RIPON PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES

RIPON CITY HALL

TUESDAY MARCH 11, 2008 - 7:00 P.M.

Pledge of Allegiance:  Commissioners pledged allegiance to the flag

Roll Call: Commissioners Mark Winchell, James Lewis, Don Berg,  Debra Van Essen and Stan Hall

Absent:  Garry Krebbs

Others Present:  Director Ken Zuidervaart, City Engineer Kevin Werner, Kim Anderson, Gary Mohler, Charlie Gay

Public Discussion:  Chairman Hall explained the public discussion process and asked if anyone would like to speak on a matter that is not on the agenda.  No one wished to speak at this time.

Minutes:  Approval of the minutes of the regular Ripon Planning Commission meeting of February 12, 2008.

MOTION:  MOVED/SECONDED (VAN ESSEN/WINCHELL) AND CARRIED BY A 4-0 VOTE (ABSENT: KREBBS / ABSTAIN: BERG) TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 12, 2008 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING

2.0       GENERAL PLANNING

2.1       REDEVELOPMENT REPORT, the Commissioner will review the Ripon Retail Report prepared by Consultant Jim Harrigan, Economic Development Systems (EDS) and make a recommendation to the City Council.

            Director Zuidervaart said that Jim Harrigan, from Economic Development Systems has comprised his draft report regarding retail analysis, strategies, and recommendations for retail recruitment and development for the City of Ripon.

            Director Zuidervaart said that the report basically analyzes three major retail areas within the City which are the downtown area along Main Street, the area on the south side of Hwy 99 near the Jack Tone Interchange such as Ripon Crossing, and the area on the north side of Hwy 99 along the Jack Tone Interchange.  Director Zuidervaart said that recommendations and suggestions for those areas have been included in the report, and are not meant to be all inclusive lists, meaning they contain development strategies and suggestions for each area.

            Director Zuidervaart then said that the report gives a historical summary of Ripon and how it has evolved over time.  Director Zuidervaart said that Ripon is behind other nearby City’s because of growth.

            Director Zuidervaart said that the report indicates that we want to bring businesses in town that will keep our downtown open after 5:00 p.m. so it doesn’t become a ghost town after 5:00 p.m.  These types of business would be restaurants, entertainment type businesses that would allow our downtown to become a community oriented area.

            Director Zuidervaart said that for Ripon’s size we need specialty type businesses where we are not competing with malls.  Suggestions were gourmet cooking shops, musical instrument stores, upscale restaurants with entertainment such as a jazz bar where we could draw from a greater area.

            Director Zuidervaart said that Mr. Harrigan sees more of the mom & pop type businesses for downtown rather than chains and he recruits for those types of businesses.

            Director Zuidervaart then said that the Village Property site, where the Canal Street Grille is located would be a good place for a number of upscale restaurants.  Examples were given such as the Chart House, Claim Jumpers, Macaroni Grille, Ruth Chris Steak House.  He said that this area should be for the nicer higher end retail and restaurants.

            Director Zuidervaart said that Mr. Harrigan said that for the area on the other side of Jack Tone it should be for nice sit down restaurants but not quite as upscale such as Bakers Square, Marie Calendars, etc. because of the commuter traffic.

            Director Zuidervaart said that Mr. Harrigan said that this area would also be a good place for a movie theater.  Director Zuidervaart said that with the truck stops, there are a number of truckers who have down time for eight hours and having a movie theatre would give them a different opportunity.

            Director Zuidervaart said that this report is in draft form and Mr. Harrigan is looking to get comments from the Commission before he finalizes this report and takes it to the City Council.

            Chairman Hall asked when Mr. Harrigan will begin recruiting and Director Zuidervaart replied that he has already begun this process.  Mr. Harrigan had said that the hardest part was to get the ball rolling and it could take one to two years to see results. 

            Commissioner Van Essen asked if there is any incentive for Mr. Harrigan to recruit and Director Zuidervaart replied that Mr. Harrigan is paid by the City on an hourly type basis with a certain number of hours per year.  Director Zuidervaart replied that Mr. Harrigan has many connections with Brokers which the City does not have.  Mr. Zuidervaart then commented that Mr. Harrigan’s incentive is to remain employed by the City. 

            Commissioner Van Essen said that the Ripon Crossing area already has four approved projects and asked how those projects tie in with Mr. Harrigan’s idea.  Director Zuidervaart replied that there is a separation between Kamps way and those projects and Mr. Harrigan sees the restaurants on the east side of Kamps by the Canal Street Grille. 

            Director Zuidervaart said that Mr. Harrigan has been in contact with Village Properties and have encouraged them to recruit for these restaurants.

            Commissioner Van Essen asked when Mr. Harrigan would begin working with the down town land owners and Director Zuidervaart replied that M. Johnston has already put together a list of the down town property owners for Mr. Harrigan.

