Visionary Alignment: Question 2

[Shawn Juris]

oops, retraction.

Commercial rate in Lakewood is not 1.8%, it's 3.6%.

Back to the drawing board

[DougHuntingdon]

Joan R

Could you please explain what you mean about Lakewood being a city and not a condo association? I do remember you making that comment before. Do you think Lakewood has too many condos, the wrong kind of condos, or ??? Are condo owners or condo renters bringing the city down?

Doug

[Jeff Endress]

DL....in discussing Chatauqua

Why not here?

Well, I agree with all of you're analysis. But the answer I think, is that zoning prohibits the B&B type of lodging which would be required (probably under "transient hounsing", or perhaps "rooming houses") and rather than looking at ways of brining in tourism, money, visitors, money, and patrons with money, we discuss turning doubles into singles with loft offices....

With the exception of one fairly low grade motel, there isn't a place a visitor can actually stay in Lakewood, even assuming we have the draw which would make it a destination. So, instead of staying at a quaint B&B in a historic Victorian on Grace, and having dinner at Sullivans, they stay at the Airport Marriot and spend their money there.

Jeff

[Tom Bullock]

What's the pro/con of the B&B zoning debate? Any downside? Has anyone proposed the idea?

My guess is if the idea makes sense, Council & the Administrative would lend a friendly ear.

[dl meckes]

Someone (who is not I) could probably look up on Council dockets what recent changes were made to Bed & Breakfast zoning. Council has been there & done that.

*Chapter 1161 in the new Zoning Code. All I could find on the library's site was the old code. The new code has 18 paragraphs.

The rules have been relaxed from where they were in the past, as far as I know.

Even if B&Bs aren't plentiful in Lakewood, there are still places to stay nearby.

And if the marketing is thorough enough, people will come.

Didn't a lot of people come from near & far to see Harry & the Potters?

[dl meckes]

Joan R

Could you please explain what you mean about Lakewood being a city and not a condo association? I do remember you making that comment before. Do you think Lakewood has too many condos, the wrong kind of condos, or ??? Are condo owners or condo renters bringing the city down?

Doug

I'm not Joan, but I read that to mean that a condo association requires that all residents pay a fee to cover the expenses of running a building, making improvements, making repairs, etc.

There is no outside money to help pay the building (and grounds) expenses.

The residents are responsible for the whole magilla.

Therefore, Lakewood is not and should not be a condo association.

[Lynn Farris]

DL, while I'm admittedly biased, I can't help but think that what you are describing fits the Lakewood Park Project to a T. The amphitheatre that holds concerts and plays overlooking the pennisula with a beach and marina. A science center that could be changed for differing needs. This does generate lots of money in tax dollars for the city.

I thought we did do something a few years back with B&Bs by the way. Sandy Maline, a realtor was working on it as she had a huge house for sale on Lake that was perfect for it.

Okay, I looked it up:

In the Zoning code:
1161.03(c) Bed and Breakfast. In any commercial district, a bed and breakfast facility may be permitted as a conditional use provided that:

(1) the building in which the facility is located is a single-family dwelling which serves as the principal residence of the applicant;

(2) no more than three (3) rooms are made available as guest bedrooms;

(3) guests shall be limited to three (3) consecutive nights;

(4) guests shall not have access to kitchen facilities for the purpose of preparing meals;

(5) lot and frontage regulations as set forth in Schedule 1129.05;

(6) rear and side yard regulations as set forth in Schedule 1129.06;

(7) signs as permitted and regulated by Chapter 1329 of the Building Code;

(8) there shall be at least one (1) parking space for each guest room;

(9) parking for all vehicles, including vehicles owned by the applicant shall be in the garage or rear yard on an approved surface improved with concrete or asphalt;

(10) the building in which the facility is proposed to be located may be subject to review by the Lakewood Heritage Advisory Board for historical value;

(11) the facility shall, within three (3) months of commencing operation, be listed with the Ohio Bed and Breakfast Association or similar recognized listing agency;

(12) the building complies with all state and local laws, including but not limited to City Fire, Health, and Housing Codes and the Ohio Basic Building Code regulations for R-1 Use Group Structures;

(13) a Conditional Use Permit issued pursuant to this subsection 1161.03(c) shall expire thirty-six (36) months after the date of issuance.

Notwithstanding anything in this Chapter or this Section to the contrary, where the Commissioner determines, after compliance with the requirements of Section 1173.02, that a permit holder seeking renewal of a permit issued pursuant to this Section remains in compliance with the conditions of said permit, the Commissioner may issue such renewal.

[dl meckes]

Lynn-

There is a newer, revised edition to the code.

