Spotlight: After five years, Paradise's downtown continues to take form

By RYAN OLSON
Enterprise-Record
October 15, 2005

PARADISE — When Fred Colgrave came to Paradise eight years ago, he didn't think much of the area off the Skyway north of Pearson Road — known then as the Central Business District. "I really didn't see it as a downtown," Colgrave said. "I saw it as a junky place with antique stores."

Colgrave, owner of the Skyway Feed and Pet Supply store, said it seemed like the town government wasn't doing any planning and there was no continuity between businesses.

Now, Colgrave sees the area growing five years after the Town Council created a downtown district.

In April, Colgrave, along with his wife RosaLee, moved their business from Wagstaff Road to a former movie theater on Foster Road downtown. Since the move, the store has seen a 30 percent leap in sales and customers.

"I've got no complaints," he said. "We're moving right along."

The Colgraves and others are taking second looks at the downtown area. Barbara and Marshall Ely are relocating their Back at the Ranch store near Skyway and Foster Road. Several businesses are taking part in a town program to revamp their storefronts.

Unlike Chico's long-established downtown, Paradise has only had small business centers that have shifted over the years. Councilman Sam Dresser said the central business district was identified as a possible center to a redevelopment area.

"Paradise has kind of hopscotched in sort of a circle as far as downtown is concerned," Dresser said.

In September 2000, the town established downtown as the area between the raucous Skyway and the more pedestrian Paradise Memorial Trailway, from Pearson to Elliott roads. The area includes the Skyway's business bustle, but there are also several quiet areas including a 22-trailer motor home park tucked off to the east of Black Olive Drive.

After defining downtown, the town government, residents and businesses are working to turn what was once identified as a blighted and economically depressed area into the heart of the town's redevelopment area.

Councilman Alan White said there have been tremendous improvements downtown, pointing to the new storefronts, increased occupancy and foot traffic. White was mayor when the downtown plan was approved.

"Five or six years ago, the downtown area was completely dead," White said.

He said downtown looks a lot better with a lot of business owners now making the investment to revamp their shops. While the town's commercial facade program can offer up to $10,000 in grants and low-interest loans, the business owners make significant investments of their own.

Town Manager Chuck Rough predicted very dramatic changes over the next 10 years — including more businesses and improved streets and storefronts. The town is planning to construct new community and government centers — the planned Paradise Community Park and civic center. Planning is under way for a clustered wastewater septic system so the downtown can accommodate specialty businesses, restaurants and hotels.

"I'm confident that we're really going to see a turnaround in the downtown and the redevelopment district," Rough said.

In addition to facade improvement programs, the town is revamping sidewalks, adding parking and removing blighted buildings that are eyesores. The town recently made improvements to the trailway along downtown's eastern border.

Impact seen

The fledgling efforts seem to be having an impact. During a March speech, Rough said downtown sales are up and retailers with redone storefronts saw a 20.3 percent jump in sales. "People are already commenting to me about the dramatic turnaround," Rough said.

After five years, there are still plenty of antique and used-item stores, which dominate the downtown landscape along with auto-related businesses — like body shops. While some stores stand out, downtown holds more than 138 businesses, including three martial arts studios. There are 171 dwellings including several homes hidden behind Skyway stores.

Sarita Carey, who lives on Black Olive Drive near Willow Road, said the changes are creating a sense of excitement. She said she was initially disappointed when she first moved to the area seven years ago, but the downtown district is starting to come together.

"I always wanted to live downtown," Carey said. "So it's neat that it's building out towards me."

Dozens of businesses are making storefront improvements since Walt's Sports and Trophy was the first one in 2002.

Ed Salome, executive director of the Paradise Ridge Chamber of Commerce, said he's seen considerable improvements since he moved to the area 10 years ago. He said the town government has been innovative in its redevelopment efforts.

"They've really done wonders to get Paradise back on track," Salome said.

For the Skyway Feed and Pet Supply store, Colgrave said town officials were willing to work with him on the downtown move. The town was accommodating on discretionary items while enforcing building codes.

"I have to say they have bent over backwards from the time we started to where we are now," Colgrave said.

