RDA to loan a total of $40,000 to company for work on two
properties
Two K
&
amp;S Market buildings on Tres Pinos Road will receive a total
of $40,000 in Hollister Redevelopment Agency funds for facade
improvements after council members Monday approved the action in a
3-2 vote.
RDA to loan a total of $40,000 to company for work on two properties
Two K&S Market buildings on Tres Pinos Road will receive a total of $40,000 in Hollister Redevelopment Agency funds for facade improvements after council members Monday approved the action in a 3-2 vote.
With the two $20,000 loans – forgiven in five years if the owner doesn’t leave either location – K&S is set to do such work as painting and replacement of signs and doors.
The company had requested the loans, requiring a one-third match, through the RDA’s facade improvement program.
That program aims to reduce blight in the RDA district, made up mostly of the downtown area but also by outlying parcels such as the two K&S properties. There have been nearly 20 building owners who have taken advantage of the program, RDA officials say.
Council members Victor Gomez, Eugenia Sanchez and Pauline Valdivia voted to approve the two items. Council members Doug Emerson and Ray Friend voted against them.
Prior to the meeting, Gomez had expressed doubt about the proposals, particularly work to the old Fortino’s building at 351 Tres Pinos Road, built in 1992.
He had said he did “not understand” the need there and called the other proposal at the former Pinnacle building, built in 1988, “debatable.”
In ultimately voting to OK both proposals, Gomez noted how he and other council members’ biggest problem on the matter was their discontent with the current facade program guidelines, such as a provision denoting paint work as a “significant change” and the rule that forgives the loans in five years.
“For us to turn them away because now we want to see changes in the guidelines, I personally believe it’s wrong,” Gomez said.
Gomez and other council members indicated an intention to revisit the facade program in the near future to potentially change its guidelines.
K&S owner John Klauer spoke during the meeting and stressed how paint work – which had garnered some criticism as inappropriate for facade funds – is explicitly designated on the RDA guidelines as a “significant change.”
He also emphasized that the properties’ success in attracting high-quality tenants would result in sales tax revenue for the city.
“Nobody else is coming to use the funds,” Klauer said. “We are simply asking for your consideration … and to not discriminate.”
Emerson contended before the vote that if the city approves the K&S proposals – which he portrayed as primarily being paint work – then council members would have to “approve every paint project that comes to us in the project area.”
“I’m not ready to spend taxpayer money on just routine painting,” Emerson said.
Emerson, however, acknowledged how his personal contention goes against the city’s guidelines.
“I believe these buildings are not blighted,” he said. “Legally, I’m probably not in the right bounds for that.”
City Manager Clint Quilter had pointed out to council members that by definition, the entire RDA district is considered “blight” by the state – it’s a necessary designation to create such an area.
Development Services Director William Avera, who oversees the RDA, also said the city does not intend for every business to use the program.
“The idea is to provide an incentive to a property owner or two to try to encourage other property owners to make a private investment,” Avera told the council.
Friend was the second dissenting vote. In explaining his stance, he said he prefers that the facade improvement funds be spent on downtown buildings.
“RDA funds, in my mind, are for downtown improvements,” he said.
In other action
Council members Monday also approved a policy banning “disruptive behavior” in city-owned facilities.
The idea came about after several incidents occurred in the past six months, City Attorney Stephanie Atigh told council members.
The approval does not add any new rules to the books, because it already is illegal for employers to allow harassment of their employees.
What the change does, Atigh noted, is to precisely define “disruptive behavior.”
The ordinance notes that harassment can take many forms, including verbal, but it does not describe it further.
Atigh pointed out that there will be a warning. If residents refuse to stop their actions, they can be asked to leave.
And if they don’t leave at that point, the city can call police to assist.
