19 - BUILDING REDEVELOPMENT - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No. 19 memorandum TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: BUILDING REDEVELOPMENT DATE: August 10, 2016 BACKGROUND: Redevelopment of older buildings, especially those that have been unoccupied for some time can be a challenge, both structurally and financially. Paris has an unusually high number of such buildings per capita, most of which are located in or near downtown, and very many of which contain asbestos. In addition to the real issues relating to such redevelopment projects, there are a lot of myths and misunderstandings out there that tend to frighten potential redevelopers away. For example, we hear that the city requires every building to be heavily sprinklered at a cost that can run over $200,000. That is of course, not true, and in fact only a small minority of structures downtown would require any sprinklering at all. We hear that the city is trying to restrict onsite storage; that too is incorrect. Only warehousing as a primary use is prohibited by current zoning. In response to these types of misunderstandings, we recently prepared the two attached flyers for distribution: "What Do People Say about Downtown Paris ?" and "Things You Can Do in Downtown Paris." In fact, redeveloping older buildings can in many cases be less expensive than building a newer one, and we have tried very hard to make the redevelopment process easier and more reasonable. STATUS OF ISSUE: • The fire code is cited as the number one reason why redeveloping in downtown is so hard and so expensive. The fact is, however, the fire marshal and fire chief will work with anyone to make reasonable accommodations, as long as fire and life safety are adequately addressed. At present the only buildings downtown that would require a sprinkler system are: restaurants of 5000'+ or occupancy of 100+ (only one now requires sprinklering), restaurants in basements, residential spaces in a basement or upper floor and mixed with other uses, and buildings that have a system already installed (very few). Stores, shops, law offices, repair shops, mercantiles, and almost any restaurant that could fit downtown require no sprinklers. • Residences that should be sprinklered do not require large commercial sprinkler systems. Smaller residential systems are much less expensive, averaging less than $1.50 per square foot.