Agenda - Council Work Session - 04/12/2016

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CC Work Session 2. 2. Meeting Date: 04/12/2016 Information Title: Set Preliminary Goals for Corridor Improvement Program (Strategic Action Plan Tactics No. 28 & 29) Purpose/Background: Staff acknowledges the complexity of this case, and is not expecting to develop a full policy in a single work session. The intent of this case is to provide broad, preliminary policy direction in order to develop a framework for a policy, and ultimately an adopted policy. Due to potential budgetary impacts, Staff has not recommended implementation of each of these ideas, but provides a menu of options to begin brainstorming ideas. The purpose of this case is to discuss initial categories and tactics to develop a Corridor Improvement Program as established by Strategic Action Plan Tactics No. 28 & 29. Both of these tactics fall within the Strategic Plan Initiative to 'Improve the image of key corridors (Highway 10, County Road 5, and Highway 47)'. This falls under Strategic Imperative III: Smart, Citizen -Focused Government. Strategic Tactic No. 28 is 'to use property owner citizen engagement strategies' to develop a key outcome indicator of an Adopted Statement of Goals. A component of this, in addition to reaching out to corridor stakeholders, is to develop acceptable tactics and strategies for this specific goals. Staff offers up the following broad strategies for City Council feedback. The City's planning consultant, WSB Associates, assisted with the development of these alternatives. 1. Strategic Acquisition, especially in 'gateway' districts (borders with adjacent communities) 2. Increased Code Enforcement for city code violations 3. Financial Incentives for facade improvements 4. Increased scrutiny in management of leases for City -owned parcels 5. Utilization of Public Works Resources for improvements/clean up of private property Strategic Tactic No. 29 states to proactively implement corridor improvements through public investment and code compliance initiatives. The tactic has a metric of 30% of targeted property clean-up per year of plan. The City Council has not yet identified which properties to target. Additionally, this tactic noted a need to add 0.5 FTE of staff resources in order to accomplish this goal. 1. Strategic Acquisition for 'Gateway Districts' A primary gateway to the community is the border with the City of Anoka along Highway 10. Several aging buildings exist at this gateway. A noticeable vacancy exists along the north side of Highway 10 at this gateway. A significant amount of outside storage exists along the south side of Highway 10 at this gateway. Additionally, these properties are impacted in various levels by the Highway 10 Access Planning Study. This strategy would likely have the largest positive impact on aesthetic improvements, but is also likely the most costly alternative presented. Policy Direction: Does this City Council want Staff to explore the idea of approaching Property Owners to research willing sellers and potential asking prices to inventory the financial feasibility of strategic acquisition in this area? 2. Increased Code Enforcement Resources The City responds to a number of nuisance complaints along key corridors ranging from outside storage to building maintenance. The City is generally able to keep up with complaints regarding outside storage. However, case management for lack of maintenance to buildings and structures is a time-consuming process for the City and the necessary corrective actions are often times costly to property owners. This topic will likely be discussed as part of the 2017 Budget preparationPo/icy Direction: Does the City Council want Staff to explore allocating additional