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CLEARWATER LONG RANGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE - FINAL REPORT u i H FINAL REPORT CLEARWATER LONG RANGE ECONOMIC ' DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE H JUNE 159 1989 ' INTRODUCTION As part of the process of updating its comprehensive plan, the City of Clearwater requested the Greater Clearwater Chamber of Commerce to provide its input. Separately, the Chamber Board of Governors requested Jim Phillips, Vice President of Economic Development, to form a committee to develop the Chamber's long range economic ' development plan. Through a series of meetings involving Jim Phillips, Chamber Executive Vice President Pete Woodham, Lee Arnold and Tim Johnson, the conclusion was reached that a broad based Long Range Economic Development Task Force should be created to formulate an economic development plan for consideration by the City in connection with its comprehensive planning process. The Task Force would be assisted by the Chamber but would not be a Chamber committee. Tim Johnson was chosen as Chairman and Lee Arnold as Vice Chairman. it 7-7 L TASK FORCE MEMBERSHIP The membership of the Task Force was carefully chosen. The primary goal was to select as members those persons who, collectively, would represent the major political and economic constituencies within the greater Clearwater area. Some members might represent more than one constituency. For example, a person with business interests in the development of Clearwater might well live on the beach and, thus, also be concerned about issues affecting the beach. The members of the Task Force are, in alphabetical order: Lee Arnold, Jr. Alan Bornstein Dick Fitzgerald Ann Garris Howard Groth James Harper David Healey Tim Johnson, Jr. Vito Nigrelli Jim Phillips Ron Rabun Les Rubin Tal Rutledge Don Seaton Pete Woodham ' The City Staff rendered the Task Force considerable assistance. At various times, its meetings were attended by Betty Deptula, Dan Deignan, Joe McFate, Jeff Pruitt, Paula Harvey , and Michael Wright. These persons were particularly helpful in connection with forecasting municipal taxes and expenditures and in analyzing planning ' and development issues. Also, the Chamber, and particularly its staff member, Michele Miller, were of considerable assistance in coordinating meetings, preparing minutes, and in printing this report. ' WHY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS NECESSARY While it may seem obvious that economic development is a necessity, concerns about adverse effects of growth cause some to question this assumption. Accordingly, the Task Force examined a few of the benefits of economic development. These include: ' Creation of more and better jobs for current and future City residents. These future residents may well include children and grandchildren of current Clearwater residents. Most families with children would like the local employment market to make possible the option that their offspring can return "home." • Prevention of economic decline. An economy, whether it be local, regional, national or international, is never static. Its long range condition is either improving or deteriorating. Economic development prevents economic deterioration. • Maintenance of reasonable limits on ad valorem taxation of our homes and businesses. The City staff estimates that without new revenue sources, ad valorem taxes might need to be increased by as much as 85% over the next ten years just to maintain today's level of municipal services. New economic development affords new net revenue sources to the City. These new net revenues help minimize future ad valorem tax increases on other property within the City. ' For these and other reasons, the Task Force recognized the need for economic development. That need can best be fulfilled by a long range plan with achievable goals, coupled with a spirit of cooperation on the part of elected ' and appointed public officials. Such a plan can also shape future development so as to minimize adverse impacts. METHODOLOGY OF TASK FORCE The Task Force held its organizational meeting on August 16, 1988. It met a total of fifteen times, concluding its deliberations with approval of this Final Report. At its meeting on September 27, the Task Force developed a "mission statement" for the City and then established goals for the City consistent with the mission statement. Following identification of the mission statement and goals, the Task Force discussed each of the goals in an attempt to provide specific suggestions with respect to how each goal could be achieved. These suggestions are not meant to be all-encompassing. Certainly, there exist other means of achieving the adopted goals beyond those listed here. 1 MISSION STATEMENT AND GOALS The mission statement recommended for adoption by the City is: Clearwater should be an environmentally sound, safe and pleasant community in which to live, work, play and visit. This should be facilitated and accompanied by enhanced economic vitality. The goals recommended to be adopted by the City, ranked in the order of priority assigned by the Task Force, are: 1. Create a good transportation network, including a functional airport. 2. Develop efficient and effective public services with improved police and social services leading to a more stable community. Modify some governmental constraints to encourage acceptable growth and development. 3. Develop a theme or image for the City's waterfront area while making it usable, clean and navigable. Create adequate parks and open space for recreation. 4. Enhance the existing family oriented tourist industry, stimulate tourist trade, and create additional tourist facilities. The convention industry should be expanded. 5. Improve municipal aesthetics throughout the City. 6. Redevelop the downtown area and consider expanding the redevelopment district, e.g., into the North Greenwood area. 7. Maintain reasonable taxes. Study the creation of alternative taxes, fees, or other City revenue sources. Encourage annexation. 