09-13-2006 HRA - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPECIAL WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2006 Members Present: Chair Wilson, Commissioners Thompson, Toth, Lieser, and Motin Staff Present: Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich, Community Development Director Scott Clark Others Present: Stacie Kvilving, Ehlers & Associates The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Wilson. Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich provided background for the discussion. She stated that over the past year staff and the HRA have been working to develop a redevelopment plan for the area downtown north of Highway 10. She stated that as staff has been analyzing the land use, market potential and financial feasibility of this area it became evident that the redevelopment of downtown cannot be looked at in its individual areas. She gave the example of the development of 20,000 sf of commercial/retail space in the core area of downtown significantly reduces the market potential for this land use to be replicated north of Highway 10 due to absorption. She introduced Stacie Kvilving of Ehlers & Associates. Ms. Kvilving provided an overview of the following issues to the HRA: • reasons to redevelop • barriers to redevelopment • reasons for a redevelopment plan • redevelopment planning process • key elements of the plan Commissioner Toth stated his vision is to take the planning process slowly and not rush into another redevelopment project. He stated his concern is about timing and market readiness. He stated we need to be careful about how the redevelopment plan is presented to the public because most won't understand that it is a concept plan rather than an actual. development. Community Development Director Scott Clark stated that staff recommends that Ehlers & Associates undertake the meeting facilitation and city staff prepare the background work and plan. He stated that staff can bring an estimate for this service for the HRA's consideration at its next meeting. Commissioner Motin stated a concern for how the new eminent domain legislation will impact the HRA's ability to undertake redevelopment. Mr. Clark responded that the new law has a significant impact but that cities still need to plan, and consider that eminent domain will be an expensive and virtually unusable tool in redevelopment. Mr. Clark stated one of the first steps of the taskforce will be to identify the boundaries of the redevelopment planning area, for example there may be an opportunity to extend the west limits to include the Handke School.