Downtown Revitalization
Introduction

The revitalization of our downtown has been identified by the Paradise Town Council as one of our Town’s primary short and long term goals for our community. The Council believes that the downtown’s deteriorating economy and physical appearance, as characterized by marginal retail activity, vacant buildings, underutilized commercial and residential properties, inadequate infrastructure and physical blight, is unacceptable. They are convinced that a major commitment by this Town to revitalize the downtown will benefit both our downtown and community.

More specifically, the Town Council believes that a successful, well-planned and implemented downtown revitalization effort will result in the following benefits for Paradise:

• Increased numbers of retail and professional service businesses (and job opportunities in the downtown)
• Increased volumes of retail business activity for both existing and new retail businesses in the downtown
• Increased tourism in both the downtown and the greater Paradise community
• New public parking facilities that provide improved parking convenience and accessibility for downtown shoppers
• Improved septic system capacity for small downtown businesses to accommodate their present and future needs; and to allow for a broader range of specialty retail activity in the downtown
• Improved traffic circulation in the downtown
• Street, sidewalk, drainage and streetscape improvements throughout the downtown
• Improved physical image and appearance for the downtown
• Building facade and signage improvements
• Completion of the Memorial Trailway and its integration into the downtown
• The elimination of physical and economic blight in the downtown
• Pedestrian friendly improvements in the downtown
• Development of the downtown as a public transportation hub for our community
• Establishment of the Paradise Town Center (including Paradise Community Park and the Living History Center) to serve as another important anchor to the downtown and a central location for community and tourism-related events
• Increased revenues to the Town, which in turn enables the Town to increase its level of public safety services, and streets and roads funding for the Paradise community, as a whole

The Downtown Revitalization Master Plan fulfills the 1994 General Plan’s call for an updated version of the 1986 Downtown Revitalization Plan, which was adopted but never implemented. This Master Plan is far more specific in terms of recommendations and project implementation; and places a greater emphasis on community participation and involvement in the 1986 Plan.

In fact, the Town has made a substantial effort to encourage public input and participation during the development of this Downtown Revitalization Master Plan. As a result, the Master Plan incorporates many of the ideas and suggestions that were offered by citizens over the telephone, through letters and comments at public presentations of the plan, and during the Town Hall workshops.

The Town’s initial draft of this Downtown Revitalization Master Plan was issued on March 6, 2000. Copies of the proposed draft plan were distributed to the Paradise Parks and Recreation District, Paradise Irrigation District, a number of our community organizations such as the Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce and the Gold Nugget Museum, and our downtown property owners and merchants for their review, input and comments. In addition, numerous presentations of the plan were made to various community organizations; and the Town conducted a total of five public Town Hall workshops and meetings.

Overall, the public response to the proposed draft Downtown Revitalization Plan was generally positive. There appears to be a recognition on the part of most citizens, who have contacted us or spoken at the public workshops that Paradise deserves a real downtown, and that the defined downtown area needs to be significantly improved. It is also apparent that many of these same citizens view a downtown revitalization effort as an important, positive step to improving the quality of life in our community.

While this revitalization effort can be seen as a series of “brick and mortar” type improvements that will by themselves bring great improvement to our downtown; a genuinely successful downtown revitalization effort should always reflect what we are about as a community, and the small town values that underscore the history and promise of Paradise.

Therefore, this Master Plan is dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of the small town character and environment of our downtown. The plan seeks to help strengthen small business growth and diversity, rather than encourage large scale commercial/retail development in the downtown. Also, the plan views increased tourism in our community as a desirable result of a successful downtown revitalization program, but not the primary reason why a revitalization effort is being undertaken.

Successful revitalization of our downtown will not occur overnight. It will require a long term commitment on the part of our community, the Town’s political leadership and our downtown businesses, property owners and residents. Neither will downtown revitalization suddenly come to a stop once the projects and programs identified in this master plan are completed. A vital successful downtown is constantly reinventing and redefining itself. Therefore, this Master Plan must be seen as a starting point, a beginning road map that can be amended or modified to meet changing circumstances and conditions as we journey into the future.

The decision of this Town Council to revitalize our downtown is a historic opportunity for our community to work in concert together to achieve something positive that will reap large dividends for Paradise, and the quality of life for its citizens. 

PARADISE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

FISCAL YEAR 2003/04 ANNUAL REPORT

Introduction:

Fiscal Year 2003/04 was the year that the Agency’s commitment and plan to fulfill the Town’s Downtown Revitalization Master Plan, and to physically and economically revitalize a larger, deteriorated area of our community became a reality with the adoption of the Redevelopment Plan, and with the establishment of various programs that further advanced the Redevelopment Plan’s goals and objectives.

