Q: What should the city do to continue recruitment and retention of small businesses to Poulsbo? :
A: We need a concise business development plan to bring and retain small businesses in Poulsbo. A business development plan should be created with input from our existing business owners, the City of Poulsbo (as a major land owner), the Port of Poulsbo, existing business associations and property owners within our community. The development of this plan should be created by using the expertise of economic and land planners in a stakeholders setting. The Goal: create a business development plan that we could use for business recruitment. One of the greatest costs associated with business development is uncertainty. If the City of Poulsbo can create a level of certainty regarding our vision for economic development we stand a greater chance of creating an environment that supports business stability and growth.
For our Downtown Core: We need to recruit an anchor business to locate within our downtown. Some have suggested that this business could be something like a Trader Joe’s. I would think a more appropriate anchor business would be a small boutique hotel (60 rooms) including a restaurant and small conference rooms. Without an anchor business, we will continue to have small business turnover within downtown. Additionally, the business development plan should address re-development of Anderson Parkway to improve parking, address vacant properties for development and to grant better public access to our waterfront park and the Port.
For West Viking: There is a group of citizens that have property interests in West Poulsbo that have come together to create a vision for their neighborhood. We should support this organization and include their work within our business development plan. We also need another anchor business for West Poulsbo. Our anchor used to be automobile sales. Auto sales will probably return, but it is obvious that this business very cyclical. We must diversify our risk with seeking out a secondary core business for west Poulsbo. (See below: 3rd question)
For 10th Ave: We have an anchor business now moving into 10th Ave. Harrison Hospital (Thank you, Ed Stern. Ed was instrumental in bringing Harrison to Poulsbo.) Private property owners are moving forward with planning for the properties along 10th Ave. We should support this activity by streamlining our ordinances and through revision of our zoning codes and the uses associated within our zoning codes.
For Olhava: Support Olympic College as it moves towards expansion of educational opportunities. A new group is forming called the Friends of Olympic College. Work with this new group and with existing education administrators to increase course offerings at the College. Support Olympic College’s association with other 4 year institutions within our State. Kitsap County needs an institution that can grant a bachelors degree in Engineering. This should happen at Olympic College, Poulsbo.
Our business development plan is only as good as how it would be implemented. To implement the plan, we should incentivize business recruitment by developing an internal business development group that would actively market the plan to new key businesses. This group (Poulsbo Economic Development Alliance- PEDA) would actively recruit businesses into our community. Who would be included in this group? Business owners, City Officials, existing business organizations, financiers, and private sector land developers. What kind of incentives? Be more flexible and creative with our parking requirements and building codes without sacrificing the character of our town. Research, develop and implement key financing opportunities through the use of subsidized loans for construction. Lending is critical to business development. These subsidized lending opportunities already exist through State and Federal programs. We need to implement this type of lending locally for our community. Actively promote our economic development plan by approaching key businesses.
The PEDA would create a timeline for activity and written objectives for operation. So often we commission studies and plans and then never implement them. Make the PEDA accountable for business recruitment using the business development plan as its guide.
Q: The comprehensive plan will likely be completed before 2010. But in your opinion, what are the key components for Poulsbo's future? Are you in favor of more density near downtown? Are you in favor of enhancing environmental protections in the Johnson Creek watershed?:
The comprehensive plan is in its final stage. Much of this policy document is very good. There are some missing elements that we will be bring forward as the City Council reviews and adopts the document. The reality of Poulsbo is that we only have one key component or question for our future. How do we manage and control growth? Yes, we want new quality neighborhoods so that our new residents will come to Poulsbo and create a stable population. Yes, we want to bring high wage jobs to our community to lessen the impacts of long commutes. Yes, we must always be concerned about the environmental and social impacts of growth so that we protect the beauty and heritage of Poulsbo. But Poulsbo will grow and we must plan for this certainty.
Underlying the key concept of growth is the spin offs that bring concern. I write extensively about neighborhoods on my website at www.nollroad.com. Implement design review for our larger new developments. Make sure we retain trees and native vegetation during development. Require neighborhoods that connect to one another for public safety. Control storm water with regional solutions and the use of low impact development.
