This week the CC is talking about the city’s goals for next year, a topic already covered here at http://planfortc.com/2010/05/22/city-priorities-for-the-next-year-may-23/. 

So it’s a good time to discuss the Downtown Development Authority.  The CC will soon interview to fill 3 seats on the DDA – that’s an unusual number of openings and could influence the future direction of that board. 

Who cares about the future direction of that board?  Chances are, you do. 

You probably care about what the DDA will do because the DDA has more discretionary funds to spend in the next 5 years than any other city board.  And the options for where to spend these funds include some of the highest profile locations in the city. 

The downtown district includes what you think of as “downtown” TC, but it also includes Old Town, the Warehouse district, and the waterfront.  The downtown district is the only area of the city that captures tax revenues from the property located in it for use within its boundaries.  The DDA captures not only city taxes but also revenue from other taxing jurisdictions, which provides an additional 93 cents for each dollar collected from city revenues.  Downtown property owners also pay an extra millage that funds DDA operations.  As a result the DDA has a current capital budget of $1.6 million.

What could the DDA get done – or help get done – around downtown in the next five years?  Projects under consideration include:

•  Making the first big investment in the bayfront.  http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/images/planning/bayfrontpreliminaryengineering.pdf

•  Turning the alley behind the 200 block of Front St into a pedestrian and cafe space http://www.downtowntc.com/userfiles/file/200efront.pdf

•  Building the River West parking deck http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/boards/dda/packet20100521.pdf, p 62 of the pdf.

•  Building the Pine Street pedestrian bridge from Front St to the Warehouse district.

•  Building a tunnel under Grandview Parkway from Hotel Indigo to the Open Space.

The DDA also runs the Farmers Market, Friday Night Live, and has a hand in most of the other events that happen in downtown TC. 

It’s crucial that these three seats get filled by residents ready to work hard and be creative about the future of these signature areas of Traverse City.  You can get an application at http://www.ci.traverse-city.mi.us/boards/application.pdf.  Hope to see you at the interviews!

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