Still time to get in on some of the Easter egg hunt

bunnyaWILLIAMS – The Easter egg hunt is still going on at the Williams Recreation Center. Most of the eggs, however, have been found. There is still time to get in for barbeque chicken, hotdogs, cole slaw and other treats.

High above the event the Zip Line is running and drawing a crowd.
zipline

There is also a yard sale at the First Baptist Church of Williams on Grant street across from Safeway.

You still have time to partake of some of the activities.

One more step for the Zip Line

20140227 001aWILLIAMS –The Williams City Council chambers were packed as the Soaring Eagles Zip Line ride passed another hurdle to approval. The Council voted unanimously to approve the special use permit to keep the Zip Line ride in its current location with certain conditions.

Logan Checketts gave his presentation complete with a video from their YouTube channel. Before the video he stated that he has had calls from people who say that they are coming to Williams for the Zip Line ride. He also expressed his desire to be a productive business in the community.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

The public participation started with Daniel Robert Watt, co-owner of South Rim Wine Garage, saying with the initial costs of the Zip Line behind, the operating costs would be lower. He said that he understood how difficult it is for new business in the city. He has kept his doors open during the winter to support the community. He also noted that his grandchildren rode the ride and loved it.

Dennis Nelson

Dennis Nelson

Dennis Nelson, who was involved in the construction of the stage, said that he agreed with many that are not opposed to the Zip Line itself, but are opposed to its current location. He said that there are businesses in town who like the look of downtown and understand complying with the rules to maintain the historic look of downtown Williams.

“Having said that, I don’t think there’s anything you can do with the Zip Line to make it consistent with the look of what the historic district should be and I think it’s very important to think about as you make this decision,” Nelson said. “It’s not just about the Zip Line now. It’s what you want downtown Williams to look like five, ten, fifteen, twenty-years from now.”

Checketts has repeatedly mentioned the amount of money put into Route 66 theme with the garage look, classic car and antiques. He has not had to theme any of his other rides.

Nelson also noted that whether the Zip Line is taken down this year or later that the city should ensure that funds are available to make repairs to the parking lot and area of the towers.

Dan La Paglia

Dan La Paglia

Dan La Paglia of Canyon View Realty spoke at length about the problems of the location. He said that he, “…dotted every ‘i’ and crossed every ‘t’ down to the very last in order to comply with what this community, and the fathers of this community state, and the Historical Society, that a historical district should look like.”

He was concerned from the beginning when the Zip Line went up without any consultation. He also said that he did not believe it complies with the intent of the historic district. The noise is a concern to La Paglia because it is difficult for him to consult with clients. He complained about the parking situation. He did say that Checketts has been cooperative about the noise by turning the music down and the parking by asking his employees to park elsewhere. When the Zip Line is in operation, however, he has no parking because of the customers.

His other concern was about liability. He said he is not knowledgable about the weather and what would happen if lightning struck the Zip Line with someone on it, but he had to go and ask them to shut it down during a thunderstorm. He said a lady told him the same thing as he was on his way to the site. La Paglia also noted that the chair was occasionally placed over Grand Canyon Boulevard and it could be a distraction to drivers. He said that if he were to sell his property, he would have to disclose about the noise. He also noted that the council was originally only going going to allow it in its present location for one-year and was surprised to learn of the efforts to keep it.

“I believe these guys are cooperative. I believe the city ought to do it. I do not believe that it should remain where it is,” he said ending his comments.

Sean Casey of Bearizona spoke to the council saying that in the 1980s, this town was dying. “The historic district was no such thing. It was storefronts.” What brought it back, he said, was attractions—somehing to do.

“That saved downtown,” he said. “I think we all agree that downtown would not be historic and pretty without an attraction.”

Casey pointed out that we have less than 1.5 day stays in the Williams hotels. “Where I come from there’s fifty attractions and our average stay is four-days or 4-and-a-half.” He said that the Zip Line needs to be where it is for foot traffic.

As for that section being historic, “I think Holst has a nice building. Pancho’s. The Realtor has at least kept up. But in-between there it looks semi-ghettoish and has for apparently a long time.”

He mentioned the Williams Aquatic Center and Dollar General which does not fit into the historic district.

