Safety Improvements and Economic Incentive Program
The Dublin City Council met tonight to discuss many important topics. The most notable discussions were related to safety improvements near John Green Elementary School and the creation of an Economic Incentive Program.
Safety Improvements Near John Green Elementary School
The Council unanimously approved the placement of:
- One safety guard at the Oak Bluff Lane and Newfields Lane intersection;
- Signs and street markings to let drivers know that the intersection is near a school area; and
- A no parking zone along Oak Bluff Lane (95 feet on the south side and 50 feet on the north side of street).
The Council also directed City Staff to prepare a study to evaluate the necessity of:
- A second crossing guard at the Oak Bluff Lane and North Dublin Ranch Drive intersection;
- Speed bumps in the Oak Bluff Lane and Newfields Lane vicinity; and
- Additional signage and/or any other related safety enhancements.
The funding for these safety improvements will be covered by the gas tax proceeds in the Dublin Street Maintenance Budget, so it won’t impact the general budget.
Council member Kate Ann Scholz, along with other Council members and residents in attendance, was adamant that the safety improvements and evaluation for further improvements need to happen as soon as possible.
Dublin Economic Incentive Program
Mayor Tim Sbranti requested City Council input on the development of an Economic Incentive Program and underscored the discussion with a comment about the recent economic downturn that caused stores like Mervyn’s, Circuit City, and a few car dealers to pull out of Dublin. Mayor Sbranti also noted the need for Dublin to remain competitive with other cities that have already implemented economic incentive programs to recruit and retain businesses. Some of the suggested or potential features of the program include:
- Development/Building Fee Deferrals
- Priority Permit Process
- Tenant Improvement Loans/Grants
- Low-Interest Loans for Businesses
- Tax Sharing Arrangements
Council member Kasie Hildenbrand also noted that Planning Commission Chair Bill Schaub had an idea on housing that should be considered for Dublin’s Economic Incentive Program. The Council expressed their desire for a phased approach to rolling out features of the plan with “low hanging fruit” like a Priority Permit Process for businesses that wanted to move into the Mervyn’s or Circuit City buildings implemented first (as an example).
The next step in the process is for Dublin City Staff to draft a high-level Economic Incentive Program plan proposal for the Council to review.
On an unrelated note, the Dublin City Council decided to make an appointment for the Council seat vacated by Mayor Sbranti. Please click here to view the application packet for all candidates interested in receiving the appointment.
12:01 PM on December 3rd, 2008
Thanks John for the summary, much appreciate it!! I like the idea of an economic incentive program. Maybe with this Dublin can finally win some battles in the attempt to recruit big corporations to town when competing against the Pleasanton, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Emeryville or any of the well known business towns in the South Bay and Peninsula (Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, San Mateo, Foster City) etc…
5:01 PM on December 3rd, 2008
An economic incentive sounds great to help attract big businesses to Dublin which would increase our tax base.
One concern is in regards to retail, particularly the Circuit City and Mervyn’s building mentioned. By offering an incentive without strings attached could make it cheaper and more feasible for a Thrift Store Operatior to purchase and re-use such buildings without providing any exterior improvement. Thus resulting decades more of dated buildings in downtown.
Any incentive must carry with it the requirement to remodel/upgrade the exterior to meet the downtown Dublin design guidelines. We can’t just give a blank check incentive to bring in any operator/user for these old retail buildings. The savings in incentives they receive must be put back into improving the site and not to line their pockets.
I’m just concern that if we make it much cheaper to locate in older retail buildings in Dublin, particulary downtown that it will attract the wrong discount type businesses and hurt our chances of developing a diverse upscale district that we all envision.
Imagine Dollar Tree taking over Circuit City, Big Lot expanding to the Mervyn’s building, Goodwill expanding to the Good Guys building. It will not be the making of the downtown we all wish for and want for Dublin.