[Joan Roberts]

Joan R

Could you please explain what you mean about Lakewood being a city and not a condo association? I do remember you making that comment before. Do you think Lakewood has too many condos, the wrong kind of condos, or ??? Are condo owners or condo renters bringing the city down?

Doug

Sure. In a condo association, the residents, whether they're 10 or 5,000, bear ALL the expenses of running the place themselves. 100 owners, a million in expenses, $10,000 in dues. Done.

(DL, you beat me to my own punch. You had it exactly right)

The point I believe Mr. Juris is making, with which I totally agree, is that at some point, a community gets help from companies, goods and services sold, clients paying, employees working. In other words, a two-way cash flow, rather than the single outgoing stream we have now.

Nothing at all against condo owners, developers, renters, whoever. Bring them on.

And to Jim & Lynn:

Why is it whenever anyone suggests "business", you two think "shopping mall"?

There are about 500,000 business categories that have employees, and only a few of them involve cash regsiters

I believe both Mr Juris and I have gone to great lengths to point out that retail is NOT the be-all and end-all of commercial development.

Somewhere there's a middle ground between Marysville (wholly subsidized by Honda) and what we have now in Lakewood (wholly subsidized by working stiffs)

Please stop re-fighting the West End battle.

[Lynn Farris]

Joan,

I respectfully disagree with you. I don't think of business as retail. That is what I keep hearing, maybe not from you and Shawn but from many people. I just suggested being an incubator for energy based firms and other companies. Our building has 2 mortgage companies, 2 accounting firms, 1 insurance company, 1 law company, 1 dental company with a few dentists, 1 graphic arts brand marketing company, 1 hardware and networking firm (us), 1 software developer and a beauty parlor. Only 1 of those is retail.

I am all for business. I was just pointing out that we need to focus on living wage jobs. That is the only type of business that puts real dollars into our economy. Playing the devils advocate, if we add a bar which pays minimum wage to the waitresses - the main employees and requires us to increase our police force, do we win? I'm not against bars - just looking at which businesses bring the most dollars to the city with the least expenses.

But back to your condo concept. I understand where you are coming from, but if we add more condo owners to our association without increasing the cost to the association, we lower the overall cost of ownership. Therefore, the more people that live in the city, the less it costs us all.

So, why not work on all fronts?

[Chris Trapp]

Lynn,
Congratulations on the impressive list of companies in your building. I agree with you that these are excellent examples of what is needed in Lakewood. I too believe that sustainability is an area of great opportunity for Lakewood to take a lead - perhaps merely by embracing the concept as a community (residents, businesses and municipal departments) and using it guide our actions, or perhaps, going further and becoming an area known for its array of sustainable companies - distributers, manufacturers, developers, service companies, architects, engineers, food, etc.
http://www.e4s.org

Shawn & Joan,
I agree wholeheartedly with your views on the need for something other than residents to pay the bills.

We've got to create something, whether its products or services that will generate wealth for the community. That is a problem that the region has now - we don't create much value. We used to: first farming, then industrial production. Isn't that how a city, region, country grows - by creating value? It doesn't have to be a quick solution - one big development or company moving in. Lakewood should be a place where companies can start and grow. Rent is cheap, the location is convenient, amenities exist, and the population is dense. Bring on the IT companies, consulting companies, artists, service companies, contractors, maybe graphic designers, attorneys, architects, etc, etc. Retail is great and necessary for vibrancy in a city, but these are the companies that can create jobs. We have some, how can we encourage others to come here or start here?

A major challenge I see is that outside of retail and office space, the available property is limited. If someone wants to start a small manufacturing company or have a yard for their trucks and supplies, they have to look to Cleveland or Lorain County. With our access to the freeway, I would think that more industrial land would be well received.

[Kenneth Warren]

Mr. Juris:

I’d be interested to hear what you think about this idea, perhaps the most complex and controversial one in the Visionary Alignment. It does join a number of your tax concerns with quality of life public servant compensation and residency, concepts batted around the LO Deck for some time.

The radical idea is one Thomas Greco (http://www.reinventingmoney.com) has outlined - a complementary Currency in the form of Municipal Tax Credits.

As the competitive dollars generated by productive industry go away, often to places with more real property and green fields to offer up to the corporations, a complementary Currency in the form of Municipal Tax Credits is one radical tool for Lakewood to consider, one through which Lakewood could out Berkeley Berkeley. (If you feel like Bill O' Reilley, then I can role play a variation of Hugo Chavez coming on strong to the International Monetary Fund).

Pay a portion of public employee salaries in the form of Complementary Currency Municipal Tax Credits. This will also create an incentive for the public employee to live in town because the Municipal Tax Credit currency can be used to pay property tax.

Say each public employee receives $3000 in this form of compensation, roughly what someone is paying on a $120 K house. The amount of complementary Currency in the form off Municipal Tax Credits issued for public employee compensation might well create the reduced competitive dollar property tax you are hoping to generate.

