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Input sought from Cache Creek businesses on Downtown Vision plan

Attracting and retaining employees and businesses are priorities
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Maren Luciani (far right) gets feedback about the Cache Creek Downtown Visioning project at a barbecue in August 2018. The Village is moving ahead with Phase 2 of the project. Photo: Barbara Roden.

The Village of Cache Creek is moving ahead with its Downtown Visioning project, which stems from the Business Expansion and Attraction Strategy, a project that dates back to 2013. It is a long-term vision for the downtown, and is intended to help develop the community and move it forward.

In August last year, Cache Creek residents were encouraged to fill out a survey outlining their thoughts and concerns about their downtown. Maren Luciani, the principal/senior planner for Meraki Community Planning, conducted the research on behalf of the Village, and says they are now ready to start on Phase 2, which will involve a workshop for business stakeholders at Chum’s Restaurant in Cache Creek starting at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26.

READ MORE: Feedback wanted from Cache Creek residents, businesses

“The Village has received $10,000 in funding for Phase 2,” explains Luciani. While Phase 1 involved members of the public as well as businesses, this next phase is seeking dedicated feedback from businesses and supporting agencies, such as Community Futures Sun Country and Gold Country Communities Society.

“We’re looking for ideas from the business community, as much as they’re looking for ideas from us,” says Cache Creek interim CAO Martin Dalsin. “And there will be information about ‘Paint the Town’, which is offered through Home Hardware and offers major discounts on paint for businesses, in exchange for an in-window type of endorsement.”

“We had a good mix [of respondents] in Phase 1,” says Luciani. “We heard a few common things, and heard loud and clear that people identified the Cache Creek downtown as gas station to gas station, along the highway from the Husky to the Petro-Can. Now we want to know if that’s how businesses see it. We want a clear distinction of what the area is.”

She adds that they also heard a lot about people wanting something done with old, vacant, and rundown sites. “The Oasis Plaza was identified as an eyesore, and people wanted to know what can be done about it. Empty lots are another common theme. We want to get people to stay in the town when they’re driving through, see Cache Creek as a destination.”

People have valid concerns, says Cache Creek mayor Santo Talarico. “They’re not easy to overcome. Council needs direction on how to address them. How do we deal with absentee landlords with unsightly land who aren’t contributing to the downtown core? That will be a focus for our council. And there are a lot of potential business people out there who need to take a leap of faith. We’d love to hear back from them.”

Talarico adds that if people take pride in the community there are things that need to be cleaned up. “If we clean it up, make it more attractive, businesses will want to move here, and it will set up a sense of community.”

There was a lot of positive takeaway from last year’s survey, Luciani notes. “People like that it’s a small, close-knit community with lots of long-term businesses and good neighbours.”

A focus of Phase 2 will be identifying how to attract and retain businesses, as well as how to attract employees for the existing businesses. “One of the greatest hurdles is employment and retaining people,” explains Luciani. “A lot of the jobs are for younger people, and young people aren’t coming to the community.

“We also heard that people want beautification, because that will spur economic development. How can we bring in investment to support that initiative, which will lead to beautification and other things?”

All the information gathered will be compiled and analyzed, to see how the Village can search out funds for development. “We can then provide direction in the Official Community Plan, and adopt it as part of the OCP,” says Luciani. There will also be a report that identifies the vision and guiding principals for downtown Cache Creek. “That will help direct the mayor and council regarding future projects in the downtown.

She adds that she likes the idea of a regional Chamber of Commerce. “We’ll have to see what folks say about that. We heard a lot about that last year, and we could pool resources.

“This is a step in a larger initiative,” Luciani says of Phase 2. “It’s a starting point. We want to build some momentum. We encourage all business owners in Cache Creek—not just the ones downtown—to come to the meeting on February 26.”

For more information on the Downtown Visioning Project, go to http://bit.ly/2L5ZOf9.



editorial@accjournal.ca

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