8. Create business/employment centers and encourage a retail area other than on U.S. 19. 9. Encourage the maintenance and development of affordable housing for all. 10. Expand cultural facilities and encourage a higher education facility to be located within upper Pinellas County. 11. Respect the integrity of City neighborhoods. 3 GOAL ACHIEVEMENT 1 As indicated, each of the eleven enumerated goals was the subject of focused discussion by the Task Force. At the conclusion of each discussion, the Task Force adopted suggested means of achieving each of the goals. All suggestions were thought to be achievable by the City either alone or in cooperation with the private sector or ' other governmental bodies. Unless otherwise indicated., each suggestion was unanimously approved. These means of goal achievement will be summarized in this report. In the interest of brevity, the discussions of the Task Force leading to each specific suggestion will not be summarized. ' GOAL 1 Create a good transportation network, including a functional airport. • An east-west limited access connection from a major north-south corridor in east Clearwater (i.e., McMullen-Booth Road or U.S. 19) to the downtown and the beach should be constructed, provided that the impacts on downtown and beach are adequately addressed. • Mass transit in the City should be improved as it relates to the park-and-ride to the beach. • Mass transit circulation on the beach should be improved. • The City should study the economic impact of the airpark in order better to assess the options described in the Greiner Report. This is not to suggest that the airpark must be profitable, because its public transportation, economic development, recreation, and open space benefits may merit public subsidy. ' The City should strive, however, to make the airpark self supporting. The Task Force recognizes that this may require additional capital investment to upgrade airpark facilities from which additional revenues can be generated. GOAL 2 Develop efficient and effective public services with improved police and social services leading to a more stable community. Modify some governmental constraints to encourage acceptable growth and ' development. • The City should continue to develop resources for adequate water and sewer systems and continuously ' make necessary changes to keep them current with industry standards. • The City should either make its gas business profitable or sell it. ' A task force should be established to study privatization of City services and/or consolidation of services on a regional level. ' The City should continue to conduct a survey eve two ears to evaluate Citservices. The survey ' should be analyzed by census tract and should differentiate between business and residential respondents. • The City should maintain its current level of social support services by grants, the current policy in this regard being deemed adequate. Develop a theme or image for the City's waterfront area while making it usable, clean and navigable. Create adequate parks and open space for recreation. The City should promote, as one of its economic themes, the importance of the improved ecology of the area with an emphasis on clean, navigable and multi-use water areas and the attraction of ecologically desirable, quality businesses to the greater Clearwater area. • The City should continue its current efforts to create and maintain open space, it being the view of the Task Force that current City efforts in this regard are adequate. GAL 4 Enhance the existing family oriented tourist industry, stimulate tourist trade, and create additional tourist facilities. The convention industry should be expanded. • The City should formulate and execute a redevelopment plan for the beach that includes the following elements: 1. Facilitate the upgrading and replacing of depreciating motel/hotel properties with new facilities. 2. Improve parking facilities and public transportation in order to lessen congestion. 3. Control "rowdyism" so as to encourage family oriented tourism. 4. When and if market conditions warrant, construct a convention center if the following conditions are met: a. Traffic congestion will not be materially increased. b. The center will be substantially self-supporting. c. The center will assist in leveling occupancy of beach hotel/motels throughout the year. Note: The vote for inclusion of the convention center recommendation was seven for, four against. The entire suggestion, including the convention center, passed nine for, one against, with one abstention.) GOAL 5 Improve municipal aesthetics throughout the City. 5 • Clearwater should maintain and enhance a pleasing visual character that distinguishes it as a special place. Economic development and redevelopment should maintain as a central theme the importance of municipal aesthetics in both the natural and man-made components of the environment, relative to public and private buildings, private and official signage, utility structures and landscaping. • Specific recommendations include: 1. Broaden the scope of the City's Beautification Committee to encompass all aspects of municipal aesthetics and increase the Committee's influence. 2. Establish a City-wide program to improve official signage and trash receptacles through better design, location and consolidation. 3. Establish an advisory design review process to establish and coordinate improved design considerations in selected redevelopment areas, e.g., downtown, the beach, North Greenwood, etc. 4. Establish regulatory and financial prerequisites to eliminate all billboards. 5. Establish a regulatory and financial framework to require all existing overhead utility lines to be placed underground. 6. Remove all bridges that have been replaced except those bridges properly maintained as recreation facilities. 7. Establish the mechanics for removal of abandoned private signs. 