For our existing neighborhoods, listen to the citizens that live in those neighborhoods. In Old Town, retain the character of the neighborhood with creative use of building requirements so that older homes can be preserved. Manage infill development carefully to allow additional houses without disturbing existing neighbors. Our downtown neighborhoods (Poulsbo Place) need to be built densely but only if we insist on common public open spaces. Density should occur, but we don’t want to be Kirkland. We must retain the small town character that makes Poulsbo the town that we all love. Additionally, if we are going to build densely, then we need to insure that we have adequate public transportation to support neighborhoods that are designed to be pedestrian friendly.
I chaired the stakeholder group that help draft our Critical Area Ordinance (CAO). I have been told that our CAO is one of the best ordinances in the State and is being used as a model by other cities as they draft their ordinances. Johnson Creek (like Lemolo and Dog Fish Creek) is a treasure that should be protected for our children. Our CAO provides for a 300 foot green space around the creek (the size of a football field), ways to recreate green spaces as development occurs, identifies wildlife habitats, and insures the protection of critical wetlands. Poulsbo’s CAO is more protective of our environment than the CAO adopted by Kitsap County or any other city in the State other than Bellingham (or this is what I have researched). Johnson Creek is protected. Lemolo Creek is protected. Dog Fish Creek is protected. Our responsibility is to make sure that our Critical Area Ordinance is always enforced. Strong environmental policy is a legal requirement and a moral mandate.
Q: What is your vision for Viking Way south of Finn Hill Road? :
We need to support the current re-development plans currently underway by our private sector. Those that own property on Viking Way should have the ultimate voice in what is developed in their neighborhood using their property. But this development is only as good as the customer base that needs to be created to support business in west Poulsbo. Without residential development and the new residents such development would bring, Viking Way will continue to be just a road with people driving by whatever new business are created. We need to have a larger residential presence off Viking Way to support the retail development in west Poulsbo. Much of this development could be mixed use with residential development on top of new retail businesses. This should be considered carefully as we research and create our business development plan (See answer to question #1)
Q: What is the most pressing issue to building and sustaining a vibrant downtown district? :
Please see the answer to question #1. In addition to the creation of the PEDA, we need mixed use development off Front Street to increase residential and retail uses. Commonly called live-work units, people that own a retail store or provide professional services (attorneys. accountants, architects, engineering firms) would live where they work. Live work or mixed used is often thought of as a retail business creator. I suggest that we need to concentrate on professional services as well as retail space for these new developments.
Q: Poulsbo avoided many of the drastic budget shortfalls other Kitsap governments faced this year, but the recession is unlikely to go away quickly. What should the city do to protect itself financially from future downturns?:
Poulsbo is financially healthy in comparison to the other communities in Kitsap County. We need to keep Poulsbo on the right course with the use of fiscal prudence and very deliberate decision making by our Mayor and City Council. Many communities and agencies are using reserve funds to sustain the economic blow that we all have faced. This is not the correct answer. Yes, use some reserves but we also need to adjust our levels of service in the face of economic hard times. This means cut the budget. Hold on hard to our reserves because we do not know how long these recessionary times will last. Just like any household, when hard times come, you use some of your savings BUT you also trim back on your expenditures. You use a mixture of responses. You carefully decide what you spend for your family and fore go the extras. Poulsbo must operate the same way. Yes, it is a rainy day and we have rainy day funds, but we don’t know how long the storm will last.
For the future, we need to develop better forecasting models to see coming expenses and revenues. Our information coming from our finance department needs to concentrate on different reporting tools to give us the information that we need to make informed decisions. And when we have this information, we need clear, concise financial policies to retain a certain portion for reserves, but not too much. At present we have a reserve account but also fund balances that must be carefully monitored. Government should not be in the business of making money, only using the money they need to provide the services required by our citizens. We must always be a financial steward for the tax payers of Poulsbo. And as that steward we must be conservative, pragmatic and fair with funds provided to us by the citizens of Poulsbo.
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