
said uh maybe throwing money at things
that aren't even a problem how do you
see where we stand the city stands right
now to to really fight through those
those development phases and and that
and and maintain that transparency how
do you tie that together well I think I
think we as a as a as a as a city need
to decide you know what our priorities
are um and there were a lot of decisions
made before I ever got here relative to
policy relative to agreements that um I
had to inherit and I'm trying to work
through to get the best result you know
for for the taxpayers um and that's
somewhat Troublesome um so a lot has
been made recently of the Horizon tax
credit which affects only a very small
percentage of the total land mass in the
central business district um I'm going
to you know I was a commercial Banker
for 25 years so I'm I'm very much I did
a fair amount of development lending I'm
not opposed to incentives um and I think
there's a difference between incentives
and subsidies I think our approach to
the Horizon tax credit which is a
20-year phase in is approaching the
subsidy range um I I would have liked um
to it been shorter which I proposed in
the earlier in the in the year but
didn't get much um traction with the
Council on the flip side the county is
now sunsetted there is except for one
project um and I had approached them a
couple times about the idea of maybe us
melding the two and both of us doing
seven-year phase in which would provide
the incentive in the early stages of the
project but not be a subsidy in either
scenario for 20 years out for 20 years
out exactly you know outside of just the
fact that ay you know it's a it's a tax
incentive or tax subsidy to a developer
what what challenges as the mayor does
that lead you when you when you have
development that happens without the tax
base that follows it at least in the
short term or the long term well kind of
like what explain to you about the 2%
raise in the 750 we um we
need T properties to pay taxes in order
for us to pay our bills for us to be
successful I think there's a there's a
misconception that because we're a $60
million Revenue forgetting about the
Enterprise funds just the budget itself
a $60 million Revenue within our current
structure in terms of our cost structure
um we need every dollar to make our
world work um so to throw around
incentives that might make us wait 5 10
15 years to get tax revenue on that's
challenging so to to you know the
homeowner out there who maybe could be
watching the show or or was attended a
few City Council meetings what could
that mean to them I mean what so when
you when you bring in development
without that tax base where where does
that rubber meet the road for them it
comes from where and it usually comes
from the existing tax base okay so so by
virtue of incentivizing them at a level
that maybe the city can't afford and
finding additional cost that they need
to fund that's going to get spread
somewhere and it's usually going to go
on the it's absolutely going to go on
either the existing taxpayers so there
are some politicians local politicians
out there who like to paint you as
anti-development but um I mean how would
you describe your your viewpoint on
on just as it just as you the down town
for example I I've been a building for
downtown for 25 years I've own a
business for 15 years down there I'm
very much familiar with it um I am not
and development I think that we're
missing an opportunity I hope we work we
work that way at some point to do a
really quality infill project that does
a lot of what we're looking for
residents downtown more commercial space
a tax space that makes sense now I can't
do much about the Horizon tax program at
this point but I'm definitely not um
anti-development like I said I've spent
you know most of my career in banking
Commercial Banking and done a a ton of
commercial and residential lending well
you know a lot has been uh said about
the recent uh planning zoning meeting y
uh where they voted 6 to1 to increase
density downtown in the central business
district to 80 units per acre or yeah 80
units per acre but uh I want to if
you'll stick around for one more segment
I'd like to go down through that process
and really where you see that maybe
there's still some more hurdles that
need to be addressed and what outcome
you'd like to see you stick around
another second got to do it when we come
back we're going to get to ask mayor
Taylor exactly what challenges he still
sees needs to be addressed for the
central business district and the
density that the planning is only just
approved stay with us we'll be right
back the 3.8 acre wpen Park is situated
on wpen Creek about 20 mi west of
Salsbury the park is improved with a
concrete boat ramp that provides easy
access to the Nanticoke River less than
a mile Downstream vehicle and trailer
parking is adequate relative to the
Park's use and there's also a soft
launch for canoes and kayaks a small
picnic area and a Portage on for your
convenience swimming is not permitted at
wpen Park as the currents can be
dangerously strong at times wipin Creek