            Commissioner Van Essen commented that the downtown area will be a big undertaking and Director Zuidervaart concurred that the open areas will be easier to develop than the existing downtown.  Director Zuidervaart said that it can sometimes be a long process and the downtown owners will need to have faith.  He said that the goal is to help them see that they can get top dollar for their buildings.  Director Zuidervaart said that we will look at any business that would want to go in to the downtown.  Director Zuidervaart said that Mr. Harrigan would like to work on the downtown one block at a time but this is not saying that he won’t look further down if a restaurant or something wanted to go in to the old drug store or something.

            Commissioner Hall asked if Mr. Harrigan will be coming in to present a proposal in person and Director Zuidervaart replied that he will be in attendance at the City Council meeting.  The item will be on the first or second meeting in April. 

            Commissioner Berg asked if it is the idea for the City to have a restaurant row and said that it does not make sense.  Commissioner Berg said that the City can not support that many restaurants.

            Director Zuidervaart replied that Mr. Harrigan has done a great deal of research on this and said that these restaurants could create a draw from other cities.  He went on to say that he is not trying to make restaurants be the sole support.

            Commissioner Winchell said that if Mr. Harrigan could bring in a sample of another small town that he has worked in, it would be very helpful.  Commissioner Winchell said that Pleasanton has done a wonderful job of revitalizing their downtown with specialty shops, restaurants, bakeries, etc.

            Director Zuidervaart said that he will get a list of the cities that Mr. Harrigan has worked with.

            Commissioner Lewis said that Mr. Harrigan’s incentive has been addressed but asked if the City is planning on providing any incentives to the businesses and Director Zuidervaart replied that the City wants to see what Mr. Harrigan can bring but currently the answer is no.

            Commissioner Van Essen said that the City of Manteca is throwing money away doing that. 

            Commissioner Lewis commented that Stockton has given two million dollars to bring in an upscale restaurant and the small local restaurants are not happy.  Commissioner Lewis said that he does not like the idea of bringing in high end restaurants.  He said that we already have Canal Street Grille and we just approved an application for a Las Casuela Restaurant.  Commissioner Lewis went on to say that he does like the idea of having a movie theatre in Ripon and believes that the other City’s will want to come to Ripon because Ripon has a reputation of being a safe City.  Commissioner Lewis asked if there were any options for bringing a theatre in our downtown and Director Zuidervaart replied that it would be tough to do this in our downtown because of the need for square footage and parking.

            Commissioner Lewis said that he would like to know what we as a City want to be.  He asked do we want to be a clone of other City’s.  Commissioner Lewis said that Ripon is the Almond Capital of the World and are unique.  Commissioner Lewis suggested that we should get some public input through a poll or ballot and get interest generated.

            Commissioner Lewis said that the report indicates that there is a focus on making our downtown a walking downtown and we should gear towards that type of environment.  Commissioner Lewis said that the City may have to get involved with eminent domain for parking.

            Commissioner Lewis said that there is an article in his Planning Commission binder about Ripon RDA and a downtown project involving a three-story, six thousand square foot building with a parking garage; is this in the works?

            Director Zuidervaart said that there is a project that is being considered that involves flats and underground parking but that there are a lot of hurdles that the developer will need to go through and it is just in the beginning stages with nothing written in concrete.

            Commissioner Lewis asked what and who is the Redevelopment Agency and Director Zuidervaart replied that it is made up of the City Council and that there is money available for Redevelopment.  Director Zuidervaart said that in the past the money has been used for projects such as putting in new water lines.  Commissioner Lewis said that he thinks this project is a good idea.

            Director Zuidervaart commented that this project sounds like a big project but in the grand scheme of things that the City wants to do, it is not that big.  Director Zuidervaart went on to say that this is new for Ripon and it would add about twenty more units to our downtown area.

            Commissioner Berg asked how much money have we paid Mr. Harrigan to date and Director Zuidervaart replied that he does not have this information but that Mr. Harrigan has been working with us for about four or five months now.  Director Zuidervaart went on to say that the City looked at a couple of Consulting Firms; some using the Buxton Standards but that Mr. Harrigan is different in that he does not just present the information and we are on our own; Mr. Harrigan helps us to recruit those businesses.

            Commissioner Berg said that it seems to him that based on this plan, we are trying to change the face of Ripon and Director Zuidervaart replied that any new businesses that come in are going to change the face of Ripon. 

            Commissioner Berg said that people are not going to spend $200 for dinner on a regular basis.  Director Zuidervaart replied that some of these restaurants listed may not want to come to Ripon they are just suggestions and that the City would not be opposed to smaller restaurants but that Mr. Harrigan would like to set the pallet for nicer type restaurants.

