[FAC] FW: Vote on Downtown Plans coming up Thursday 1/28 9:15a

[Maria Franco]

-----Original Message-----
From: Elliott Balch [mailto:Elliott.Balch at fresno.gov] 
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 4:55 PM
To: Craig Scharton; Wilma Quan; Elaine Robles-McGraw
Cc: John Dugan; Keith Bergthold
Subject: Vote on Downtown Plans coming up Thursday 1/28 9:15a

Dear Downtown revitalization supporter:
 
Next week marks a long-awaited milestone in the Downtown revitalization
process.  On Thursday, January 28, at 9:15 am, the City Council will
consider approving a contract to create new laws for development in the
Downtown core and surrounding neighborhoods.
 
Why are these new laws, known as the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the
Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan, necessary?  Because the current laws
are confusing, unclear, contradictory, out of date, and often
counterproductive.  It's the current laws that have caused frustration among
Downtown developers, and allowed poorly designed development to harm some of
our best older neighborhoods.  It's the current laws that are costing
builders thousands of extra dollars and months of extra time for every
project.  By discouraging investment and driving down property values,
outdated planning laws today are costing the City millions of dollars in
property tax revenue each year, not to mention preventing the revitalization
of our downtown and perpetuating the concentration of poverty in surrounding
neighborhoods.
 
The good news is, we can fix this problem.  Dozens of cities across the
country have made their downtowns the easiest places to develop by adopting
Specific Plans that provide more appropriate land use laws.  More and more
cities are adopting new zoning codes that set clear standards to protect
older neighborhoods.  The best Plans involve the community heavily so that
the new laws reflect their vision for the future.  And it will all happen in
Fresno -- if the Council votes on January 28 to get the process of creating
the new Downtown Plans going.
 
That's where your support comes in.  There are several ways to get involved,
so I hope you'll choose at least one:
 
1. Come to the City Council hearing on Thursday, January 28, 2009, at around
9:15 a.m. You can just watch, or speak up during the public comment period.
 
2. Tell us if you support the Downtown Plans at
www.surveymonkey.com/s/downtownplans. By giving us your email address,
you'll also be signed up to receive updates as the Plans are developed, plus
other news from the City of Fresno Downtown and Community Revitalization
Department. 

3. Tell your City Council representative how you feel. Call (559) 621-8000
to speak to staff for your Council Member about the contract for the
Downtown Plans.
 
4. After contract approval, look for updates at www.fresno.gov/downtown.
We'll be posting news of upcoming Plan-related meetings and events,
especially those where the community is invited to come help make important
decisions. We will also post images and documents for public review. 
 
There's a ton more that will go into the new Downtown Plans -- too much to
get into here.  You can pull down a fact sheet at
www.fresno.gov/downtownplans.pdf, or the complete staff report at
www.fresno.gov/CouncilDocs/agenda1.28.2010/915.pdf.  For more information,
feel free to call us at (559) 621-8350, or email Wilma.Quan at fresno.gov.
 
Thank you for what you're doing to support Downtown Fresno.
 
Elliott Balch
Downtown Revitalization Manager
City of Fresno
 
PS: Congratulations if you were able to get tickets to Tuesday's State of
Downtown Breakfast (www.downtownfresno.org/breakfast) before it sold out.
If you're not going, you can still watch the program, including Mayor
Swearengin's keynote speech, starting live at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday at
www.fresno.gov/video.