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Demand for local shopping unmet, planners say
(by Sue Reid - April 09, 2009)
Demand for local shopping unmet, planners say
By SUE REID
The economic development portion of Solon's master plan released last week calls on city leaders to be flexible and inventive moving into the future.
It details challenges facing the city's retail, commercial and industrial districts and provides recommendations to help maintain Solon's position as a leader in economic development.
The plan noted that, with some exceptions, the city is not perceived as a shopping or dining destination. There is a demand for those amenities in the city, and Solon has to take active steps to capture this demand, the plan said.
In addition, three of Solon's six core shopping centers are considered "obsolete" and in need of redevelopment to remain viable. The plan recommends continuing a number of incentive programs and strategies in order to assist preferred commercial redevelopment options in the city, as well as considering new incentive programs and strategies according to need.
"The economic development plan is in many ways one of the most critical and important sections of the entire master-plan document," Solon Planning Director Robert S. Frankland said. "An effective economic-development program is essential to the long-term success and viability of the city as a whole," he said.
"The effectiveness of this program will ultimately determine a wide range of important factors such as the quality of public services that the city is able to provide to its residents, the diversity of shopping opportunities that are available within the city, accessibility to desirable employment opportunities, and the overall fiscal health of the community."
The plan said Solon rose to economic development prominence at a time when few communities were actively involved in business attraction efforts. Regional competition was scarce, vacant land was abundant, many businesses had local roots and global forces had little impact on Solon's ability to attract new businesses, the plan said. All those conditions have changed, it said, and yet, Solon is still recognized as a leader in economic development.
"To remain in this enviable position, Solon must continue to pay close attention to the needs of the business community." City leaders must "think globally" while also increasing the attention paid to businesses already located within its borders. "Redevelopment, rather than the development of vacant land, will provide the majority of the opportunities of the future."
In the area of challenges for the industrial district, the plan sites mergers and acquisitions, stating that while they present opportunities for Solon to increase a company's presence, it also conversely poses the threat of losing companies that may consolidate with their locations elsewhere. In addition, the decrease of manufacturing operations was noted along with the increase in office operations. That presents opportunities to restructure the city's industrial base through the redevelopment of existing manufacturing and warehouse buildings to office use.
Peggy Weil-Dorfman, the city's economic development director, said Solon has a strong manufacturing and distribution community, "and I expect that to remain that way well into the future," she said. "But we gradually need to transition some of our other buildings to other uses."
The limited amount of available land in Solon may result in the loss of industrial residents that cannot expand in the city due to lack of space necessary to meet their specific growth needs, she said.
However, the plan said potential exists to increase the amount of vacant land in the industrial district through demolition or rehabilitation of obsolete buildings.
"Demolishing or rehabbing buildings are both viable options," Ms. Weil-Dorfman said. "That's not to say all of our buildings are obsolete, but there are some," she said.
"Some of our older buildings may need improvements as time goes on to make them useful for both existing and future companies," Ms. Weil-Dorfman said.
She said many of her recommendations in this installment of the plan flow from Mr. Frankland's first portion regarding the core retail areas of the city. "They go hand in hand," she said.
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