Figuring out some possible ways to revive North Battleford's downtown was on the top of the agenda at North Battleford council June 14.
Christopher Doll of Nuguru Consulting was back before council to provide his report on best practices for downtown redevelopment, an important topic for a city council concerned about the current state of the downtown.
Doll had previously discussed a survey conducted on the state of the downtown last fall. The condition of city's core has been an ongoing issue, with vacant and run-down buildings and a concentrated number of pawn shops and second hand stores dominating the area.
Doll offered some potential solutions, drawing on the experiences of other communities that successfully revived their own downtowns.
He told the councillors that the most successful projects have either knowingly or unknowingly followed the Four Point Approach and Eight Principles of the American Main Street Program, a program that has proven successful in the United States as well as in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec.
That program involves organization, promotion of a positive image of the downtown, design and economic restructuring. The eight principles include a comprehensive approach, incremental change, self-help, partnerships, identifying and capitalizing on existing assets, quality, change and implementation.
He also noted some of the success stories from smaller communities in western Canada, pointing to Brandon, Man., Ladysmith, B.C and Moose Jaw as examples.
Brandon had seen its downtown mall evolve into a service centre with niche market retailers, Doll stated, and through programming such as a main street program that was in place, they have driven facade, street and pedestrian friendly improvements.
Ladysmith's historic downtown has been redeveloped through the efforts of the Downtown Business Association and town support to develop its heritage properties. Doll noted it was able to do this even though the community didn't have any access to programming such as the Main Street program or other major funding.
Moose Jaw has been successful in using every revitalization strategy available to redevelop their downtown. It was a Heritage Canada Foundation Main Street Pilot Project and has made the most of both its history and large scale projects, including the casino and downtown spa, to turn the area around.
Doll said Moose Jaw also took advantage of every government program and source of funding available.
"They were one of the original groups for the main street program," said Doll, who also noted Moose Jaw is building its new arena downtown, a contentious issue in itself.
Funding for such downtown revitalization is typically a combination of public and private efforts, he said. There has been talk of lobbying the provincial government to put in place its own Saskatchewan Main Street Program, currently on hold due to budget constraints.
Doll also talked about incentives and disincentives. The disincentives were talked about at length, as Doll noted some of the tough policies in place in some communities to deal with vacant buildings and pawn shops.
He took note Winnipeg cracked down on vacant buildings with an aggressive program that involves increasing fees for vacancy, quick title transfers and increased compliance measures.
Doll also noted some cities have cracked down on non-conforming businesses in the downtown by increasing license fees for pawn shops and second hand stores to encourage relocation. Coquitlam was cited as an example, having increased its license fees for such businesses by $3,500 to $10,000.
In his recommendations Doll urged a Downtown Business Improvement District, once created, adopt the Four Point Approach and Eight Principles of the American Main Street Program, and urged North Battleford to commit long term resources and planning to this initiative. He recommended specialized incentives including tax abatement programs for redevelopment of upper floor spaces and leased spaces, and bylaws to bolster the city's ability to properly deal with vacant buildings. He also recommended changes in regulatory practices to address non-conforming uses of downtown buildings.
Doll also urged development of a main street program in conjunction with the provincial government, possibly as a pilot program. He also urged internal and external marketing to rebrand the City of North Battleford's downtown as "prime retail space."
Councillors expressed encouragement over the report's conclusions.
"I am excited," said Councillor Rhonda Seidel, who read the report prior to the meeting and said the proposals were not hard to adopt. "This is right on."
Councillor Ron Crush said he appreciated the research put into the report and the fact it urged "little steps" in the beginning, with private sector investment.
In addition to the proposals put forward by Doll, the city developing a Downtown Working Group. Director of Business Development Denis Lavertu informed council a number of individuals have agreed to serve on that group.
In addition to Lavertu, the group includes City Planner Tim LaFreniere, Councillor Ron Crush, RCMP Sgt. Rob Lutzko, Sharon Mohagen, Elaine Bendel, Rebecca Rock, Russ Brown, Wayne Warren, Cindy and Glenn Libbey and Morley and Denise Dickson.
Lavertu told reporters the group "gives us feedback that we are (seeking) for the next number of reports that we are going to bring back to council over the next couple of months."
Lavertu informed council he expects the initial meeting would be scheduled over the next couple of weeks, with a series of recommendation reports to be reviewed by the working group and presented to council.