6:42 PM on December 3rd, 2008
IT BUGS ME THAT THE MAYOR’S SEAT IS NOT GIVEN TO THE PERSON WHO TOOK THIRD IN THE RECENT VOTE. THIS VACANT SPOT SHOULD BE GIVEN WITHOUT A DOUGHT TO JOHN.. IM NOT FAVORING HIM. IF HE HAD NOT TAKEN THIRD AND SOMEONE ELSE HAD THEN THEY SHOULD RECEIVE THE SEAT.. WHY GO THROUGH ALL THIS APPLICATION STUFF.. THE PEOPLE VOTED AND THIRD PLACE GETS THE THIRD SEAT.. NO BRAINER… I LOVE DUBLIN
7:46 PM on December 3rd, 2008
I know what you mean Tom, but the powers that be believe opening the process to “everyone” in the City is the fairest way to go. Of course, you just know if Hildenbrand had finished third, Sbranti would have sworn her in yesterday. Given how easily they can disregard the thousands of people who voted for the third place finisher, I have no doubt we will see more condos in Wallis Ranch, Sorrento East, Grafton Plaza, and God knows where else. They can now claim they have the will of the people behind them to increase our housing inventory and help their developer friends. Who knows if this economic incentive program isn’t a way to launder money back to the developers. It’s sad what they have done to my beloved city, but I still believe if enough of us band together and speak with one voice, we will be able to get this city back on track. It may be harder without someone we trust, but it’s not impossible. As long as this blog maintains its integrity and continues to keep us informed, there is still hope.
11:13 AM on December 4th, 2008
I think there should be incentives to fill the new buildings first (grafton station is empty and going slow, I think, because they’re having a hard time filling the stores.. Why else would they allow missing the holiday period (and they are not progressing much in terms of construction). Brand new, empty spaces are a blight to our progress. Plus, i think that the businesses are scared to move into anything now, even though I’m very confident that East Dublin would easily pump money into any of those businesses (We’re hungry for stuff to come open)– I’d love to see a small grocer like TJs or Fresh and Easy come out there to give me a choice to NOT have to go to the crowded (long lines) Safeway on Tassajara… It seems that all of Dublin, from Hacienda to Dublin Ranch, has to shop at that Safeway— Would love to see some more choices- Oh, and a gas station? Everyone in Dublin Ranch area has to go to Pleasanton to get gas (the Shell on Hacienda is too crowded most of the time, and that’s too many lights to go through to get gas)–
After that, I would love to see them give incentives to redo the old buildings we have along Dublin Boulevard and yes, try to bring in stores and businesses that are not low quality or super-discount-style– You don’t see Big Lots and Dollar Tree in nice areas of Los Altos or Los Gatos or similar, and we should try to fill our city similarly— Yes, there are some needs for stores like that, but hopefully not on the premier thoroughfare through town (Dublin Blvd should be the flagship of this city, heck it even carries our city name!)— Move the super-discount stores back away into areas like where Ranch 99 is-
Just my $.02
3:05 PM on December 4th, 2008
I agree with you Tom regarding another application process instead of doing the right thing and appoint whoever the next most vote getter was. Whether it is John or whoever it was it is the only fair way.
This way it eliminates the impression of favoritism when the Council or Mayor has his or her choice exclusively. By picking the 3 runner up it eliminates any doubt as it is the will of the voters.
3:14 PM on December 4th, 2008
Since someone mentioned Wallis, Grafton Plaza and Sorrento East, I thought I’d repost this comment regarding referendums and special elections for project that don’t seem to be in the best interest of residents.
This post refers to an article in the Contra Costa Times for November 3, 2008.
Very interesting if you check out today’s Contra Costa Times, there was an article about the Neiman Marcus project slated for Broadway Plaza.
The project was approved by the City Council and Planning Commission against popular sentiments of residents, issues were parking and density. They were able to do a petitiion drive to gather 4000 verified signatures that would have qualified them to place the project up for a special election. This prompted the developer/landowner to scrap their current unpopular plan and offered to redo it to appease resident concerns.
For a city of about $60K “WC” they needed 4000 signatures, Dublin at 43K would need less signatures. Don’t know the actual formula though as to what is required to qualify a petition.
Maybe if we have enough passion here something similiar could be done to turn back Wallis Ranch (medium and high density), The Promenade (inadequate parking), Schaefer Ranch (12 estates to 140 cluster SFR), Sorrento East (High Density Apartments), The Grove (2nd Phase of more High Density), High Density Housing in General away from Downtown and BART.
