Clearlake City Council approves hiring of firm for implementing new downtown strategic vision
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The city of Clearlake is hiring a firm to assist it with implementing a newly developed downtown strategic vision.
In a unanimous vote at its March 4 meeting, the council gave approval for City Manager Alan Flora to execute a contract with the firm Downtown Strategies.
The discussion begins at the 25:15 mark in the video above.
Flora said it was nearly two years ago, the city began a relationship with Retail Strategies for retail attraction.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of success from their efforts,” said Flora.
Since then, Downtown Strategies – a sister company of Retail Strategies – was launched.
Flora said the city had previously hired Downtown Strategies to develop a downtown strategic vision.
With that strategic vision now complete, Flora asked the council to consider a presentation from Downtown Strategies on its recommendations and which items its staff could help the city implement.
Jenn Gregory, president of Downtown Strategies, spoke to the council about the work to create a strategic plan for Clearlake’s downtown area and offered an implementation proposal.
She said she and other company staff visited the city in July and October in order to really understand the market.
In assembling a strategic plan – which is meant to be used and not sit on a shelf – Gregory said they focused on the five pillars of a healthy downtown: market analysis to understand how the downtown is performing economically; policy and administration; design; tourism and promotion; and economic vitality.
Gregory said the company’s July visit was to lead an assessment and understand the community’s assets, while the October meeting included meeting with city officials and community members.
Through this process, Gregory said the company was able to create a customized strategic plan for downtown Clearlake that is broken down into three categories of implementable strategies: no cost opportunities that require time and effort but no actual capital to implement; one to three year recommendations and strategies which do take some capital, but not a significant amount; and the three to five year timeline, with project that require either municipal investment or public-private partnership.
Gregory said their study so far also has included a walkability assessment of the downtown focus area, which includes Redbud Park in the south, Highland Park in the center and Austin Park to the north.
She said their team has the ability to help the city implement strategies such as identifying gateways and corridors to enhance the city’s walkability.
During the discussion, Gregory said that experiential tourism is on the rise, and it’s favored by millennials, the nation’s top consumer group. That demographic craves experiences. As a result, she said the proposal is to blend that quest for experiences and experiential tourism into the downtown plan.
She also proposed a comprehensive marketing plan and wayfinding signage, which will help tell the city’s story and elevate the downtown area.
One of the recommendations included pursuing a listing of Clearlake’s downtown on the National Register of Historic Places; places and structures 50 years old and older qualify, Gregory said.
Gregory said they would then promote the benefits of state and federal tax credits to property owners in downtown Clearlake. It would not create any restrictions on the properties but would unlock historic tax credits which, on the federal level, are 25 percent of the total rehabilitation costs. State tax credits are still being developed but could be used in tandem with the federal credits.
The company has talked to some downtown property owners who want to update their buildings but they were concerned about the cost of rehabilitation, Gregory said.
She said Downtown Strategies also wants to partner with the city in creating a design guidelines booklet to showcase preferred and recommended styles of facades and design elements within the downtown area.
Gregory said their goal is to retain the resort feel and aesthetic that Clear Lake became famous for, and as part of that they created an exterior paint palette that would be folded into the design guidelines.
As for next steps, she said the company would love the opportunity to partner with the city of Clearlake to make sure this plan doesn't sit on the shelf but is truly implemented in collaboration with the city government.
During the discussion, Gregory explained that Downtown Strategies had studied the city’s flow of visitors and chose not to exclude 2020 because of COVID-19 but to learn from it.
She said that, even during the pandemic, they found that city parks were receiving visitors from well beyond the city boundaries – some traveling more than 100 miles.
Their study found that most tourists are from California, but they have visitors coming from as far away as the East Coast and multiple states in between.
During the July visit to Clearlake, Gregory said she stopped to visit with some people on the pier and found they were from New York and had come for bass fishing. They also found that tourism activity increased during the summer months.
Gregory said they believe there is an opportunity to hone the city’s marketing and branding and to take the opportunity to tell the story of Clearlake and Clear Lake.
“Telling the story is a real critical need,” she said, adding they can exponentially increase the impact with a strong digital presence and branding.
She also suggested more of a focus on regional travel.
There was no public comment before Councilwoman Joyce Overton moved to approve the agreement, a motion which was seconded by Councilman Russ Perdock and approved unanimously by the council.
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