Title
Approval of Recommendation to Expand the Community Renewal Area Scope of Work with ECONorthwest; Direction to Staff to Decline a $200,000 Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Grant; and Guidance on Next Steps in the Community Renewal Area Process
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
The Community and Economic Revitalization Committee (CERC) recommends that the City expand the scope of work with ECONorthwest to support additional work with the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) in evaluating the designs and cost implications of the development scenarios and that Council direct staff to provide written notice to the Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) declining the $200,000 RCO Grant.
City Manager Recommendation:
As recommended by the CERC, move to expand the scope of work with ECONorthwest, and direct staff to decline the $200,000 RCO Grant. Provide feedback and direction to the CERC regarding the next steps in the Isthmus planning process.
Report
Issues:
Should the City expand the scope of the contract with ECONorthwest to provide additional consulting services as described in Attachment 1 to support additional work by the CAC, and should the City provide written notice to the RCO to decline the $200,000 RCO Grant?
Staff Contact:
Keith Stahley, Director Community Planning and Development Department, 360.753.8227
Presenter(s):
Keith Stahley, Director Community Planning and Development Department
Paul Simmons, Director Parks, Arts and Recreation Department
Background and Analysis:
At the May 15, 2014 CAC meeting the consultant team posed a number of questions to the CERC and the CAC regarding the three design scenarios and feasibility analysis that the consultant team prepared. A summary of the consultant team's presentation can be found as Attachment 2.
Generally the CAC felt that a plan with several smaller parks strategically placed around the Isthmus and interspersed with a variety of residential, commercial and civic uses was preferred to one large central park. The CAC also liked the idea of transforming Sylvester Street into a "festival street - a street that can be periodically closed to traffic" and they all envisioned a mix of open space comprising approximately 30% of the area and mixed use redevelopment. There was discussion that the 35 foot height limit might be unnecessarily restrictive and that a 42 foot height limit would allow for more interesting architecture while having limited impacts on views. They felt that this issue should be studied in greater detail with visualizations prepared that help to illustrate the impacts from all key vantage points. They also recognized that parking is one of the ways that the City can support redevelopment on the Isthmus and that a comprehensive parking plan for the area should be developed. They do not want parking to be the visually dominating design element for the Isthmus.
Additional Scope of Work.
The CAC agreed that more refinement was necessary in the design scenarios and the cost estimates. They specifically requested that the consultant team look at both the costs and the revenues generated by redevelopment as well as the less tangible impacts that redevelopment might have. They asked that this work be done before holding the open house that is included in Scope of Work. Another meeting of the CAC will be needed to review these materials. A scope for this additional work may be found in Attachment 1.
The cost for expanded scope is estimated at $7,500. Staff will present Council with an appropriation request at a future business meeting.
Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) Grant.
The City of Olympia was awarded an RCO Grant in 2013 for $200,000 to assist in the acquisition of the Isthmus park property. The City Manager is in the process of preparing to sign and record a restrictive covenant required by the grant and would like feedback and direction on how to proceed. Recording the covenant will limit the City's flexibility in pursuing redevelopment options on the Isthmus. An assessment of the impacts of the RCO grant and other funding sources can be found in Attachment 3. Redevelopment plans prepared thus far include approximately 30% or more of the area as park. While final plans will likely include a similar area of park, having the flexibility to redistribute this property to complement future redevelopment of the Isthmus may be worth not accepting the RCO Grant.
Options:
1. Approve the proposal to amend the scope of work with ECONorthwest to provide additional consulting services to support the CAC process and direct staff to write to the RCO and advise them that the City will not be accepting the RCO Grant for the Isthmus property.
2. Do not approve the proposal to amend the scope of work with ECONorthwest to provide additional consulting services to support the CAC process and do not direct staff to write to the RCO and advise them that the City will not be accepting the RCO Grant for the Isthmus property.
Financial Impact:
Within project scope budget at this time. Changes to the scope will require an additional $7,500 in project budget.