The City of Manhattan Beach will spend five days in January discussing the future of its downtown.
A panel of city planning experts from the Urban Land Institute will listen to hundreds of individuals over Jan. 12-13, and then will present its suggestions on Jan. 16.
“The purpose of this engagement process is to ensure the downtown area maintains and enhances its unique, quaint character and encourages business success,” the city said in an email.
The consultant which the city hired to develop a plan for its downtown, PMC, will also participate.
The city engaged the institute and PMC in response to fears over the changing landscape.
The institute, which the city is paying $125,000 for the conference, will conduct private hour-long interviews of 100 to 125 people selected by the city council and staff. The institute suggested a breakdown of about 15 percent public officials, 20 percent downtown business owners, 20 percent downtown property owners, five percent developers, investors and real estate brokers and 40 percent community groups, nonprofits and the general public.
There will also be a less formal opportunity for interested members of the public to share their thoughts with the panelists on Jan. 12 at the Joslyn Center. Those who are interested can RSVP on the city’s website.
The council met on Nov. 6 to discuss who would be interviewed and what questions would be posed. A handful of people attended the meeting to offer their input.Â
Kelly Stroman, the executive director of the Downtown Business Association, said her organization supported the process.Â
However downtown resident Jackie May said she thought that “businesses were way too overrepresented.”
“Businesses come and go so often, I can’t remember what’s down there,” she said. “There’s nobody more important than the people who have to live with this 24/7.”
In response, the council changed the interviewee breakdown to 35 percent community groups, nonprofits and the general public and 5 percent downtown residential owners.
The city’s goals for the project, which it posted on its website, are to “maintain a strong sense of community identity and sense of place for the downtown; enhance the vibrancy and economic vitality of the district through an emphasis on unique and independent retailers and businesses; set the stage for and contribute to business success; reinforce retail, entertainment, dining and active street fronts in the downtown to provide an attractive pedestrian-oriented environment; provide for the best mix of retail, commercial, and service businesses; and boost the attractiveness of the downtown for local residents and visitors alike.”