The town's redevelopment agency also offered incentives to relocate because the store could spur economic growth. Colgrave said his store brings in an average of 230 customers each day — to visit the store and other downtown merchants.

"You couldn't buy that kind of advertisement," Colgrave said.

Rough said the town's pleased with the number of businesses participating in the commercial facade renovation program. He said there's a direct correlation between a business's appearance and its success — and the success of the downtown. The eventual goal is to transform downtown into a distinct commercial shopping area, with revamped commercial storefronts, improved streets and landscapes.

"The minute you go downtown, you'll know you're downtown," Rough said.

The evolution of a downtown

The area around the old Southern Pacific Railroad depot was one of the first subdivision areas in the town during the 1920s and 1930s, according to Dresser, who volunteers with the Gold Nugget Museum. He said the railroad played a key role in transporting the timber and agricultural products produced on the ridge during that time.

"This was an agricultural area," Dresser said.

He said the area around the depot was a gathering area with several of the first Johnny Appleseed Days being held near there. He said there was an old gazebo near the site.
When Dresser moved to the area in the 1960s, he said the area now called downtown was a strong business district. He said there were markets, butcher shops and numerous service stations, including King Dollar on the corner of Elliott Road and the Skyway. There's currently one gas station in the downtown — the R & J Valero on Skyway.

Bev Crowder, owner of the Skyway Clippers barber shop on the Skyway, recalled her grandparents shopping downtown when the town's grocery stores and post office were located there. She said there was angled parking along the Skyway, where traffic moved slower.

"I can remember back when we were kids and there was lot of shopping here," Crowder said.

Things began to change as businesses grew and development on the ridge increased. Dresser said the Paradise Pines development in Magalia increased traffic on the Skyway and businesses began to move away.

The Safeway store, originally located north of downtown, jumped over to Clark Road and others followed.

"The downtown has changed position and character several times over the years," Dresser said.

As stores moved away, he said the central business district began to fade.

As the downtown dimmed, so did retail sales. In 1986, the 75 retailers in the central business district were responsible for 16.8 percent of the town's retail sales, according to the 2000 master plan. In 2000, officials found 85 retailers — located within the larger downtown boundaries — contributed 10 percent of the total retail sales.

Before the Town Council approved the revitalization plan, officials noticed downtown's deteriorated status, calling the area blighted and "economically depressed" in the 2000 report.

In addition to sagging retail sales and blight, the 2000 master plan found 13 elements for improvement. Items included underutilized commercial and residential property, poor pedestrian and parking options, inadequate wastewater disposal capacity and no central gathering place.

In September 2000, the Town Council approved the Downtown Revitalization Master Plan for the area known at the time as the Central Business District. The plan was an outgrowth of the town's 1994 General Plan that identified the district for revitalization. An earlier effort in 1986 to create a revitalization district never got off the ground.

In 2002, the town formed the Paradise Redevelopment Agency to fund improvements for a 693.7-acre revitalization area, including downtown. In addition to capturing property tax revenue increases to fund redevelopment, Rough said the town is seeking grants, having received about $1 million so far.

Creating anchors

To turn around the downtown and transform it into the center of the town's redevelopment, the 2000 master plan made 11 recommendations addressing the problems. The master plan was created after the town government held five public forums to gather input, Rough said.

Rough said different people are attracted to an area for different reasons. The town's redevelopment effort is geared to cultivate anchors such as businesses, a park, restaurants and a civic center.

"You've got to create a series of anchors to turn around the downtown," Rough said.

The town will build its $1.5 million park centered on the old depot during the next year.

Rough said the new park will be one of downtown's anchors, with many groups already expressing an interest in holding their events there.

A planned civic center would incorporate the town government as well as a police station and a fire station into a block along Black Olive Drive across from the park. Rough said the building could be a community center, accommodating other public agencies.

Part of the downtown development is geared to help businesses. Rough envisions a wing of the civic center being set aside for retail while a group is interested in creating a downtown retail center to incubate new businesses. The redevelopment agency, along with other groups, provides businesses with planning support and other advice.