I believe this could be disruptive and may cause some developers to shy away in the future if we become too political like say “Berkeley”. But at the same time any future developer coming to town knows that they won’t have a cakewalk regardless if City Hall rolls out the red carpet for them or not. Residents will be a second set of eyes to offset City Hall who sometimes loose focus of who they represent.
Walnut Creek though does have the luxury of having Neiman Marcus walk away and not hurt a bit as compared to Dublin where we can’t afford the Promenade to walk away.
Just a thought!!
December 3, 2008 3:51 PM
10:06 PM on December 4th, 2008
United States has not ever been in this tough economic state. We may not experience the great depression times in the following years. One thing for sure is we will be in tight economic situation for the next couple of years. Economic Incentive is great as long as we don’t compromise our city revenues to business ventures that is sure to fail. We need to be careful where we invest our city money. Investing on incentives for housing is a sure crap shoot investment that is doomed for failure. Fee deferrals and rapid permit processing are drop in the bucket incentives. Low interest business loans are great and risky. I won’t finance business loans for developers. Developers need to invest more in our city as they made a killing during the hey days and now taxpayers are paying for their profits. Real business incentives are in the hands of commercial property owners. City Council needs to convince owners to lower their leases for 2 years in lieu future tax incentives. As Dublin residents, we need to patronize our own retail establishments. Dublin City Council needs to start prioritizing value added programs and start chopping less value programs. City revenues will be much smaller than previous years. Dublin needs to invest in infrastructure that are geared towards attracting more businesses or home buyers to our city. City contracts should be awarded to local businesses only. I do applaud Mayor Sbranti and the city council in looking for alternatives to entice businesses to invest in our city. In this tough times we are in, I doubt if there is any incentive under the sun that can be provided to entrepreneurs to invest. We just need to weather this recession we are in and keep our noses above water. One thing for sure is that deep budget cuts needs to be done now than later.
7:50 AM on December 5th, 2008
Tom, I also agree with your comment. The voters have spoken and the council should appoint John. I believe that deep down, they feel threatened by John. Otherwise, why waste so much time in putting together these interviews and having someone review the applications? This is pure nonsense!!
John deserves to be appointed and should be so. I already sent emails to the Mayor and council. Whether or not they will give a rat’s toosh is beyond me. They are going to do whatever they want and disregard how the people of DUBLIN voted.
10:54 AM on December 5th, 2008
Those are great points, Anonymous on December 4, 2008 9:06 PM. All many Dublin businesses need may simply be more reasonable lease terms that reflect the current market condition. Often property owners are out of state, so they are far removed from the realities of Dublin. I don’t know what Mayor Sbranti or City Staff can do specifically in these contract negotiations, and I am not sure if the City needs to be as heavy-handed in its approach as Mayor Sbranti is suggesting. Why should we spend taxpayer money to bail out businesses that may not be profitable in the first place? Businesses fail because they don’t have good business plans to attract customers in good times and bad. If you had watched the broadcast live, you would have seen just how enthusiastic both Assistant City Manager Foss and City Manager Pattillo were to Mayor Sbranti’s idea. You can almost see how hard Assistant City Manager Foss was trying not to laugh in Mayor Sbranti’s face. City Manager Pattillo has a business background, and she did not sound like someone who was supportive of Mayor Sbranti’s ideas. Staff made it very clear any idea should come from Council, and Council made it very clear they are looking to Staff for guidance. This is a train wreck in the making. Mayor Sbranti does not have an MBA or a PhD in economics. As someone who has not spent a day in the private sector, he really should follow City Manager Pattillo’s lead and keep Dublin in the black. That alone will be a great accomplishment, given the anticipated budget shortfall. Staff has enough to do as is, and they don’t need to waste time chasing Mayor Sbranti’s half-baked ideas for an economic stimulus plan. Leave that to our state and federal officials. Former City Manager Rich Ambrose has shown us for 25 years the tried-and-true formula for Dublin’s success. As long as we spend within our means and market Dublin’s great location, we will survive this economic downturn just like we have survived the many downturns before. Keep It Simple, Sbranti.