meanders through the salt marshes and
adjacent Pine forests of the ipin
Wildlife Management Area just beyond the
low water Bridge next to the park the
creek splits into two branches the
northern prong of which is longer
extending Upstream for a distance of
about four miles the salt marshes along
with tipen Creek support a wide variety
of wildlife mosquitoes and green-headed
flies included and harbor many different
types of year-round and migratory Birds
throughout the seasons the Upstream area
beyond the bridge is best explored by
canoer kayak but be prepared because you
can expect strong currents at times if
you're operating a motorboat heading
Upstream my advice would be not to go
very far at low tide the water becomes
very shallow in spots and you may find
yourself high and dry or sucking up mud
into your motor trust me on this I speak
from experience just across from the
boat ramp at wpen Park you'll notice the
remains of docks and boat slips which in
days gone by harbored commercial
oystering and crab cing boats but in the
early 1970s after the oyster population
collapsed throughout the Chesapeake Bay
the dock facility fell into disuse and
now only ghostly remnants can be seen
one of the most interesting features of
wipin Park is the quaint wood Timber
Bridge spanning the creek immediately
adjacent to the park which is known as
the Ed Taylor bridge if you walk onto
the bridge you'll get a magnificent view
of w tipin Creek and the Wildlife
Management Area but please please be
very careful because there's no
separation between vehicular and
pedestrian traffic originally built in
the early 1950s the bridge fell into
disrepair but was reconstructed and
placed back into service in 2009 Ed
Taylor For Whom the bridge is named was
a w Comico County councilman educator
and Korean War veteran who grew up in
the wipin area and championed the
bridges reconstruction today the bridge
is one of his proudest legacies for more
information about with tipen Park please
visit the W Comico County Department of
recreation parks and tourism
website welcome back to open Agenda I'm
your host Joe White still in the studio
with me is Mayor Taylor from Salsbury
thanks for St sticking around glad to do
it Joe thank you so I I want to talk
specifics about uh the the central
business district the density and how
anyone who any citizen out there whether
their city or even County because I
think they have a stake in this as well
well um Salsbury being the Hub of of of
our economy in this whole County yep
let's talk a little bit about the
process so explain to me a little bit
about where we're at with this process
right now well um the original developer
the developers that came to the city um
with a pro um a project that exceeded
the defined density in the in the zoning
code um and they got declined um when
did they get declined uh they got last
summer last last June or July um and
they peeled that decision and got
declined and peeled it again and got
declined uh for a revisitation on the
topic so the challenge is when you talk
about density it's it's really talking
about units per acre when right now the
zoning code allows for 40 units per acre
and they wanted to increase it almost I
think 80 80ish 85 is at the at the
beginning I don't where it is right now
but long story short it's it's in that
range and the and the the problem is is
that the city over the last four or five
years has sold all of its Sur is parking
and so the parking that you see today
won't exist under the new and each one
each one of those those parking lots
have a what they call an LDA or an
agreement to develop so those parking
lots will be gone yeah they're really
temporary at this point even though
they've been there all of our lives for
most of us theoretically and so it's
been this perception that we've got
plenty of parking plenty of parking I do
think we do have too excess too much
excess surface parking that said if
these developments occur and the density
that comes along with the units per acre
we you have one remaining parcel left to
build a garage which is a a part up near
Unity Square which is about 445 spaces
if you count the existing permits that
are out there now which exist for the
existing Central Business and you add to
it the volume that's going to be created
by this infill development it exceeds by
far the um the capacity of the garage uh
we we used to have some garage capacity
the in the other garage but we don't
have that anymore because the Advent of
the of the Ross plus we've got some
potential development in other buildings
you've got this Su Performing Arts
facility which will add some some demand
and it's and I've said since the
campaign it's 20 PBS of potatoes in a 10
PB bag and we need to address it now
what happened at the Planning Commission
was the developers came back and try and
got a text Amendment um entertained by
the Planning and Zoning commission which
they approved and now they're going to
move that to the council for us to
decide as a group as a as a city council
and as a mayor uh administrative and um
the challenge is is that none of the