The Grand Canyon attracts 4 million people compared to 2.5 at Mount Rushmore, he noted. He complained about taxes in the city which are among the highest in the country. There are other problems which make business difficult in Williams, such as water and buy-in fees.

John Holst of the Red Garter Bed and Bakery spoke next and stated that after a year of operation it was apparent that this was not going to be a $270,000 a year income to the city. He said that it is interesting that it has split the community. He said that while it may draw some people into Williams, the majority of the riders of the Zip Line are people who are already here. He disagreed with Sean about the ability of the historic district to draw people to this community.

He also said it was a good thing, but in the wrong location. He said it is an impact on the historic downtown. But he did say that a compromise would be to allow one more year to allow them to recoup some more on their investment with a definite ending date in which they would have to move the attraction to another location.

“When the railroad was looking at getting going again, it was the efforts of the efforts in the downtown area, the restoration of the buildings, the sidewalks coming back…, that really encouraged the railroad, I think, to say, ‘Yea. We’re going to sixty-million dollars to be neighbors to this historic district’,” Holst said.

Speaking next, Thomas Ross of I-40 Fleet Rentals said that three people spoke against the project because of its location. He said, though, that he agrees with Casey that it needs to be in that location to be an attraction for foot traffic. He noted that the Zip Line pays a lot of rent to the city and it does not take water. He said that he read a lot of the minutes from the City Council meetings and they generally approve things approved by the Planning and Zoning commission.

He told Dan that he has a lot of pictures of properties for sale, but no one wants to pass to look because of the “ghetto” between where the hooker is in the window and his property. “Nobody wants to walk past there,” he said. He claims that the traffic goes to the Zip Line and then goes back. He added that his kids like to ride.

“That’s [the Zip Line] always going to be just that one other thing. Maybe someday we’ll have a skating rink. Or a movie theater. Or a bowling alley. Or a nice park with a gazebo … and trees. Maybe someday we’ll have something like that, but right now we don’t.”

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COUNCIL SESSION

Logan Checketts then faced the council for questions.

Council man Frank McNelly asked about the liability insurance. Checketts said that the insurance was a million-dollar per occurrence and a million-dollars aggregate which is standard throughout the Zip Line industry. There were no injuries or incidents during the operation last year. He said he worked with City Manager Brandon Buchanan on the amount.

McNelly also asked, at the recommendation of Planning and Zoning, that there be a surety bond to ensure that if the Zip Line failed that there would be money to make the repairs on the parking lot and tower area.

Logan said that he felt that the $25,000 that he pays the city before he can open the ride would be surety enough to fix the areas. Later in the session, McNelly said that he was not satisfied with the answer and wanted a separate bond to cover expenses. Logan agreed to a separate bond but City Building Inspector Tim Pettit estimated that the cost of potential repairs would be around $2,000.

Councilman Dr. Jim Wurgler asked about the upfront payment to the city of $25,000. Logan explained that with the $25,000 and the 3% sales tax, the Zip Line paid just over $30,000 to the city. He later explained that the goal this year is to reach $100,000 and grow from there.

Councilman Lee Payne clarified that the Zip Line, according to Checketts, wanted a three-year term contract so that he would not have to go through this process every year. If they cannot arrange a longer-term contract, however, he would be satisfied with another year and re-visit the issue later. He eventually asked for the initial $25,000 plus another $25,000 on top of the sales tax revenues. Checketts said that would be possible.

Payne said, “It was not the cities intent to lease that parking lot.” He said that he supports the work that the Historic Commission did to create the historic district and the parking lot is a big part of that effort. He said that from what he was hearing the only way to determine if the ride would be successful is to remain in that location for a longer period of time.

Logan replied that the longer term contract was best for his business, but he would take a one-year term and go forward from there.

Vice Mayor Don Dent pointed out that the original intent was to give one year to get the attraction going and then move it east to BNSF railroad property that was leased by the city. Dent said because Checketts went to BNSF first, that deal fell through. His issue is the ride takes up room vehicles used to turn around.

Councilman Payne made the motion to approve a special use permit for a term not to exceed two years. This would allow him to operate next year without going through the permitting process if the venue is successful this year. The council unanimously approved the special use permit. For the record, Mayor John Moore said his vote would have been yes.

The city must now negotiate a new lease for approval at a future council meeting.