There might even be a secondary market/exchange set up wherein an employee living outside the city and therefore unable exchange his credits to pay the property tax will sell his at a discount. A dealer in these credits might sell them at a discount to someone living on the Lake, who is paying maybe $15 K in taxes.

Of course, Moody’s and Standard and Poors might well try to handcuff such action with a poor credit rating for the city. When I ran a similar idea for Cleveland and its water system by Ned Hill two years ago, he told me the idea was too left-wing, too communitarian and that it sends the wrong signal to the global economy.

I’ll float it here, nevertheless, just to see what you think.

Here’s some material from Greco’s presentation:

" Municipal Government as Sole Issuer

Tax anticipation warrants or municipal bonds can be made to circulate as currency, interest-free, within a community.

Municipal Finance Usually Involves Some Amount of Borrowed Money
That may take the form of:
• Bank Loans
• Notes Payable
• Municipal Bonds

All of which require the payment of Interest

Part of That Debt Can Be Replaced With Tax Credits That the Municipality Spends Into Circulation
Tax credits

• Can be issued interest-free at low cost to finance municipal government operations.
• Can supplement scarce official money to
• Promote buy-local, and
• Enable greater amounts of local business
leading to greater amounts of tax revenue.

How Are Tax Credits Spent?
Municipal Government as Issuer of Tax Credits Uses Them to Pay for

Purchases Made Locally.
• Wages to employees
• Payments to service providers
• Payments for supplies and equipment

How Are Tax Credits Redeemed?
Municipal Government as Issuer of Tax Credits Must Accept Them Back at Par in Payment of Taxes and Fees.
• Local property taxes
• License and permit fees
• Business licenses, building permits, inspection fees, dog licenses, etc.
• Services or utilities
• Water, sewer, refuse, transit fares, fines, etc.

Won’t Accepting Tax Credit Currency Adversely Affect Municipal Cash Revenues?

No. The effect on cash revenues will be, at least, neutral because
for every unit of tax credit currency accepted in payment, a dollar expenditure has been avoided.

In fact, cash revenues will likely increase because the currency will stimulate more cash business in the community leading to higher sales tax revenues.

Official Money Spent Quickly Flows Out of the Local Community

$
Tax Credits Re-circulate Within the Local Community
An Example

Suppose $100,000 worth of tax credits are spent into circulation by the city.
That means that the city’s cash expenditures have been reduced by $100,000.
At the redemption end of the circuit, there will be $100,000 less in cash revenues.

Those two items offset one another.

An Example - 2

But those tax credits will circulate as currency enabling local businesses to make additional sales. If the turnover is 10 times a year, that means $1 million in additional sales.

If the municipal sales tax rate is 3%, the city will collect additional cash from sales tax of $30,000 during the year.

An Example - 3

Further, the issuance of tax credits will have enabled some interest-bearing debt to be retired.

If the interest rate on municipal debt is 4%, the city will save cash interest costs of $40,000 each year.

There will be a net improvement in cash position of $70,000, just from these two effects.

Every dollar’s worth of tax credit currency issued means one less dollar that needs to be borrowed, and one less dollar that needs to be spent.

Typical Balance Sheet

Possible Balance Sheet

In What Form Do Tax Credits Circulate?
Tax Credits Can Have Various Manifestations
Paper notes or tokens
• Circulate hand-to-hand
Account balances can be transferred via:
• Checks
• Swipe cards -- Debit cards
• Smart cards or electronic wallets
• Online transfers

How Much Tax Credit Currency Can Be Issued?

That depends upon

• The opportunities that exist for spending credits into circulation (how can they be spent?), and

• The opportunities that exist for receiving credits for redemption (how can they be collected?).


Why Hasn’t It Been Done Before?
It has been, in one form or another.
• Worgl
• Schwanenkirken
• Argentina – provincial “bondsâ€Â

[Jeff Endress]

I could be wrong, but on the idea of operating a B&B in Lakewood, the ordinance provided by Lynn would, by definition, make it a virtual impossibilty:

1161.03(c) Bed and Breakfast. In any commercial district, a bed and breakfast facility may be permitted as a conditional use provided that:

(1) the building in which the facility is located is a single-family dwelling which serves as the principal residence of the applicant

How many, if any, "single family dwellings" even exist in our "commercial districts" ?

Jeff

[dl meckes]

Jeff-

There have been significant changes to the B&B zoning and includes multiple-family residential districts. The home must be a single family dwelling which serves as the principle of the applicant and is recognized as architecturally, historically or culturally significant. For starters.

There are 17 following guidelines.

[Lynn Farris]

So DL, is the ordinances and the zoning code on the City of Lakewood official web site not up to date?