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05/02/2018 CLEARWATER DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT BOARD MEETING May 2, 2018— 5:30 PM — City Hall —Council Chambers Members Present: Paris Morfopoulos Chairman Stu Sjouwerman Vice-Chairman Caitlein Jammo Treasurer Thomas Wright Member Lina Teixeira Member Ray Cassano Member Venkat "Vincent" Devineni Member Also Present: David Allbritton Ex-officio Member/Councilmember Hoyt Hamilton Ex-officio Member/Councilmember Micah Maxwell Assistant City Manager Anne Fogarty France Board Administrator 1. Chairman Morfopoulos called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. He welcomed the new Ex-officio councilmembers and asked the board and ex-officio members to introduce themselves. 2. Citizens Comments--Items not on the agenda. Bill Jonson, 2694 Redford Court West, Clearwater, spoke to the board regarding the Tampa Riverwalk Project and information he previously provided to them. He distributed a factsheet of the project. 3. Approve the Minutes from the April 4, 2018, Meeting Member Wright moved to approve the minutes from the April 4, 2018 meeting. The motion was duly seconded and upon roll call, the vote was: Ayes: Member Morfopoulos, Member Sjouwerman, Member Wright, Member Jammo, Member Teixeira, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni. Nays: None. Motion carried. 4. Adopt March 2018 Financial Statement for Filing Member Morfopoulos stated he had met with the DDB board attorney to better understand the transfer of funds for the DDB from the CRA and the history behind it. The board attorney was a prior member of the DDB. More information will be provided once it is available. Member Wright moved to adopt the March 2018 Financial Statement for filing. The motion was duly seconded. Upon roll call, the vote was: Ayes: Member Morfopoulos, Member Wright, Member Jammo, Member Sjouwerman, Member Teixeira, Member Cassano, and Member Devineni. Nays: None. Motion carried. Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 2, 2018 1 5. Post Event Report— Clearwater Super Boat National Championships— Frank Chivas reported that last year's event was rained out for the Friday festivities in downtown Clearwater. He stated that many of the folks that attended going into the downtown businesses during the heavy storm. Members requested a copy of the report showing the economic impact for the event and Mr. Chivas agreed to send. Mr. Chivas stated that Hooter's will be sponsoring the event. On Saturday there will be a concert on Clearwater Beach. It is Hooter's 35th anniversary and they will be holding a wing eating contest and trying to have wing eating champion Joey Chitwood at the event. Mr. Chivas asked the board for any ideas or suggestions and members asked to have events on Cleveland Street as much as possible. He advised that they are still having the boat parade and a possible surprise from Budweiser. 6. Downtown Zoning District Update— Kyle Brotherton, Senior Planner provided a presentation of the new Downtown Zoning District and Development District. A copy of the Downtown Development Standards Regulating Plan map was provided. Mr. Brotherton stated the next steps for downtown zoning will be as follows: • Community Development Board —June 19 • City Council First Reading — July 19 • City Council Second Reading —August 2 • Effective date—August 2 Gina Clayton, Assistant Director of Planning & Development, gave an update on sign ordinance amendments. She stated the new sign ordinance/code is still in the drafting stage and the Comprehensive Sign Program is available should a business have a need for additional signage. Members requested more leniency for businesses regarding signage and noted the challenges merchants face every day. Ms. Clayton advised that the sign ordinance would be brought back to the DDB meeting in June. 7. Future Events Discussion —Anne Fogarty France, Downtown Manager reviewed the Clearwater Redevelopment Agency's Guiding Vision and Principles from the 2018 Adopted Downtown Redevelopment Plan. She noted that the board set aside $10,000 in this year's budget for Station Square Park events and that the CRA contacted the Special Events division to discuss a plan for these events. After recent board comments regarding events, staff realized that we needed a larger discussion with the board to determine what direction the board would like to go in. Kris Koch, Parks Planning and Projects Manager, stated they could plan 4 events at $2,500.00 each in Station Square Park or utilize those funds to obtain data or polling and referred to data from Dr. Klages Report. Members asked what information he was looking for? Mr. Koch stated information as to what events motivate workers and residents to come downtown and stay downtown. Members advised that they had spoken to downtown residents from Water's Edge, Station Square Park and they felt an outdoor movie night would be a good event. Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 2, 2018 2 Members suggested that staff contact the Clearwater Downtown Partnership to get copies of their surveys. Mr. Koch was asked to find out what a survey would cost and what it would include. 