Fate of the Zip Line in the hands of the City Council this Thursday.

ZiplineWILLIAMS — The fate of the Zipline, located in the Central Business District of Williams, moves to the Williams City Council to decide their fate (PDF notice). The Planning and Zoning Committee recommended approved the special use permit for the attraction with an added stipulation. Planning and Zoning recommended a bond in the event that the Zip Line fails.

BACKGROUND

When the Zip Line was initially approved, Logan Checketts took the matter to the City Council bypassing the Historic Committee and P&Z.

In April of 2013, the Williams City Council approved 4-3 to approve the signing of a one-year lease with Soaring Eagles Zip Line at their current location.

In November, John Holst of the Red Garter Bed & Bakery—located across from the attraction—at a Council meeting commented that the owners did not follow appropriate protocol bypassing the Historic Commission and P&Z. Checketts admitted at the meeting that the ride did not meet his expectations because of weather conditions that left the ride dormant much of the season. July and August is when Williams generally gets the most rain and thunderstorms which renders the ride inoperable. Mr. Checketts also stated that he could have done more marketing for the ride. The Council declined to renew the contract by a vote of 4-2.

Logan renewed efforts to retain the event by submitting a special use permit following the procedures.

At the February 11 Historic Committee meeting, the committee voted 5-0 to not allow the Zip Line to continue despite support for the attraction.

PLANNING AND ZONING

The support at the P&Z meeting on February 20th came mostly from business owners with one resident speaking for the project. There was one resident against the project because of the noise and John Holst tried to argue some technical matters.

Owner Logan Checketts spoke first concerning the background of the Zip Line. Last year, he explained, he went directly to the council to get approval. When he went this year to get permission, they council denied that permission recommending he go through the Historic Commission and Planning and Zoning.

As for the code, he claims that 12-17.06 of the City Code allows for the permit. (a) 1 of that code states, “Any use permitted by the existing zones over which historic district zoning is superimposed shall be allowed.”

He went on to say, “From the business perspective of it, and from the neighboring businesses, I’ve personally taken an interest in going out and visiting with many of the next door neighbors” to see how the structure has impacted their businesses after a year. He said that all of them except one were in favor of the ride. He added that if it was a simple majority, the city would probably vote for it, but he was grateful that the code was clear on the subject.

Checketts explained that Soaring Eagles Zip Line pays a percentage of the gross to the city for rental which came to around $30,000 last year. He pointed out that it also provided employment for about fifteen young adults over the summer.

He also pointed out the great expense that they put into giving the Zip Line a route 66 theme. At his other locations they have not themed their Zip Lines according to the area.

P&Z Chairman “Buck” Williams then opened the floor for questions after pointing out that he was in possession of seven letters—six of which were in favor of the attraction.

Williams resident Fred Reese asked if the project was making any profits. Checketts said yes and in response to further questioning said that the agreement is to pay 18% of gross plus a 3% sales tax making it 21% of gross going to the city.

Patty Williams said that it was her understanding that the ride was to come all the way to the ground so that it would be handicap accessible, but there are steps to climb to get to the ride. Logan admitted that it was not handicap accessible.

John Holst, the owner of Red Garter, said that the special use permit was supposed to have a narrative which explains the special use and the time period. He argued that without a time period it is no longer a special use.

City Building Inspector Tim Pettit interrupted to ask where he got this information and Holst replied that he obtained it from the City of Williams web site. Pettit admitted that it was on the web site, but not written in the code. According to Pettit, the code does not specify a time period for a special use permit, so theoretically a special use permit could be good for five-, ten- or even twenty-years if approved.

They went on to argue over whether or not the ride is a permanent or temporary structure. Pettit claims it is temporary.

Resident Jerry Anthony spoke in favor of the Zip Line asking more about the financial end and asking if the company would consider upping the percentage to Williams to as much as 35% of the gross since the initial install costs were already made.

Checketts explained that the total install cost was around $600,000.

Thomas Ross of I-40 Fleet Rentals and Sean Casey of Bearizona spoke in favor of the attraction. Mr. Ross mentioned other attractions such as Cadallac Ranch and the World’s Largest Ball of Twine, but these items are privately owned attractions.

The Zip Line issue will be settled by the Williams City Council this Thursday.