The previous year had seen the Town Council’s decision to form a redevelopment agency challenged at the ballot box, but overwhelmingly affirmed by Paradise voters. Following these successful election results, the Agency formed the Redevelopment Steering Committee, and retained the services of a consultant firm (Quad Knopf) to assist the Committee, and Agency, with the development of the Redevelopment Plan.

“A Year of Many Firsts”

Fiscal Year 2003/04 can be easily characterized as a year in which much of the ground work for the Agency’s future activities and plans was accomplished, but a more fitting description was that it was a year of many firsts.

Certainly, the single action during this fiscal year in which much of the ground work for all  that the Agency does and strives to achieve was the completion of the six-month process of formulating the Redevelopment Plan, with this process culminating in both the Agency and Town Council’s adoption of the Redevelopment Plan in early July, 2003. At the same time, the Plan’s Environmental Impact Report was certified as well.

To underscore the Agency’s commitment to pursuing those capital projects that will have a profound, positive impact on our efforts to economically revitalize the Redevelopment Project Area, the Agency, in August 2003, retained the services of 7-H Technical Services to develop a master plan for the establishment of clustered wastewater treatment system(s) in the Downtown.

Realizing that this fiscal year was the Agency’s base year, and that the Agency would not be earning any redevelopment property tax increment revenue until 2004/05, the Agency decided in September, 2003 to pursue necessary funding to finance (and leverage) initial redevelopment programs and projects with the issuance of a Tax Allocation Note (based on very conservative revenue projections). To that end, the Agency retained the services of our Agency’s Public Finance Consultant and Bond Counsel. The $ 1.6 million Tax Allocation Note was issued and sold in December, 2003 and netted  the Agency $ 1.3 million. The Note requires interest only payments for ten years and can be rolled over at any time as a bond issue when the Agency is earning more increment revenue.

Redevelopment Fiscal Year 2003/04 Annual Report

Upon the sale of the Tax Allocation Note, two separate Agency funds were established through the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF) – the Non-Housing Fund and the Housing Fund. Eighty per cent of the Tax Allocation Note proceeds were placed with  LAIF in the Non-Housing Fund and the remaining twenty per cent of the Note’s proceeds were deposited in the Housing Fund.

In October 2003, the Town and Agency had approved a second advance, start-up interest bearing (5%) loan from the Town to the Agency in the amount of $ 156,285 to cover initial administrative (including staff, legal, redevelopment plan & plan consultant & property acquisition, etc.) and program costs. This was in addition to the first start-up advance loan that was approved in January, 2003 between the Town and Agency in the amount of $ 80,533. Shortly after the Note was sold, the Agency used part of the Non-Housing proceeds to pay off both advance loans from the Town, which netted the Town’s General Fund $ 4,026.00 in interest earnings.

During that same month, the Agency purchased an undeveloped, Downtown commercial property located at 796 Birch Street for $ 57,000. The decision to purchase the property was with the intent to sell the property for a commercial/retail development that would complement the future Paradise Community Park, the future Town Hall Community Civic Center, and help revitalize the Downtown economy.

The Agency also provided as leverage/matching funding $50,000 from Non-Housing Funds for the Pearson Road/Black Olive Drive Downtown Signalization & Intersection Improvement Project.

In February, 2004, the Redevelopment Agency on a recommendation of the Redevelopment Steering Committee and staff adopted criteria by which the Agency will be able to objectively evaluate and annually report on its performance and progress once it starts earning its firs year of redevelopment tax increment revenues.

This same month, the Agency approved the extension of the major and minor Commercial Facade Renovation Programs beyond the Downtown to the entire Redevelopment Project Area.

In order to achieve the necessary re-routing of the Memorial Trailway to Black Olive Drive south of Pearson Road as part of the Town’s grant funded Memorial Trailway Improvement Project, the Agency, in March 2004, approved the purchase of the Jeffords Electric commercial property located at 5456 and 5450 Black Olive for $ 150,000. The purchase involves a 15-year note at 8% with monthly payments that comes from a combination of Non-Housing Funds and the rental income from the tenant.

Redevelopment Fiscal Year 2003/04 Annual Report

During April and May, 2004, the Agency, on recommendations of the Redevelopment Steering Committee and staff, the Agency approved two more business assistance programs for the Redevelopment Project Area -  the Business Expansion and Relocation/Recruitment Programs.

During this year, letters went out by the Executive Director to both the Paradise Irrigation District and the Paradise Recreation and Parks District reaffirming the Agency’s commitment to utilize redevelopment funding over the life of the agency for water line/fire flow and existing parks upgrades/improvements in the Redevelopment Project Area.

There was no redevelopment housing program spending or activity during this base year of the redevelopment agency.

Conclusion:

During this fiscal year, the Agency, the Redevelopment Steering Committee and staff made significant progress with establishing the foundation for redevelopment programs and projects that will revitalize the Downtown and greater Redevelopment Project Area.

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