TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft an interim ordinance that caps the number of Entertainment Permits in the Downtown Dining and Entertainment District (known as the "District") at its current level of active permits and prohibits businesses without a fully operating kitchen from applying for a permit for a period of up to one-year from the passage of the ordinance.
Request City Manager to conduct a one-year evaluation with regularly scheduled stakeholder workshops to address topics relating to the District, including but not limited to:
· Evaluation of Conditions of Operations and Tiered Regulations as the best means for ensuring the original tenets of the District formation, as follows:
o Competitive parity between Pine Avenue, the Pike and Shoreline Village
o Support residential development
o Balance between retail and restaurant uses
o Noise impacts
o Automobile gridlock
· Expansion of District borders
· Consideration of distinct districts such as Dining, Entertainment, and Retail
· Survey of cities with entertainment areas and/or permitting processes to identify best practices for management and enforcement.
DISCUSSION
The purpose of the interim ordinance is to pause the permit system, review present conditions and market forces, then consider how the Downtown Dining and Entertainment District should evolve over the next 20 years.
Successful downtowns occur with continual monitoring and adjustments to regulations. For example, the Third Street Promenade is largely successful because of the significant number of modifications made to control the permitted uses. Beginning in the late 80's, regulations were adopted to prohibit movie theaters anywhere in the City except the Promenade. After several years, the Promenade had a concentration of nightclubs and new restrictions were adopted. Following that, restaurants were the predominant use and the City enacted limitations on the number of restaurants. Only after fiftee...
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