2010/08/24 City Council Resolution 2010-89RESOLUTION NO. 2010-89
RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ROHNERT PARK
ADOPTING AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR THE CITY
WHEREAS, the City of Rohnert Park has endorsed the idea for the past several years that Economic
Development Activities are necessary for the City in order to improve the City's economy, the City's financial
situation, the health and vitality of our business sector, and the economic environment for our citizens, and
WHEREAS,. the City in 2007 retained the services of Muni Services /Conley Consulting Group to
prepare an Economic Development Action Plan, presented to the City that year; and
WHEREAS, this report gave the City much valuable base information, the City did not adopt the Plan at
that time and the National and State economy subsequently entered into the "Great Recession" in 2008,
invalidating some of the assumptions and projections in this report; and
WHEREAS, subsequent to that time; the City has been engaging in staff and service reductions in an
attempt to improve its financial situation; the staff shortages and vacancies of the past several years have left the
City without the staff resources to implement such a plan, and implementation has not taken. place; and
WHEREAS, the City, its businesses and its citizens need help to recover from the prolonged economic
slump; and
WHEREAS, the problem of commercial and industrial vacancies represents a loss of revenue to the City
and a detraction from a positive business environment; and
WHEREAS, recent,data.reveals that the City has an 11% unemployment rate, and has lost over 5,000
jobs during these, past five years.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that:
1.. the City of Rohnert Park has a demonstrated need for an Economic Development Plan;
2. such a plan has been put together by the staff and Council of the City; and
3. the City Council, in the adoption of the 2010 -2011 City Budget, has set aside resources to be devoted
to the implementation of the Plan.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council adopts the Economic Development Plan, attached
hereto as Exhibit "A," as a practical guide as to what the City must do to assist its business environment and to
improve the City's financial situation and the quality of life for our citizens.
DULY AND REGULARLY ADOPTED this 24`h day of August, 2010.
CITY OF ROHNERT PARK
BELFORTE: AYE BREEZE: AYE CALLINAN: AYE MACKENZIE: AYE STAFFORD: AYE
AYES: (5) NOES: (0) ABSENT: (0) ABSTAIN: (0)
A Beginning, Common Sense, Local Resource Based
Economic Development / Job Creation Program
for the City of Rohnert Park
Prepared by John Dunn with assistance from City Council members, Department Heads, and Linda Babonis
August 2010
Obiective
The Rohnert Park Economic Development Plan objective is to create a beginning program to get some
things going quickly, utilizing local resources in a "do it yourself' mode and minimizing expense.
Definition: What Economic Development means to Rohnert Park, that: a) our citizens have jobs so that
they can properly care for themselves and their families, b) our business people and their businesses
prosper, c) we eliminate vacancies in our commercial and industrial areas and keep these areas vital and
attractive, d) we retain and help our existing businesses grow, e) we attract the right kind of businesses
to our City, f) our citizens and visitors have a full range of services- products and facilities available to
them within the City and g) as a result of these actions, that the City itself prospers because of solid and
consistent benefits from its property, sales and transient occupancy taxes.
Overview: While all parts of the program are important in the long term, the initial priority should be
on forthright assessment of our current situation and needs - getting a good reading on the City's
economic development landscape and taking necessary short -term actions. These are the first items 2
through 9:
Program
1. Have an "evergreen Economic Development Plan"
a. Review the City's Economic Development Plan once a year and make refinements as
necessary for current conditions.
b. City Council review and adoption is necessary; an unadopted plan has no status or force.
c. Commit resources to implement the adopted plan; an adopted plan with no commitment of
resources does not get implemented.
d. Be specific, deliberate and current on assignment of responsibilities
e. While City Manager has overall responsibility for the program, his overall City
responsibilities will allow some but not a great amount of direct participation in the
program.
2. Interview CEO /owners of top ten non - public agency employers in Rohnert Park.
a. Determine status of Chamber of Commerce Interviews.
b. Acquire and analyze results of past Chamber interviews and determine if follow -up
interview is needed.
c. Develop interview questions for employers not previously interviewed or follow -up
questions for those who have.
d. To speed up process and involve more people, consider "roundtable" discussions
e. Record results of each interview (individual comments are confidential).
