After recently adopting a new master plan, the City of Traverse City is about to embark on a seven-month process to next create a “community-driven strategic action plan” – a document that will identify current and future needs and explore the city’s potential through 2030. The city hasn’t had an updated strategic plan since the 1990s. In other city news, commissioners Monday will receive an update on liquor licenses, revisit a contract for Hannah Park upgrades, approve a 10-year lease extension with Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden, and continue diversifying the city’s fleet by purchasing new police electric motorcycles and hybrid vehicles.

Strategic Action Plan
Consulting firm Future iQ will help lead the process to create Traverse City’s new strategic action plan, with a kickoff planned in October. The process, which will run through May, is intended to be “inclusive, transparent, and forward-looking, with extensive research and community engagement that focuses on the community of Traverse City,” according to a city release. The final document will “guide city programs and investments over the coming years,” as well as identify current and future needs and explore the city’s potential future through 2030, the release states.

Future iQ will use “extensive research, data collection, and community engagement” to create the strategic action plan, prioritizing “collaboration with residents and community collaborators to define its long-term vision,” according to the city. Planned community outreach includes stakeholder interviews and roundtable sessions, focus groups with specific community segments to create the plan’s “strategic pillars,” public surveys, and think tank workshops. 

Those workships, which will “explore emerging macro trends, key drivers shaping the future of the city, and craft a series of plausible future scenarios,” will be held at the Governmental Center October 8 from 9am to noon and October 9 from 5pm to 8pm. A think tank report and situational assessment report will help inform the final plan. The city will also develop a community dashboard and scorecard as part of the process.

"We're thrilled to begin this journey, collaborating with our community to develop clear, actionable strategies for the city’s future,” City Manager Liz Vogel said in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside our residents and city leadership to prioritize the goals that will shape the path ahead."

In other city news...
> After city commissioners said this summer they want to have periodic reviews of the number of liquor licenses in the city as part of the city’s Healthier Drinking Culture initiative, City Clerk Benjamin Marentette will give an update to the board Monday. According to his presentation materials, Traverse City has 120 locations with liquor licenses – though the overall number of licenses/permits is higher, as some locations can stack multiple types of licenses. Five licenses have been transferred into the city from outside jurisdictions in the last two-and-a-half years, with the number of on-premise licenses (where people drink on-site) growing from 75 to 77 between 2022 and this month and off-premise licenses (where people buy alcohol for off-site consumption) growing in the same time period from 181 to 186.

A special type of liquor license called a redevelopment license is available only in certain areas, notably the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) district. Up to 256 of those licenses – which are not subject to the same population-based quotas as other licenses – are technically allowed in the DDA. However, only 17 have been issued to date. Redevelopment licenses can’t be sold/transferred to another location and impose extra restrictions, such as a minimum required $75,000 investment into the property and a seating capacity of least 25 people.

> Commissioners will revisit approving a contract with Walton Contracting for just under $185,000 for improvements to the Hannah Park overlook at the southwest corner of the Union Street bridge. Commissioners previously voted on the contract at their August 19 meeting but failed to get the five votes necessary to approve it. Commissioners Mitch Treadwell and Tim Werner were absent, while Commissioner Jackie Anderson opposed the project since she felt it should be entirely funded by tax increment financing (TIF). The project is being funded by a combination of the DDA’s Old Town TIF ($105,000), the Brown Bridge Trust $12,000, and the capital improvement fund ($68,000).

Since the motion was destined to fail without Anderson’s support, Mayor Amy Shamroe also voted ‘no’ on the contract to trigger a city procedural rule allowing her to bring it back for reconsideration. In addition to new stairs and planned aesthetic improvements, the overlook’s foundation is damaged and unstable and needs to be repaired. City Engineer Anne Pagano cautioned in a memo that the overlook is a “safety concern for our community” and said a fence that had been installed to keep people off the overlook was vandalized and removed. “It has since been replaced but is an example of the potential safety issues that we are concerned about,” she wrote, adding that staff have received several calls and emails from “concerned residents about this overlook.”

> Commissioners will vote Monday to approve a 10-year lease extension with the nonprofit Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden to continue using city-owned property next to the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere Avenue. The agreement would extend through September 2037. “This renewal request is being brought forth three years prior to the agreement’s expiration to better position the garden to seek grants and funds because they can convey to prospective funders that they are where they are for a longer term,” Marentette wrote in a memo. “The city has enjoyed an excellent relationship with the Grand Traverse Area Children’s Garden and has received only inspirational and positive stories from many as a result of their presence.”

> Finally, commissioners Monday will consider authorizing spending $56,844 to purchase two fully electric motorcycles and $198,108 to purchase four new Ford Hybrid Interceptors for the Traverse City Police Department. The purchases are part of the city’s effort to work toward its “goal of carbon neutrality by 2040 one step at a time,” according to City Director of Public Services Frank Dituri. He notes the city is “in the preliminary stages of planning for the installation of charging stations and transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs). By investing in hybrid technology now, we can take advantage of significantly reduced fuel consumption, lower operational costs, and a smaller environmental footprint, while preparing for a future shift towards EVs.”