BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – Sam Grello, the Executive Director of the Port Angeles Waterfront District, delivered a witty and mostly positive state-of-the-district address at Wednesday’s Chamber luncheon. He covered a lot of ground in 45 minutes. If you weren’t in attendance, here’s some of what you missed.
Grello said the necessary application has been submitted for the Waterfront District to become a Washington Main Street affiliate. Earning that designation tends to attract investment in local business districts by offering B&O tax breaks, and it also sends a message about our town.
“Another nice thing about having the Main Street designation is the brand affiliation. Main Street is a national program. When businesses are looking for new communities to move to, having a Main Street designation indicates that there is a certain level of dynamism, vibrancy and economic activity.”
Grello spoke about the “third place” concept. There’s the place you live, the place you work, and then there are third places (not bars) where people can hang out. He said such places are growing in strides downtown.
Without getting into detail, Grello said his office has produced a 5 year, 64-item action plan for improvements and growth. He spoke of the burgeoning arts and performances scene happening downtown.
“You know, we’ve got a robust live performing arts scene here in the community. Would you believe we have 600-plus performances a year in the Waterfront District alone? It’s insane. That is insane. Right? We want the public to know that we’ve got more than 600 performances a year. That means, if you come to the Waterfront District on any given night, you’re probably going to run into something happening. Unless it’s a Monday. We shut down on Monday. And stop that, please.”
Grello announced the formation of the Greater Port Angeles Conference Committee, led by the Field Arts and Events Hall, which will work to draw more conferences to our area.
Grello’s talk also touched on one of the more frustrating issues about downtown, what he called Building Vacancy Mitigation, or the challenge of vacant storefronts sitting long-term without improvements.
“But, if you can find a common thread, you know, that common thread tends to be that the owner of the property is comfortable sitting on it. Perhaps believes that Port Angeles is going to blow up in 10 years, and so they just have to sit on their property for a couple of years and then sell it for a massive profit without putting any investments into it. That’s not cool, man. You know, like, go on, like, some of the Facebook groups. Right? Where people like to complain a lot. You know, and they’re like, “Look at the city. The city looks awful.” It’s not the city that looks awful. It’s a property owner that we are allowing to sit on a crappy property. Right? If they can’t afford to fix it up, then what are they doing? Are they going to be able afford it in five to ten years?”
Grello called back to the Main Street program that offers advice to cities on how to create what are called White Paper Ordinances used by some cities to encourage improvements to blighted properties.
Learn more about the Waterfront District’s efforts and events by signing up for their newsletter at portangeleswaterfront.com.