EXHIBIT A 1
f. Prepare summary report.
g. Develop follow -up action plan.
h. Later, supplement above survey with interviews of ten (10) owners /managers of small
businesses.
3. Work with Chamber's Economic Development Committee.
a. Determine what their present goals are.
b. Determine what process they will use to pursue economic development.
c. Determine who from the Chamber the City should be working with, develop schedule for
meetings and objectives to be pursued.
d. Ideas: Chamber sponsorship of small business workshops to assist local businesses and
increase overnight stays of visitors already coming to SSU related events and community
events.
e. Develop and implement contract for the performance of specified responsibilities.
4. Work with the Sonoma County Tourism Bureau to promote tourism, specifically overnight
visitors to the City of Rohnert Park.
a. Provide funding in support of Rohnert Park marketing effort.
b. Develop contract for services with specific actions /deliverables.
c. Establish regular meeting schedule to review progress.
5. Work with leading commercial /industrial real estate firms to determine the major obstacles or
hindrances to the sale or leasing of land in Rohnert Park and how the City might in some way be
a creative partner with them to address and overcome these problems.
6. Meet with large commercial property owners to determine their current or planned strategy for
addressing vacancies.
a. What are they looking for, doing?
b. Where do they anticipate success, obstacles?
c. Maintain dialogue with property owners to explore areas of mutual benefit.
7. Examine the CDC facilities /infrastructure plan to see:
a. How much money is available for spending?
b. Whether certain projects could have a short-term (construction) and a continuing positive
revenue impact.
c. Examine whether there is the possibility of using CDC funds to leverage or supplement
certain beneficial private sector development activities.
8. Assess schedule and economic development opportunities of . all planned specific -plan
developments. More specifically:
a. Sonoma Mountain Village (General Plan Amendment), because of its mixed land uses, has
the greatest economic development potential of the three plans coming before the City in
the shorter term, particularly given that it will have commercial and industrial uses and that
each residential unit will pay a fee to the City for economic development purposes.
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b. The Southeast Plan, the Northeast Plan, and the University District Plan (the latter already
approved) while primarily residential, offer three economic enhancements, their
construction activities, the fees they will pay for City services and in some cases limited
retail.
9. Re- examine our own development /project review process to determine, while upholding
adopted City standards, if we can be more helpful /speed up the process.
a. Address problem of "first -time business person" who "signs lease first, asks questions later"
vs. professional property agents (who most often know the City's rules).
b. The City has an "expedited building plan review process" which works for those willing to
pay extra.
c. Continue present practice of "early" meetings with prospective developers in order to iron
out issues and to set them on a productive path.
d. The State's new Green Building Code goes in affect on January 1, 2011. The City will be
required to enforce the California Green Building Code at that time. Rather than enforcing
two Green Building Codes simultaneously, the City may want to consider repealing our
Green Building Ordinance. The City has been and continues to be a leader in energy
conservation and "green" building and should preserve this position.
10. Re- invent Rohnert Park as a youth sports, recreation, and cultural center.
a. What would work well?
b. How much would it cost and what would be the funding source? .
c. Examine and evaluate role of community and City events, festivals, etc., toward this
objective.
d. Evaluate role of larger sports events, such as tournaments and races, to attract outside
visitors.
e. Evaluate role of all- weather fields and a spray park to better serve local residents and attract
visitors.
f. Evaluate role of commercial recreation ventures as a part of the above.
g. The success of the community's businesses will cause greater support for the above efforts.
h. Create "magnet" (special purpose) facilities as a draw.
11. Examine all major community amenities and assets (Sonoma State University, Sonoma
Mountain Village, Green Music Center, Performing Arts Center, Sports Center, parks, trail
system, hotel - motels (tourism — regional conferences), wineries (tourism, restaurants), golf
courses, pools, Farmer's market, etc. for their increased economic development /job creation
potential.
a. What actions or resources are necessary to better utilize these community resources to
attract visitor usage and pursue economic development activities?
b. What's a successful economic future for Sonoma County, and what is the best opportunity
"niche" for Rohnert Park?
