At its June 6 meeting, the Coronado City Council unanimously approved the 2017-2018 annual budget, but not before Coronado MainStreet’s Executive Director, Rita Sarich, chided them for not including the Downtown Enhancement Project (DTEP) in this year’s Capital Improvement projects. Coronado initiated 17 years ago to improve the streetscape along Orange Avenue. By 2007 the 900 and 1000 blocks had shade trees, new sidewalks, curb cuts, lightposts, benches, and trash cans. The 100 and 800 blocks are still waiting for their makeover.
DTEP has not been entirely forgotten. It’s still on the Capital Improvements Projects (CIP) list. It’s just that there are always other projects that the city deems more pressing. “Do you need it for safety or for access? The answer is no,” City Engineer Ed Walton said in a phone interview after Tuesday’s meeting.
“I know it’s disruptive, I know it is expensive,” Sarich told the council.
Renovating the 900 and 1000 blocks cost $1.1 million. It would take around $1.3 million to enhance the rest of the business district, Walton said. Cost is not the only issue.
Customers and merchants will be inconvenienced with dust, noise and barriers that limit access to shops. During previous renovations, this led to complaints from the affected businesses, Walton remembers; but, “at the end people were pleased with the results and said it was worth it.”
After waiting 10 years, some merchants on the 800 block are losing patience. Several told Sarich that their street is “so devastated that it makes pedestrians stop and say there’s nothing down there.”
Mayor Richard Bailey, who sits on the CIP subcommittee that selects projects for the coming year, was sympathetic. “We’ll keep an eye on this. We just didn’t think it rose to the level of the other projects,” Bailey said. “I’ve heard that before,” Sarich grumbled as she walked back to her seat.
The arts fared better. After setting aside $120,000 for the Culture Arts Commission (CAC) to develop a strategic plan, they took a closer look at the CAC goals before approving the plan. One in particular, “cultural tourism,” rankled Councilwoman Carrie Downey. “When I voted to support the CAC it was to help existing art institutions…not to bring more tourists in,” she said.
For many of the city’s cultural institutions – Lamb’s Players, Village Theater, Community Theatre– tourists are essential, explained Kelly Purvis, the CAC’s administrator. She pointed out that only 10% of Lamb’s Players’ subscribers are Coronado residents.
These institutions attract “a different kind of tourist,” Purvis said. People who enjoy culture are also who are likely to stop in a local gallery, gift shop or jewelry store, have lunch or dinner at a local restaurant. They are not here to clutter our beaches or litter our sidewalks.
Purvis also stressed that the CAC main mission is to support their 15 art partners. Some have been a part of the community for 50 or 60 years.
While tourism remains a dirty word in some circles, the council agreed that the arts were indeed different. Bailey expressed some unease with the amount of money being spent. “There was a little bit of sticker shock,” he said. The CAC’s fundraising prose impressed him and he “felt comfortable moving forward.”
The CAC raised $120,000, the exact amount of funds they are seeking, at the Mayors’ Dinner during Celebrate Coronado 125.
Other council actions:
Residents of B Avenue and Glorietta Boulevard won’t have to worry about large trucks and buses short-cutting through their neighborhoods. At Downey’s suggestion, the two streets were included in a proposal to prevent right turns off of Fourth Avenue. The original proposal was intended allow wide bulb outs on Fourth Street at A, C and Pomona Avenues. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) said that large vehicles would have to veer into the center lane to make right turns at these intersections.
To circumvent Caltrans’ objections, they proposed banning large vehicles from turning at these intersections. It didn’t take residents of B and Glorietta long to realize that the large vehicles would be detoured onto their streets; and so those streets were added to the restriction. The vote was 5-0.
The council unanimously approved a rate increase for trash collection. Single family rates will increase to $13.51 from $12.34 and multifamily units to $9.02 from $8.95.
