Title
Olympia Downtown Alliance Update
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Receive an update on the Olympia Downtown Alliance.
Report
Issue:
Whether to receive an update on the Olympia Downtown Alliance.
Staff Contact:
Mike Reid, Economic Development Director, Office of Community Vitality, 360.753.8591
Presenter(s):
Mike Reid, Economic Development Director
Todd Cutts, Executive Director, Olympia Downtown Alliance
Background and Analysis:
On September 26, 2023, the City Council authorized the City Manager to Sign a Petition in Support of a Proposal to Form a Downtown Improvement District. This district would have provided additional funding to the downtown to address objectives associated with efforts around to clean and safe programming, promotions and special projects in the downtown. The effort required a petition to be signed by property owners reflecting 60% of properties downtown. Unfortunately, the petition drive was unable to achieve the 60% required threshold.
Todd Cutts will provide an update concerning the DID effort as well highlighting continued Olympia Downtown Alliance programming aimed at making downtown a vibrant business district. Some of the efforts to be highlighted are the LoveOly marketing campaign, expanded Downtown Guide efforts, graffiti abatement program, LoveOly Summerfest, and the “vacant storefront pop-up program”.
Additional discussion to include data showing the recovery of foot traffic activity post pandemic.
Climate Analysis:
One of the community wide action items identified in the Transportation and Land Use Focus area of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan is: T1.13 - Downtown Development Work with developers and investors to identify barriers to new investment and reinvestment projects of residential and commercial in urban centers. Then develop and implement policy changes and incentive programs in response.
Developers and builders often cite the same concerns identified in the Community Survey related to issues around sense of safety and cleanliness.
Equity Analysis:
The City completed a Community Engagement and Public Opinion Survey in June 2021. This was a statistically verifiable survey in which some demographic data was collected. The Community Survey did not see a significant disparity or outlying group in how people of color, men, women, and all age range subsets responded to the questions of sense of safety or cleanliness downtown. The majority of all groups indicated that they felt unsafe in the evening downtown and that the City should have more staff removing graffiti and garbage downtown.
In 2023 the City completed a similar survey that articulated many of the same community concerns about downtown.
Neighborhood/Community Interests (if known):
Downtown is routinely identified as an area of broad community interest with it’s role in the economic ecosystem due to its high concentration of locally owned entrepreneurial businesses, position as strong tourism draw, and anchor as an epicenter of our creative economy with a multitude of community and cultural events
Options:
[List viable options the Committee may wish to consider. When a decision is being requested, provide 3 options (approve, modify, or don’t approve) and state implications if the recommendation is modified or not approved.]
Financial Impact:
1. Receive the update.
2. Do not received the update.
3. Receive the update at another time.
Attachments:
2023 Olympia Downtown Alliance Annual Report
Presentation