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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004 - MINUTES - 7/28/2004 STUDY SESSIONSTUDY SESSION CITY OF PALM SPRINGS JULY 28, 2004 CONVENE IN OPEN SESSION A. Call to Order-Large Conference Room B. Flag Salute C. City Attorney Report on Matters Discussed in Closed Session-See Page 2 of Agenda this date. D. PUBLIC COMMENTS Dana Stuart, no address given, stated the economic and ecology effect on tourists and residents with like effects of development, decision by City Council on residents with the new infrastructure vs revenue. David Wall, Palm Springs, stated he moved here for the vistas Chino Cove presented is comparable with Yellowstone National Park and is a unique part of Palm Springs, with development it is giving up the family jewels, this is the most precious area Palm Springs has. Roxanne Ploss, Palm Springs, stated the Bob Hope house was supposed to be the last hillside development, that she was here for peace, beauty, and night lights, how much development will be allowed before City is destroyed, citizens want to consider what is happening. Cereg Day, Chino Canyon Neighborhood, supports . COUNCIL WORKSHOP FORMAT 1. BRIEFING ON MAYOR’S VALLEY WIDE SUMMIT Discussion by Mayor and Facilitator Duane Knapp on results of Valley wide Summit as related to Palm Springs. Mayor Oden stated that the meeting was to try to determine how others in the Valley view Palm Springs and how the City fits in the Valley; that a survey was sent out and returned; that there was overwhelming excitement in the Valley that this type of meeting was being done; that the Cities in the Valley are closely related with each other; that the Palm Springs brand needs to be determined; that Palm Springs is important and monumental to all the Coachella Valley City brands; that tourism partnerships have been developed; that people come here for the number one reason to relax in a relaxing lifestyle; the weather is a driving factor to tourism; that recreation of all types bring world wide appeal; that there is positive feedback from the visitors; that the design, size and responsiveness of the airport is a major impact; and that the quality of life is of paramount interest. Mr. Knapp added that the mountains, downtown, casino, tram, brain power of intelligence in Palm Springs brings a creative energy to the City; that the weaknesses are in crime, the government in Palm Springs; that in the past it is perceived that business and developers have a hard time working with the City; that it has been said that the image is improving; that traffic congestion, shopping opportunities, land availability and affordability is of issue; that there are things that could be done better, such as the marketing of Palm Springs and more responsiveness by the City to its residents and developers; that Palm Springs is considered the HALO in the Valley; that this City reflects on all other cities; that the HALO needs to stay strong and positive; that most visioning in a corporation is held in private sessions rather than public, that this opportunity allows the community to participate in doing all it can to enhance the HALO of the City and allow the reflection of all that we do to be positive to the tourism; that the negative image of the City did deal with slow growth; that most cities are growing at a fast pace, and Palm Springs has been on a lower scale; that the discussion centered around on what draws people to Palm Springs; that people fly in here, but go down valley to stay; that the City is viewed as an old duchess living of the laurels of the past and not the leader of the Valley; that the name is here, but no product, no retail, no destination resorts or affordable housing. Mayor stated that tourism was questioned and why the City has its own tourism department; that it does seem to be a duplicate of services. Knapp stated that there are other Cities that have marketing people who market their own brands; that each city can its own ID within a brand; that there is a family of brands in the Valley that work together to drive people here; that cities need someone within the City structure to drive the identity; that some cities have employees working with the CVA or its own marketing departments; but that not all cities have a separate tourism department; that the total expense of land development was an issue; but that is not a negative thing, rather, that it raises the value of property within the City, but there remained a negative impression of doing business with the City; that some comment was based on not having gated communities; that while the City takes pride in the limited amount of gated communities, others did see it as a negative; that there was a lack of openness by the City to partner with other cities; and review Brand Strategy power point demonstration, see attached copy. That the first thing the City must decide is how it wants to be perceived and what can be done to gain what is wanted. 2. SCI-ARC (SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE) Presentation by Mayor concerning the Mayor’s Institute on City Design at SCI- ARC (Southern California Institute of Architecture). Mayor reviewed schematics o display, copies attached and added that the attendee covered a full scope of City development; that Tom Main was featured for work in LA; that the initial discussion was on branding; that other topics included the creative class and what is means to Palm Springs; that each City was given a presentation on adaptive reuse of an area in the City; that the recommendations for Palm Springs was to make Palm Canyon a promenade; that spatial planning and dynamics were considered; that it was unanimously recommendation that no parking in the area be on the streets, but rather an air pedestrian plaza; that lifestyle centers are the new malls of attraction; that there is a change in the City demographics; that there are new city challenges; that the full consensus was to preserve the downtown corridor and that a one way street was best; that opening up the mall to add the museum entryway as a cultural elements is important; that the are should be more pedestrian friendly rather than vehicle friendly; that parking should be parallel; that diagonal parking seems to separate the people; that the Urban Planner almost duplicated the proposal submitted by Mr. Ogburn; that drive by traffic is important to attract people to the mall; that in suburbia people do want to live in the downtown area; that there is a trend across the Country in building lofts in downtown areas; that the City needs to be the master planner with incoming projects fitting in with that master plan; that all the cities in the valley are expecting growth; that during the seminar the focus kept coming back to the diversity of architectural elements in the City; that we are a mixture of different architects and different time periods; that we need to understand how broad the City is in order not to lock ourselves in. Ogburn stated that lifestyle centers are shopping centers that are an anchorless center; that the focus is on public space and events in a central place; that the downtown does not have a central place; that the center would be more than shopping and would include, restaurants, jazz clubs, higher en retail; art cinemas and the like; that it is difficult to attract the type of businesses needed; that most large businesses, such as Barnes & Nobles are attracted by roof tops and the price of homes; but in this case the City may be able to succeed if a lifestyle type mall is put in place, rather than focusing on a typical mall. Mayor stated that the City also needs to focus on the north side if Palm Canyon; that decorative lighting and the retail in place has helped to attract more business; that the City also needs to thing of the future, that there is gridlock in the Valley, that the Valley as a whole is just starting to experience large growth; that a strong street infrastructure needs to be determined; that Pal Springs has been the slowest to grow in the Valley, but that all is moving at a quick pace now; that some type of people mover will need to be set in place; that the visioning will change as an ongoing process; that the Commission as well as the Community will need involvement. Mills stated that when the original mall project came through it was voted down by the Planning Commission and Architectural review committee, but that the City Council voted the project in due to the mantra of the City is sending everything down valley; that the Council does need to ensure the tax base and give the downtown a shot in economic stimulation; that there is now an opportunity to fix a $45 million dollar mistake and that as the Master Developer in the City we should be the driving force to having the Desert Fashion Plaza being key to the downtown. 3. VISIONING SESSION Council discussion on City goals and objectives; future economic and development trends; and development of Work Program for the next five years. Discussion led by facilitator. Attached are the bullet points of the Councilmembers on issues of priorities within the City. See attached listing. Consensus of Council to have priorities outlined; and schedule similar sessions to develop a blue print for the City; that the neighborhood groups need to be validated. 4. PUBLIC REPORTS & REQUESTS Millika Albert thanked Council for the participation in the session; and added that there is a level of trust that has been established between Lee Husfeldt and the neighborhood groups and that the City Manager for organizing the session. ADJOURN There being no further business, Mayor declared the meeting adjourned at 4 p.m. ADJOURN