Downtown Economic Development

Are we ready for downtown economic development yet? A quick drive down Main Street and Lewis Street today reveals at least thirteen vacant commercial spaces -- including the closing of Switchback Mountain Gear. This must be what they mean by “Keep Pagosa, Pagosa”.

An important exception is newly opened “The Click” snowboard and skateboard shop. That one small shop has almost single-handedly revived the north side of the 100 block of Pagosa Street. The new storefront is important because it caters both to our tourist snow industry and also to our local youth. Sometimes free enterprise can pave the way to the future on its own even lacking a broader Town action plan.

This past week also brought a new scare when the City of Durango came to DeClarke Granite and offered them financial incentives to move over there. Durango has been aggressively growing its downtown commercial and its jobs base for a few years.

Like many business owners downtown, Dale DeClarke is disillusioned with the lack of vision, the resistance to a modern economy and the failure of either the Town or County to attend to the business of attracting business. Fortunately for us, our Town has provided DeClarke a huge incentive also. If they leave, DeClarke will likely be unable to either rent or sell their Putt Hill shop. So, hopefully, the granite shop will stay here and wait while we develop our own economic development plan.

Indiana Reed tells how “For Durango’s Historic Downtown, it all began with the need for new sidewalks. City council had approved the two-year program, and staff engineers and planners were moving ahead to launch the construction in late summer 2004. The plan was introduced on a chilly February morning to a meeting of merchants and stakeholders.”

“To at least one in the gathering – Tim Wheeler, owner of Durango Coffee Company – initiating a massive sidewalk construction program independent of an overall plan for downtown redevelopment, lacked foresight and seemed, to put it bluntly, irresponsible. A consensus agreed.”

“The community had spoken, and these sometimes disparate voices banded together, with representation from the City, to form the Downtown Durango Partnership. This public-private coalition voluntarily took on the responsibility for, in essence, shepherding the process of research and development, and ultimate approval by City Council, of what was christened the Downtown Durango Vision and Strategic Plan. It would be a series of recommendations for projects that would build on the downtown’s diverse, mixed-use character and reinforce the downtown as the “heart” of the community, embodying its identity, values and energy.”

“As each “piece” of the vision comes to the forefront, new studies, public meetings, and other communication tools, will be organized to keep the public “in the loop” and involved in the process of sustaining Durango’s Historic Downtown – the heartbeat of our community.” (Indiana Reed at www.downtowndurango.org)

As noted in our own Pagosa Springs Downtown Master Plan (adopted January 2, 2008), “Recent development west of Town has diluted the intensity of downtown commercial uses…which has caused a shift in viable businesses.” “A need exists to have a cohesive group to manage improvements and marketing of the downtown.”

Like Durango, we need to develop a Pagosa Springs Downtown Partnership which coordinates long-range business planning and action.

Our Downtown Master Plan suggests alternative actions that the Town itself might take to see that growth and realization of the Master Plan can be accomplished. “In this approach, the Town joins forces with another organization or a private entity. For example, the Town may joint venture with a private developer to construct a project that would include a public parking facility with privately owned commercial and residential space.”

Another implementation approach could be that “the Town may offer flexibility in development regulations to encourage a developer to take action in creating an exceptional project.”

Given the virtual economic death spiral being experienced downtown right now, the Town Council could consider that any major new development downtown would be “an exceptional project”. For example, as the Town hires an economic development coordinator, why not aggressively pursue David Brown and Bootjack Management with the question “what can we do for you Mr. Brown to encourage you to build your East Village Project today?”

Maybe the Town could waive much of the parking requirements knowing that a Town parking garage will someday pick up the missing spaces. Maybe the Town could defer impact fees for a few years. What would any of this cost the Town today, really? And what would be the economic and psychological gain for the Town?

David Brown received a conditional permit for his East Village project in November from the Town Council. The project was constrained by the Town height limit and parking requirements to the extent that David Brown will likely never build the project as approved. The Town restrictions make it financially infeasible for the project to be built.

Some may say, “Too bad for David Brown.” But I say, “Too bad for this Town.”