8. CRA Update–Anne Fogarty France, Downtown Manager advised that the CRA approved amendments to the Fagade Improvement Program on April 16. These amendments included design assistance of$4,000 and construction grants matched dollar-for-dollar by applicant with up to $25K for fast track grant funding and up to 50% of fagade improvement construction costs through the CRA board approval process. She stated that the agreement with Bazaar Art LLC and the CRA at Second Century Studios ends on May 10. The CRA will be looking at Pop-Up Galleries or go out for an RFP for an arts organization to partner with us in the space. Currently, the art of Amy Landesberg from Atlanta, GA, will be on display until the end of the month. A City Employee Art Show is planned as the next exhibit. Ms. Fogarty France noted that the CRA will be reviving the Mural Program. Property owners are being contacted for their approval to have a mural on their building. The DDB has $1,500 in their budget for a mural and staff was working with artist Beth Warmath on a design and a location to bring to the board. 9. Chairman's Report—Chairman Morfopoulos reminded members about the DDB Strategic Planning session on Tuesday, May 22, 2018 from 3-7 p.m. This is a much longer meeting than normal and he asked the board to come prepared with ideas and comments. He stated that many events were happening during the month of May and advised viewers to go to the downtown clea rwate r.com website for information on events. 10. Final Comments Member Cassano liked the easier zoning and sign code being drafted. He stated he has received a call from a gentleman wanting to create an Armature Works in downtown Clearwater. The building at 708 Chestnut Street and the former Goodyear Tire building were being considered but there were concerns about parking. He also stated that when returning from the movies, it was heartwarming to see lights on at the 1100 Building. Member Teixeira stated she is excited about the new direction the board is taking. The individual and collaborative efforts are happening at an excellent time for growth and expansion. Within 10 months, 10 new businesses will be opening and folks are looking at the success and longevity of businesses here. She is looking forward to the strategic planning meeting later this month. Member Wright complimented Member Teixeira on the Dali event. He welcomed both ex-officio councilmembers. Member Sjouwerman said the arts are driving factors in bringing people downtown. The arts and murals encourage people and felt the board should fund murals at a larger amount. He is also looking forward to the strategic planning meeting. Member Devineni advised that right now the DDB is primarily focused on event and budget planning and review of plans from the city on zoning. The original act that created the DDB gave this board a lot more powers. These powers were struck down by an ordinance. The powers can be divided into two things. The board has an oversight authority to be involved in the planning Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 2, 2018 3 process of the plans. He felt that right now the board is seeing the plans for the city, but are we a reviewer or an approver or do we have one veto right for the plan before it goes to the Community Development Board and City? The board has limited revenue because the initial act had revenue certificates which the board could issue as tax certificates which were curtailed. If an ordinance or amendment could be drafted giving the DDB an oversight authority to review the plans and veto the plans one time. Any additional revenues to the board could be issued as revenue or tax certificates. Member Devineni stated that he would be happy to draft an ordinance and get citizens comments, board member comments and final approval by the City Council. Member Jammo seconded the comments of Member Sjouwerman regarding the importance of the arts and having the arts and events for residents tied into the downtown area. She is also looking forward to the strategic planning session. Ex-officio Councilmember Hamilton stated it was a pleasure being at the meeting and he glad to be back. He has not been on a board since 2004 and looks forward to working with everyone. Ex-officio Councilmember Allbritton stated he is glad to be back on the board and his heart is in the downtown area. Since he was last on this board he stated the budget numbers look much better and he was glad to see a new sign and zoning code. He said the board will benefit greatly from the upcoming Collaborative Lab event. Assistant City Manager Micah Maxwell did not have any comment other than relaying that Amanda Thompson, CRA Director, did get married and is on her honeymoon in Hawaii. Member Morfopoulos wanted to commend the CRA for coming forward with fagade improvements and design grant that are helpful for downtown businesses. He stated he is happy to see movement in changes to the zoning code and sign ordinance. There are real and perceived difficulties out there relating to signage for businesses, stated that he contacted two local awning companies in the city and both companies would not give him a quote due to the difficulty of working with the City of Clearwater. He also thanked Member Devineni for studying the history of the code and coming up with ideas and urged other members to do the same. 11. The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Downtown Development Board Meeting—May 2, 2018 4