SANTA ANA : Downtown Task Force Report Nearly Ready

A mayor’s task force studying ways to revitalize downtown hopes to complete its report next week and present a copy to the City Council by December, officials said Monday.

The Central City Task Force, made up of 20 business people and community members, first met in May to discuss topics ranging from storefront vacancies to a perception of downtown as a high crime area.

Its next meeting, probably the last, will be Nov. 8, said Roger Kooi, downtown development manager.

The central city area, which includes part of the downtown Civic Center area, runs from 17th Street on the north to 1st Street on the south, and from Parton Street on the west to Mortimer Street on the east.

The area is mostly commercial but includes the French Park and French Court neighborhoods. The city’s fledgling Artists Village is also within the district.

Councilman Thomas E. Lutz said that developing the surrounding area would help Orange County’s first publicly funded artists colony.

The report, said Lutz, one of two council members on the task force, “gives us a guideline. We have some sort of map to follow.”

Among the proposals offered in the draft report, officials said, are outreach efforts to businesses that might do well in the area if they relocated; and improved lighting.

Though the report does not project a total amount that the city would have to spend, Kooi said, one proposal to relieve overcrowded parking is a parking structure that could cost at least $4 million.

“We can say we want to do all sorts of nice things, but we have to find a way to pay for them,” Kooi said. Applying for grants and assessing special business fees would be among ways that the city could raise money for improvements, he said.

Kooi said the city spent less than $5,000 for consultants to the task force.