underlying problems that were part of
the original application to this day
have been addressed and I think some of
that is an outfall of political pressure
and some of that is just I don't think
understanding what's really going on
here well I'd like to talk about that
planning zoning hearing cuz I was there
yeah okay and and CU I I think other
folks maybe don't understand so the
planning zoning and wo County and city
of Salsbury it's a combined yes okay so
there's seven members one of them is
city council president uh Deshawn Dy
that's correct and uh wo County
councilman Joe Holloway's on there
that's right then you have five other
members and they all have a vote correct
that's right at the hearing and this was
a pretty long meeting um it was very
long uh at the meeting uh the City
Planning Department did present a report
correct yeah they they did a staff
report and they did not recommend it
okay and then for a host of reasons yeah
and and they went through nearly every
single layer of that I mean it it took a
while but it was very informative and
very encompassing right but at the end
of the day like you said they they they
did not favor it right then several
folks from the community and some some
were for it many were against it and and
specifically the concerns that they
brought up is that what you're talking
about those concerns have not been
addressed yeah so there's a pocket of
people most of which I think are related
to the to the owners of the project um
but there are some public support part
that have businesses down there I think
what they fail to understand and again
you're talking to a guy who's had a
building downtown for 25 years had a
business down there for 15 years and
it's a delicate ecosystem to downtown
because you know they're making a
decision to go downtown and they need
accessible parking it needs to be we're
not DC we're not Philadelphia We're Not
Baltimore people are going to come and
go and if it's inaccessible or it
becomes impractical or un it's
challenging you know so I think there's
there was a group of business people
that think that this increased density
is going to in improve their business uh
I would argue that if you go on a Friday
night any Friday night at a mogans or a
market sh and you raise your hand you
say where are you from you're from
nutter's Crossing you're from Deer
Harbor you're from Tony tank you're not
living above the Ross they're not the
profile buyer that's consuming the
products that potentially they're
selling uh there'll be more people
living down there but not more customers
at the same time they've compromised the
parking for the people that really
support their businesses yeah and that's
where I think we've made a flawed
decision to support so what are the what
are the next steps I mean you there's a
work session scheduled in December so
yeah there's a work session in December
the 16th and you know to the extent that
you care or have a want to have a voice
in the downtown I encourage you to come
out because there is a time for public
comments yes okay yes so what would be
the step after that there has to be a
second reading there's a second reading
which you'll have I think January the
16th okay and not just s I'd expect
people to come out and and uh and speak
out all right so we talked about the
planning zoning commission and that P
six to one councilman Holloway voted
against it y uh talk about a little bit
about some of the the parts of the
project that the city staff spoke about
there's two parts that stick out to me
the traffic study and the capacity for
the lift station uh coming out out of
central business district can you speak
to those well there's three pieces that
that the capacity and then the parking
all three of yeah so here here's the
problem all of these things this is a
major project within the heart of our
city um and just let me step back for a
second just just so you understand I'm
not opposed to density not opposed to
density per acre in fact the hospital
developer is proposing one down the down
the street that has even higher density
but they provide all their own parking
and all the impact studies will be done
as a part of that project okay which is
what we're missing really here there's
been a parking study um but I think it's
been uh I think gets flawed in in it's
in assumptions so I mean the parking
study was done many a few years ago a
few years ago and and it was done by the
developer which I think um it's kind of
like buying a house and letting the
seller order the appraisal yeah it's the
same kind of arrangement well let's just
say let's just say the parking study has
a flaw in it okay an innocent flaw sure
who who who going to be expected to pay
the difference when that bill comes du
whether it's Building a garage or or or
something else so so the the the issue
with regard to the garage is that it's
undersized so we be at capacity that
that won't be the issue the other issue
which I think is equally is concerning
uh for the city is that even if you
you're at full capacity 445 spaces are
taken which they will because we won't