Nostalgia for yesterday’s small buildings does nothing to inform us about the reality of $300. per square foot to build today. Lack of new commercial buildings downtown is harming the financial solvency of the people who live here today.

Even if David Brown wanted to build it at a loss, money is hard to come by right now. William Fleckstein, author of “Greenspan’s Bubbles” says, “I don’t think it’s possible for the Fed to solve the unwinding of credit. It’s going to get worse.” (BusinessWeek 2/25/08)

"Last year, there probably wasn't anything a lender wouldn't lend on," said John Luka, managing director with Column Financial Inc. "Now, there isn't anything a lender will lend on."
(retailtrafficmag.com: Feb 6, 2008)

Is it just me, or is our downtown commercial core in some serious need of help?

The first duty of the Town Council is to keep the Town financially solvent. That means the money coming in must exceed the money going out. By definition, that requires financial growth. And growth requires a Town-driven plan for growth.

The downtown core has been “frozen in time” from about 1980. The financial insolvency of no growth can be seen in the number of downtown commercial vacancies that plague us at the very beginning of this current economic downturn.

The Town Council is discussing hiring an economic development coordinator. But a new Town “coordinator” is going to need to have an economic development plan. And that plan is going to need for the Town to push for the construction of some new buildings downtown.

Our architecture shapes our psychology. Our psychology shapes our future.

The Town Comprehensive Plan “aims to ensure that all future private development will contribute to furthering the development of Pagosa Springs as a sustainable and livable community.” What is more critical to being a “sustainable and livable community” than providing a solid economic base of a thriving and, yes, growing tourism industry downtown?

Comprehensive Plan “Goal E-4” says that “Pagosa Springs will support and attract businesses and industries that will diversify and sustain the local economy and level out seasonal fluctuations.

Amen.

South Durango is the area of Home Depot and Walmart. The Durango Herald notes that “Sales tax collections grew at a faster rate in the Central Business District than in south Durango (last year), a fact Business Improvement District chairman John Wells pointed to as a sign of downtown's continued health. “

“Durango's business leaders are taking steps to ensure downtown's continued economic vitality. The Business Improvement District will soon select a firm to conduct a market assessment, which will essentially form a business plan for downtown.” (Chuck Slothower Feb. 17, 2008 Durango Herald)

We have a few Town “leaders” who want only to save the old buildings of Pagosa Springs. Is it possible for the Town to aggressively encourage a few new commercial buildings? What would be the harm?

Right now we don’t need more development “restrictions”. We need the Town to loosen up and get some new projects going.

John Motter in last week’s Pagosa Sun noted that resistance to new buildings and growth in the downtown goes back at least to 1876 when the native Utes would burn down newly built cabins to keep out the “newcomers”. Change was brought to the Indian Nation at the end of a rifle barrel. We can probably find a more peaceful approach today.

Today we still have a few who go so far as to try to “preserve” a tear-down dilapidated PineWood Inn for its “historical” value. That dying inn was once created by chopping a beautifully curved roof off of the old Dr. Mary Fisher house.

“Historical preservation” is a truly subjective concern. If we really want to celebrate the past, why not build a huge Ute Nation cultural center in the heart of downtown to celebrate the true history of “our Town”. Now, that would be a story worth preserving.

Yes, we need to celebrate our past. But not by clinging with fear and stopping all attempts at development into the future.

Our current downtown architecture and vacant storefronts tell the story of the recession of 1979. Is this the history that we are trying to preserve for the next generation? The real psychological intent of “Keep Pagosa, Pagosa” is to unconsciously “Keep Pagosa Stuck”.

Drive down Main Street in Durango. The story of its past is told quite elegantly with the vibrancy of its economy today. The story told is one of hope, growth and a positive outlook for the future.

Welcome to the new The Click sports shop on Pagosa Street. Welcome to the new Town economic development coordinator, whoever that will be. And welcome to our opportunity to purposefully grow our downtown economy for the next generation.

And remember -- register before March 1st and vote April 8th in the Town Council elections.