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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPacket 03-20-2012 Add'l Items (3) As I see it, there are basically 3 key issues with the Beachwave proposal. 1. What is the highest and best use of the land? 2. How does the proposed building LOOK and function a. Within the context of the present community? b. Within the City's vision for the future of this area? 3. What messages does it send? What is the highest and best use of the land? We need jobs in this area. How many jobs at what pay rate will be generated by the proposal? I estimate the two retail properties owned by Xtreme Fun, LLC on the corner of 520 and A1A have 14,000 sq ft and —12 employees. The proposed building has about 16,600 sq ft and would likely employ — 12 employees too. I was in the stores on 520 and Al on Saturday, March 17 at about 1:30PM and found a total of 12 customers in their two facilities. That is the middle of spring break on a Saturday and St. Patrick's Day. The perfect retail storm needed to pack the stores. Where were the customers? How many employees at what pay would the other possibilities employ? Walgreens? CVS? A standard retail strip mall? Mixed retail and medical /dental offices? The next opportunity to come by? What sort of revenue will be generated by the proposed building? I would ask the following questions of each applicant to possibly build a business establishment in Cape Canaveral: What is the revenue and profit generated per employee? How and when is this revenue and corresponding sales tax generated? What is the average receipt size in the stores & what number of customers does that suggest? If the applicant in this case has solid answers to the above questions then why have we all seen with too great a frequency the huge "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" and "SELLING OUT" signs plastered across the windows of their buildings and all too seldom seen actual customers in his stores? For reference how does the Assisted Living Facility stack up? Run the numbers and they will show the ALF to be a better employer: more employees /1,000 sq ft at higher average wages across wider skill sets. The builder has partnered with the City Manager to modify the design to ensure the facility fits within the not only ALL CODES of the City, but also within the VISION of the City. That is the model of cooperation the City Council would do well to demand from all proposed projects. There are many other options for the land in question. 3/20/20123:37:01 PM Page 1 Please have the patience and wisdom to vote down the Beachwave "opportunity" as first fruits can leave a bitter aftertaste. Please vote no to the partition before you. How does the proposed building LOOK within the context of the present community? The proposed building with its modifications will look better than some of the properties to the east. However, it will NOT look better than either the property immediately across the street, or the McDonald's or the Post office. It can be argued that the proposal would look better than a large pink elephant with sunglasses, a gorilla and horribly disproportioned cheetah and giraffe, etc. Who designed and built the present property in the corner of A 1 A and Central you ask? Answer: Xtreme Fun, LLC, the very same people that have proposed the Beachwave building. In the last meeting they said they wanted their building the way they designed with no changes. It was designed to attract the maximum attention and bring customers into the store and sell product. Further, that was all they seemed to care about. Well, "How's that workin' for ya ?" The putt-putt golf course further down Al A closed down recently. Not because they were making too much money. More likely because they could not survive economically. So without direct competition, what is Xtreme Fun, LLC doing? Are they expanding the existing business to take the overflow from the shut -down of competition and making money hand over fist as a great business person would do? Nope. They are shutting it down. Why? Likely because their business model has been proven to not work well again. So, if a large pink elephant with sunglasses, a gorilla and horribly disproportioned cheetah and giraffe, etc., (which is admittedly, pretty ugly stuff) cannot attract sufficient retail attention as people drive by to keep Jungle Village in business with no immediate competitor, what makes any reasonable person think that another building designed by the same people with the same objective will have a different result? One definition of insanity is repeating the same action over and over again and expecting a different result. Please vote no on the partition before you. What messages does it send? We can all agree that the land in question is a prime piece of real estate that should be put to its highest and best use. It is highly visible. The property in question is the gateway to Cape Canaveral from the Beachline. It is at the beginning point of the proposed extensive and expensive streetscape improvement project for the immediate area AND it will lead directly into the planned Town Center area. Please consider these points prior to voting on the proposal before you: 3/20/20123:37:01 PM Page 2 1. What is built on the property in question represents a true opportunity for our City and will set the cornerstone for the future redevelopment projects for years to come. a. Should the future be built against a standard of the lowest common denominator that exists TODAY in the immediate area OR b. Should the future be built against a standard of the best that exists now and the best that is planned for the immediate future (the Assisted Living Facility) and in the distant future? 2. Is the proposed project consistent or inconsistent with the visioning plans that you and others have worked on so diligently? 3. Will the proposed design be compatible with the image you want both visitors and potential business investors to have etched into their brains when they get to that light at Central on their way into town and on their way out of town? 4. Do you want to approve a building design when the business practice of the Xtreme Fun, LLC would naturally lead to what they have done with the same business in Cocoa Beach? Here is how it has gone in the past: a. First, the building gets approved and then it is built. b. Next, the windows get painted white to "save energy" and are used for advertising space rather than a light source. Which I understand may be against the sign code. c. Next, extensive product gets hung in the windows. d. Finally they put up the all too familiar "GOING OUT OF BUSINESS" and "SELLING OUT" signs. And THAT becomes their image in the community, and the image of Cape Canaveral, not the building proposal with which you have been presented. I am not a code expert. I have never spoken against another proposed project in my life. I am just a concerned citizen representing myself, the Puerto Del Rio Condominium Association, Inc., its Board and its members who reside in our 172 households. On behalf of all of us, I implore you to please use your authority to approve ONLY a project and building design that will add the most value to the City, is consistent with current and future projects, is consistent with the vision that you and we have for our City and will not be a burden on your code compliance section. Please vote no on the proposal before you and thereby cast your vote for a brighter, stronger and better Cape Canaveral in the future. Thank you. Art Spurrell President Puerto Del Rio Condominium Association, Inc. 8934 Puerto Del Rio Drive Unit 401, Cape Canaveral Florida 32920 321- 591 -0608 3/20/20123:37:01 PM Page 3