Rough and other town officials would like to see more mixed-use buildings — a business on a first floor and residential on upper levels. Rough said the town would also like to encourage more housing development.

While there are various projects downtown, many town officials pin downtown's future development to the construction of a clustered septic system. One or more clustered wastewater septic systems would increase the available land for development and make certain types of business feasible.

"We've always identified that combined septic treatment system as absolutely essential to the revitalization of downtown," Rough said.

White said he didn't see additional development without clustered systems.

Salome said the clustered septic system offers the most potential to downtown.

"It'll be a big step in the right direction," he said.

The development of a new wastewater treatment system is just getting under way. One of the town's current successes is the commercial facade renovation project. Rough said the relative youth of the redevelopment agency and the downtown buildings gives the town and businesses opportunities to reinvent themselves.

"We have a lot of flexibility in how we do that," he said.

While there are some guidelines, the town works with business owners on the storefront renovations. Rough said there's no specific theme, although some businesses are looking to the Old West for inspiration.

While businesses are sprucing up their buildings, Crowder said she would've preferred some sort of theme, perhaps related to community events such as Gold Nugget Days or Johnny Appleseed Days.

"If they had some kind of a theme, it would attract people," Crowder said.

Resident Carey said she enjoyed the individual identity of the separate buildings as long as there are some controls.

"A little individuality is fine," Carey said. "I don't want it to look like a cookie-cutter."

Growing pains

As development continues, some residents and business owners point to problems, including speeding traffic on the Skyway and higher rents.

While new opportunities are luring new blood downtown, the changes are prompting some business owners to pull up stakes.

A short distance away from the Skyway Feed store, Crowder relocated her barber shop to Clark Road on Oct. 8. She said a new landlord wanted to double the monthly rent for the small red building at 6165 Skyway where she's been for nine and a half years.

"In a way, it's kind of sad to move because I've been here for so long," Crowder said.

However, she said the move will be good — she'll still be centrally located near Pearson Road with better parking and easier traffic.

Crowder said there's been a lot of business turnover with new landlords increasing rents. Despite the improvements, she said it's still hard to define downtown and that the planned Skyway Plaza development would have a greater economic impact on the town.

Crowder said she won't miss the speeding Skyway traffic.

"I probably have a lot of gray hair listening to squealing brakes all day long in here," she said.

More than 23,000 vehicles travel on the Skyway north of Elliott Road each day, according to a 2003 traffic count conducted for the Butte County Association of Governments. However, considerably fewer vehicles tread on downtown's interior streets.

Pedestrians currently walking downtown often share the streets with cars. Most of the streets in the downtown district lack the wide sidewalks that stretch the length of the Skyway.

Traffic is a concern for Jayne Keith, who lives on the private Tulip Lane on downtown's eastern side. She said a car struck and hurt her 11-year-old son last week while in a Skyway crosswalk to get to the Terry Ashe Center.

While making downtown more pedestrian-friendly is one of the goals of downtown revitalization, Keith said she would like to see more stop signals for pedestrians and a lower speed limit.

"It's great what we're doing downtown, but it's not going to help if we're killing our pedestrians," Keith said.

Not the commercial heart

While Paradise's downtown is taking shape, White said he doesn't think it will be the commercial center of the town. He said the developments along Clark Road will probably continue to drive the town's economy. White said a strong downtown could be a hub for pedestrian traffic with the park and boutiques. He said downtown could be a draw and keep shoppers in town.

"By improving our downtown, we will reduce leakage to other cities," White said.

Dresser predicted unimaginable developments over the next 20 years.

"This is an opportunity in motion," he said. "If you have the vision and you share the dream and you're still relatively young enough to invest in it, you've got a long way to go."

Colgrave sees the town taking off and growing as more business people see the potential of downtown.

"The incentive is what we the business community makes it to be," he said.

Colgrave said downtown isn't ready yet — it needs more "people-friendly" amenities such as sidewalks, outdoor seating and perhaps an ice cream parlor. He said the area around the park could be a "Mecca" for the town.

"All of that in there has the potential to become the heart of downtown," Colgrave said.

Staff writer Ryan Olson can be reached at 896-7763 or rolson -at- chicoer.com.