8. Promote and encourage, even through the use of financial incentives, the reforestation of all areas of the City. 9. Regulate the location of newspaper racks to minimize visual clutter. 10. Eliminate advertising signage on benches. 11. More strict enforcement of existing ordinances relating to municipal aesthetics, especially as they relate to public rights-of-way. 12. Address the issue of erection, replacement and maintenance of fences fronting on public rights-of-way. GOAL 6 Redevelop the downtown area and consider expanding the redevelopment district, e.g., into the North Greenwood area. 6 C 0 n L GOAL 1 • Increase public education efforts to explain the long term economic benefits of downtown redevelopment. • Examine alternative means of fostering redevelopment, such as use of a master developer and/or a private non-profit corporation to assist development activities. • Increase the use of the condemnation process, based upon the advise of competent, independent consultants, to obtain properties to assist in land assemblage for worthwhile projects or to eliminate undesirable land uses. (Note: Ten members voted in favor of this recommendation and one member abstained.) • Locate additional marina facilities along the downtown bay front. • Increase usable waterfront areas. For example, replace the existing bay front tennis courts and parking areas with recreational uses more accommodating to the general City population. • The Task Force made the following recommendations with respect to the North Greenwood area: 1. In order to implement the North Greenwood Community Revitalization Plan, the City should establish a blue ribbon task force to create public/private profit and non-profit partnerships to carry out the plan. The City should encourage local lending institutions to participate in low interest loan programs to support the redevelopment plan. Such encouragement should include participation as a condition to bidding on City banking business. The North Greenwood Task Force should examine the merits of encouraging clean, labor-intensive industry to locate in the North Greenwood area. Maintain reasonable taxes. Study the creation of alternative taxes, fees, or other City revenue sources. Encourage annexation. The City should develop an appropriate mechanism whereby unannexed enclaves pay their fair share for City services, thereby encouraging voluntary annexation. The City should focus on consolidation of municipal services within the City and adjoining areas and, additionally, study the impact of consolidation of contiguous areas to the extent that it offers a cost benefit to all parties. 1 GOAL 8 Create business/employment centers and encourage a retail area other than on U.S.19. • The City should be more proactive in the creation of business and employment centers through encouraging redevelopment, sound planning, promotion, and a positive, helpful attitude on the part of all City officials. GOAL 9 Encourage the maintenance and development of affordable housing for all. • In its efforts to create affordable housing, the emphasis of the City should be to encourage the creation of jobs to generate personal income so that housing becomes affordable to workers, as opposed to solving the problem through subsidies unrelated to self-help programs. • The City should study the long term economic effects of rehabilitation of neighborhoods with a view toward increasing its participation in and promotion of such activity. The potential beneficial effects of rehabilitation programs include: 1. Upgrading neighborhoods. 2. Increasing the tax base. 3. Improving the quality of the housing stock. 4. Improving community aesthetics. 5. Increasing community pride. • The City should not build major housing projects. The City should, however, consider using condemnation, zoning, and other regulatory action to encourage private development of low income housing. • The City should focus its housing efforts on current City residents and new workers. • The City should coordinate existing non-profit housing programs. 8 AL 1 Expand cultural facilities and encourage a higher education facility to be located within upper Pinellas County. • The City should continue its support of Ruth Eckerd Hall at the Baumgardner Center for the Performing Arts. • The City should financially assist the Clearwater Marine Science Center and the Center should be encouraged to be expanded and upgraded to a first class local, educational, historical, and recreational facility. • The City should seek to establish a local historical/cultural museum. • The City should actively work with state, county, and other local governments to encourage the location in upper Pinellas County of, at a minimum, an upper division and graduate level educational facility. • The City should encourage the Pinellas County School Board to maintain at least one new or upgraded elementary school in the greater downtown Clearwater area. GOAL 11 Respect the integrity of neighborhoods. • The City should have an improved mechanism for providing notice to neighborhoods that would be impacted by proposed City action. • The City must have full, open discussion of any economic development plans that might impact existing neighborhoods. • The primary emphasis of the City should be to encourage development and redevelopment in areas already land use-designated for such activities. 9 CONCLUSION The Task Force urges the City to incorporate into its comprehensive plan the mission statement, goals and suggestions for goal achievement as recommended. Those items not appropriate for inclusion in the plan should otherwise be implemented by the City. The Task Force respectfully requests that the Commission instruct the City Manager to advise the Task Force on a quarterly basis of the status of the City's implementation of this report. ' Respectfully submitted, ' LONG RANGE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE r ' By. Timothy A. Johnson, Jr. Chairman 1 ' 10