we have enough
permits um and they pay the high high
highest rate they've ever paid for
parking in the city we will still
meaning the city will be subsidized in
the garage somewhere around $4 or
$500,000 a year into perpetuity okay so
that's another ancillary cost that we're
not factoring in which I don't think is
fair to the city well let's go back to
your other math problem okay um you
talked about a 2% raise for the city
workers 7 $750,000 but you need 7 75
million in assessible value yeah so if
you have a parking garage that has $400
to
$500,000 a year in City cost right in
perpetuity does that mean you need
another 40 to 50 million iness value
exactly and that's where I get we get
lost in this idea that we're $60 million
business or $60 million entity and that
we can absorb all these cost so here's
what we've got Horizon which will
generate no tax revenue for foreseeable
future for the next 10 years we've got a
garage that's going to cost us a half a
million dollar a year at a minimum we're
looking at 2% on a
raise you do the math and then M doesn't
look good and then and then you've got
all these other costs that come along
that are bridges need to be fixed uh
posos needs to be addressed on and on
and on so what when you say my challeng
is as a mayor we are working on changing
that trajectory because there's been a
lot of things negotiated before I got
here that I'm that I'm that I'm that I'm
freewheeling at this point well I've
heard you say you you you have some
plans for a solution right so talk a
little bit about what what your hope is
the next 6 weeks to see see this project
turn on that trajectory so so in in
conversations with the developer we have
offered to do some help with them do do
some redesign to try and pull down some
of the density to make the garage make
more sense we still haven't uh addressed
the underlying uh problem with the the
cash flow issues with the garage itself
in terms of the C but we have to address
one before we address the other okay if
we can't get an degree on one we got to
hold another conversation on the other
um so
um it's it's a complicated complicated
matter would your some of your Solutions
also increase to the commercial tax base
downtown yeah so so to your point I
think we as a city need to address uh
the The Horizon the density the garage
as a part of that that whole
conversation is that if that makes if
that's answering your question um so
they're not Standalone issues you know
my view so what what should someone out
there who's watching this show who's
like oh you know what now I can
understand just a little bit more about
what you're talking about how could they
get more of their own information where
where would they find that well I think
I think I wrote a piece that kind of
lays out the math um I I don't you know
you can read the staff report relative
to the uh the Planning Commission and
that was submitted which is should be
available um but you know I think just
consistently being involved and
listening to people and get both sides I
mean I think you know information is you
know usually follows the the the the
person that's you know seeking out what
they think is the the the ultimate
answer but there's just a lot of moving
Parts some have been um in my view uh
not properly vetted and so we're in the
position that we are well so right now
the Planning and Zoning commission they
voted to to support this but it still
has to be approved by the city council
that's correct and it still has to be
signed off by the mayor is that correct
that's correct and if the city council
vote is 3 to2 is it you know and and and
you decided to veto it that would that
would mean it would would not pass right
that's correct that's correct so and
again I'm I'm not opposed to density as
a concept and that's what we really are
voting here on is I'm I'm opposed to uh
putting ourselves in a position where we
don't have a project that's it's
undersized from a garage perspective and
overzone for the perspective of the
density so I give you example a lot 30
know it's kind of a random one but on
that project you know a number of years
ago the city um kind of uh uh eliminated
the standard for on street parking or
for a developer to provide their own
parking and that project that's going to
throw off about 80 spots after Bill
after relative to the ones are providing
which is going to have to go somewhere
and that's happening on two and three
projects downtown so again it just
creates this this bottleneck of
available spaces for people to live
downtown and you just you just can't do
that four and five times well I'm
wondering if if if you would be willing
maybe in early February to come back on
the show and maybe fill everybody in on
just exactly how this process has has
played out and really where maybe where
you see the opportunities and challenges
at that point 60 days down the road sure
all right got to do it hey thanks for
joining me appreciate it thanks for
coming out got to do it thanks for
joining us for this episode of open
Agenda we'll be back next week with
another new episode