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12. Revisit and update two City Plans for their economic development potential and to add to the
"enticing and attractive" qualities of our community.
a. Review the City Center Concept Plan (adopted) for current relevance, perhaps pulling
out certain elements for further review and implementation.
b. Review the Commerce Boulevard Corridor Plan (not adopted), select those elements
which have current relevance, revise as necessary and consider for adoption and
implementation.
13. Job creation for our residents would be established as a primary goal of the program — particular
emphasis should be placed on higher income "head of household" jobs such as managerial and
professional jobs (professional services, managers, finance, insurance, teaching, medical, etc.)
a. At the present time the greatest potential for higher -level job creation in Rohnert Park lies
with supporting and he
Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster — a company incubation
program.
b. Work with appropriate private sector land owners, commercial property agents to arrange
receptor sites for graduates of Sonoma Mountain Business Cluster.
c. Retail jobs are jobs, but a City goal must be for economic diversification to support greater
variety of job types (and better protection from economic downturns).
14. A major goal of the City is to fill vacancies in our existing commercial and industrial areas and
buildings.
a. Maintain an inventory of major vacancies in existing commercial and industrial sites,
including owners, agent, zoning, square footage and major site conditions.
b. Develop listing and plan to work with owners /agents of the above properties, to make them
aware of the City's interest and support.
c. Look at the success of other communities at converting outmoded shopping centers and
transforming them into attractive modern centers (example, Petaluma - McDowell Blvd. at
East Washington).
d. Examine vacant or under- utilized sites in Rohnert Park (old Yard Birds, as an example) and
work with property owners encouraging development of a re -use plan.
15. Keep a watchful eye on the Westside (yes, all areas of the community are important).
a. The Westside collectively is the greatest producer of sales tax.
b. It has the greatest amount of undeveloped commercial space.
c. It has two larger parcels in particular that have great economic development potential
(Stadium lands and "Northwest Specific Plan ").
d. The completion of the freeway improvements will increase access to and attractiveness of
this area.
e. This area, largely, is a collection of individual centers and separate stores which creates a
disparate image; opportunities for increased attractiveness, cohesiveness and unity could be
explored.
f. Upon completion of the freeway improvements, both sides of the freeway should be
evaluated for their. visual qualities and appeal as the view from the freeway is how most
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people form their image of Rohnert Park.
16. Small business (in particular) need a financial support
a. City government (with some exceptions) will not be the source of that support.
b. Communicate with bank and savings institutions so they know what the City is seeking.
c. Investigate Cloverdale and other area's micro -loan programs.
17. Create inter - departmental team to establish shared understanding of economic development
priorities and how each team member /department can contribute to the success of the City ED
Plan.
a. This is a direct responsibility of the ACM;
b. However, for maximum effectiveness it requires a proper attitude and assistance on
everyone's part.
c. It requires mobilization, organization, assigned effort, and "team spirit."
d. Develop a visible tracking mechanism for performance measurement.
18. Establish initial City Economic Development priorities
a. Usual approach of cities is to, first, retain existing businesses; secondly, attract new
businesses.
b. Because of the City's high vacancy rates in commercial /industrial properties, we may need
to develop a set of customized priorities.
19. Over time, assess Rohnert Park's "branding, image, identity" to see if effort needs to be
expended in improving this area.
a. The general perception is that the present image is largely residential, probably too diffuse
or undifferentiated for attracting visitors.
b. Done right, the 501h birthday celebration /parade could re- invigorate community pride.
c. If desiring to become a destination City, what should our special attraction "niche ", special
appeal or "sense of place" be?
d. Re- examine historic City seal to determine if it conjures up desired image?
e. Consistent and continuous wins over creative but sporadic.
20. Develop close working relationship with others
a. Chamber of Commerce
b. Sonoma State University
c. Sonoma County Economic Development Board
d. Major commercial /industrial property owners /agents
e. Others who can contribute to the City's Economic Development goals.
21. Review the 2007 Economic Development Plan to assure that all relevant points of that Plan
continue to be incorporated into the City's ongoing Economic Development / Job Creation
Program
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