            Commissioner Winchell commented that if we are able to bring retail in that will generate tax money that the City will benefit from.  Commissioner Winchell then asked if the City has access to the Nestle property and Director Zuidervaart replied that the Nestle property is privately own by a local trucking firm.

            Commissioner Winchell said that he understands the idea behind getting retail for tax dollars.  Commissioner Winchell commented that Pizza Plus, the Mexican Restaurants and Georgio’s generate business but it would be nice to get a couple more businesses or restaurants that stay open at night that could create the atmosphere that we want.

            Director Zuidervaart said that the idea is to have service businesses (hair, nail, insurance, etc.) located on the second floor or tertiary streets and retail, restaurants and entertainment on the Main street.  Director Zuidervaart replied that service businesses belong in our downtown; just not on the Main Street.

            Commissioner Van Essen said that she feels it is important to address some of the concerns.  Commissioner Van Essen said that she does not think that another restaurant located near Canal Street Grille will hurt their business but rather help it as similar businesses cluster in order to help them grow.

            Commissioner Van Essen said that she owns a business complex in Manteca and she listen to the downtown business owners and they are struggling with the way things have been done.  Commissioner Van Essen said that Ripon is ahead of them on this.  Commissioner Van Essen said that the City is spending money on bringing in a Bass store and it is not good.  Commissioner Van Essen said that we should have an upper class face for Ripon and that she thinks that the citizens would embrace this.

            Commissioner Winchell said that he agrees with Commissioner Van Essen 100% and that Ripon has a unique opportunity to do this.  Commissioner Winchell said that he thinks the report is great; although not perfect and that we should keep our downtown unique.  Commissioner Winchell said that he likes the idea of putting a theatre downtown.

MOTION:  MOVED/SECONDED (VAN ESSEN/LEWIS) AND CARRIED BY A

            5-0 VOTE (KREBBS: ABSENT) TO FORWARD THE REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL

2.2       AMENDMENT TO CITY STANDARDS, a request to amend the City Standards with regards to Storm Water Development regulations.

             Director Zuidervaart said at the direction of the City Engineer, the additions to the City of Ripon Standard Specifications and Standard Details have been prepared by the Engineering Department as a requirement of our MS4 General Permit, which has to do with storm water quality and storm water runoff.

            Director Zuidervaart said that these new standards require all new development of significant redevelopment to comply with the new storm water standards and implement appropriate storm water mitigation measures as appropriate into their project designs.

            Director Zuidervaart said that these standards will be presented to the City Council to be adopted by resolution at a future meeting.

            Director Zuidervaart commented that this item is an informational only item and no action is required of the Planning Commission. 

            Commissioner Winchell asked if businesses will be required to filter their water before it goes back into the River and City Engineer Werner replied that certain businesses will require filtration.

            Commissioner Van Essen asked if this is just for storm water and City Engineer Werner replied that this is correct.

            Commissioner Winchell asked how porous concrete works for the storm water and City Engineer replied that this is one of the tools in the development standards that can be used.  City Engineer Werner commented that whatever the business is doing, they can not increase the outfall.  Pervious concrete is becoming more widely used and bigger chains are starting to incorporate it into their standards.

            Commissioner Van Essen commented that Kaiser has used this in their parking lot and City Engineer Werner said that some of the area where the vehicle park have the normal asphalt but that flow areas have been created.  City Engineer Werner said that the Aqua Pool and Spa facility did their entire parking lot in pervious material.

            Director Zuidervaart commented that some designs can be done to drain water to the landscaping areas.  The water needs to go through a filer.

            Commission Winchell asked about the detention basins and City Engineer Werner replied that they do help the process.

            Chairman Hall asked if the City has reporting requirements and City Engineer Werner replied yes, that right now the City has a permit that is five years old (MS4).  The bigger City’s are required to monitor and this will be in Ripon’s future.  City Engineer Werner went on to say that this permit is the most onerous permit that we have to keep us in compliance.

Commissioners= Reports:  Commissioner Winchell asked if what is occurring on Main Street is the beginning of the pavers and City Engineer Werner replied yes, that this is the first phase.  The project will go from Wilma down to Acacia and from Stockton and Main to Second Street.  The pavers will go from about 300’ east of Wilma to Acacia.  Engineer Werner said that the City is trying to stage it all and keep as much open as can.

City Attorney=s Reports:  The City Attorney was not present.

Director=s Reports:  Director Zuidervaart replied that he did not have anything to report but that there will be projects on the next Planning Commission meeting.

Adjournment:   There being no further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 8:00 p.m. to the next regularly scheduled meeting of April 8, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.

(Signed) Stan Hall, Chairman                     

ATTEST:   ____________________        ______

                  (Signed) Ken Zuidervaart, Secretary