Stakeholders weigh in with ideas for Taylor’s core
Lower rents, making the central core more open to pedestrians and cyclists and figuring ways to renew locals’ interest in the heart of Taylor are some of the ideas stakeholders recently shared as part of a new Downtown Master Plan development.
Lionheart Places LLC, the company City Council contracted to update the nineyear- old plan, organized the outreach to stakeholders.
Attendees included business operators, property owners and residents.
“I hear so many merchants say the people who are shopping here are from out of town. They are coming here on the weekends,” said downtown business and property owner Doug Moss. “A lot of folks who have lived in Taylor for many decades aren’t necessarily using downtown. If we could figure out what we’re missing that they would come down for, that would really make a difference.”
The council authorized using taxincrement financing funds to update the Downtown Master Plan, and Lionheart Places was awarded the $164,000 contract in March. A TIF allows dedicated taxes paid by property owners in a geographic sector to be plowed back into the area to encourage development.
The company has included a series of advisory board committee meetings, stakeholder dialogues, key decision-maker meetings and council updates in its strategy.
The current downtown plan was created in 2015. Lionheart Places reported that 54 percent of the strategies listed in the original plan are completed or in progress, including the Pierce Park Skatepark built in 2017, Heritage Square built in 2019 and the new City Hall building planned for 2026 completion.
Some projects listed in the old plan were not completed due to needing additional resources or subsequent councils not being on board with the recommendations. Current city leaders have expressed interest in keeping some parts of the old plan that hadn’t yet been fulfilled, including shade trees, canopies and sidewalks.
“I saw a lot of references to bicycles and bike lanes, and I want to make sure we stay at the forefront of that and make sure we have access for all of our citizens to move around town,” said Councilman Gerald Anderson. “As we add amenities all over town, I want to make sure we stay focused on public safety, bike safety, walker safety and making this a bikable, walkable community.”
Those who attended the Aug. 13 session listed benches, trashcans, traffic-calming measures, better lighting and safer intersection crossings as some of the needed changes to make downtown a more desirable place for visitors, but the core of the problems seemed to come down to higher property taxes.
“If building owners don’t in some way, almost artificially, reduce their rental rates they’re just going to have empty buildings, which we have a lot of in downtown Taylor. If they build the buildings up but are barely breaking even, why have that building?” Moss said.
Some businesses that would have made the move to a brickand- mortar shop are choosing to remain as farmers market and pop-up vendors because of high rents, he added.
“Impact fees and permit fees can be very expensive. The permit fees I paid on my first building were $1,200. On my second building it was $3,500. Now, just to do the build-out with one of my tenants, it was close to $7,000.” said Ed Hile, a downtown property owner.
Other concerns included downtown not attracting enough walking traffic for shop owners to afford higher rents, businesses having inconsistent hours, and a lack of variety of venues needed to keep shoppers in the area.
Stakeholders would like to see a return to downtown being a fun place to hang out for people of all ages, with dances, bowling alleys, skating rinks and more arts and cultural events.
“I think the downtown plan needs to take the silver buckshot method as opposed to the silver bullet method and make sure that we cover a lot of different tasks but, in aggregate, help with the challenges you’re experiencing,” said Rebecca Leonard of Lionheart Places.
In the nine years since the original plan was launched, downtown Taylor has undergone substantial changes and currently is facing new challenges and opportunities, officials said.
The update expands the coverage area from just Main Street to 203 acres of surrounding business properties and will provide a road map for future projects and improvements, according to the city.
“When we have all kinds of people coming, folks who are new to the city, folks that are visiting for the day, folks that have been here 40 years, that is when we’re going to have an amazing heart and soul downtown,” Moss said.
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So many merchants say the people who are shopping here are from out of town.”
-Doug Moss, downtown property owner
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Impact fees and permit fees can be very expensive.”
-Ed Hile, downtown property owner
