City of Lawrence

Retail Task Force

September 7, 2010 meeting minutes

MEMBERS PRESENT:	Robert Chestnut, Susan Cook, Tom Kern, Mike Gaughan, Leslie Alhert, John Ellena
MEMBERS ABSENT:	Diane Oakes, Earl Reineman, Allison Vance Moore
STAFF PRESENT:	David L. Corliss, City Manager Diane Stoddard, Assistant City Manager Scott McCullough, Planning and Development Services Director Amy Brown Miller, Long-Range Planner Roger Zalneraitis, Economic Development Coordinator/Planner
PUBLIC PRESENT:	Jane Pennington, Hank Booth

Call meeting to order:

Commissioner Rob Chestnut called the meeting to order at 4:10 pm on Tuesday September 7, 2010.

Minutes:

The July meeting minutes were approved unanimously.

Follow-up from last month on retail market analysis:

Commissioner Chestnut asked for thoughts from the group as a result of follow up from last month’s discussion on the retail market analysis. Mr. Ellena indicated that he thought that the information would be invaluable to assist with the retail economy by identifying gaps in the market. This information is important to keeping sales tax money in town. Mr. Booth reported that he spoke with Mr. Flannery and Mr. Reineman the other day and he stated that various national retailers had come to Lawrence over the years and a number had also left. They also indicated that the retail analysis showed that the retail pull factor of Lawrence was better than a number of the cities comparatively. Commissioner Chestnut responded that several of the national retailers that had left the community had left due to corporate decisions that weren’t necessarily a reflection on the local market. Mr. Kern said he thought that the data was going to be important from a study. Mr. Ellena said that seeing what the leakage was is important for existing retailers. Mr. Kern said that he didn’t believe the data was available from any other source, other than one of these companies. Mr. Ellena made the point that the data could be used to help existing retailers as a first priority. Mr. Booth also added that the information would be used by the firm’s retail clients to show market in Lawrence. Mr. Corliss indicated he thought the information would be valuable as other communities were utilizing this sort of information. Mr. Corliss suggested that the task force consider requesting staff to draft an RFP and request that the City Commission consider sending out an RFP. He thought that this could be done concurrently with the task force completing their report. Commissioner Gaughan indicated his support for this data.

Commissioner Chestnut agreed with Mr. Corliss about proceeding with drafting a Request for Proposals for retail analysis. He said he thought the first priority of the information was for existing retailers. Commissioner Gaughan asked about the implementation of the plan that the vendor would provide. Commissioner Chestnut indicated that he thought that Roger Zalneraitis would be involved in implementing the strategy. Mr. Corliss added that he thought that there would be other partners, such as the Chamber and others, involved in implementation. Commissioner Chestnut indicated that perhaps the information could be used for such things as identifying a market for a grocery store in North Lawrence.

It was moved by Mr. Kern and seconded by Ms. Alhert to have staff draft an RFP. Mr. Corliss indicated that a draft could be discussed and could be considered for distribution in October.

First Section of Draft Task Force Report:

Feedback was requested on the first section draft of the task force report. Commissioner Gaughan commented that there was a statement about the effect of the Legends and other area shopping on Lawrence. He just suggested that statement be backed up in the report. There were some hypotheticals in the report that were discussed. One related to the per capita income and the lower retail spending per capita. The reported suggested that the lower per capita income may be related to lower per capita income and the relative proximity to two metro areas. Mr. Zalneraitis referred to the Claritas report that showed a gap between income and spending, indicating some leakage. Mr. Zalneraitis indicated that an appendix with data could be added.

Mr. Corliss asked the question whether we were practicing the best practices related to other communities regarding retail?

The Role of the City in Retail Development:

Mr. Ellena commented that we should look at City laws and ordinances that hinder retail development. Commissioner Chestnut indicated that Planning and Development Services had been looking at a variety of subjects such as this. Scott McCullough reported that parking requirements and several other items were examined. He said that aside from the items that were adjusted as a result, the City of Lawrence was very similar to other communities that have zoning regulations, etc. He said that the process was continual. Mr. Kern stated that there are differences between facilitation and regulation. He gave the example of a new retailer in the former Arensberg’s building and the importance of facilitating the retailer through that process. Mr. Kern indicated the costs involved with preliminary platting and how that was a result of a project that did not involve much detail with that development phase. Commissioner Chestnut indicated that work on sector planning was helping to guide future development expectations and certainty for the future. He thought that was helpful as well. Commissioner Chestnut asked about incentives. Commissioner Gaughan said that the more that we get into incentives, he would see the expectation about development increases.

Commissioner Chestnut briefly explained the concept about CIDs and the discussion at the Commission level and asked what the task force’s responses were to that tool. Several members discussed the current difference in the retail market compared with several years ago, including the tight credit market. Mr. Booth pointed out that there is really old retail space in Lawrence that is being counted as usable space. Commissioner Gaughan thought that it should be stated what public good is happening as a result of projects receiving incentives. Mr. Kern thought that the CID put the burden on the retailer to show value for shopping at that business because no one was being forced to shop at that retailer. Mr. Kern gave examples of Oak Park Mall, Leawood Town Center and others. Commissioner Chestnut explained his concern about retail in Lawrence had to do with green field development versus redevelopment of existing areas and the ability of existing residents to walk to neighborhood shopping opportunities. Commissioner Chestnut asked about other tools for redevelopment. Commissioner Gaughan asked about Final Fridays and cultural arts potential.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m. The next meeting is set for Tuesday, October 5th at 4:00 pm. There will be discussion on retail incubators at the October meeting.