16
Aug
2005
The big attraction in LeClaire this past weekend was Tug Fest, but city leaders hope visitors paid attention to 6,000 square feet on the levee. It's nothing special - it looks like paving stones embedded in gravel - but it's a symbol of what's happening in this small town situated on the Iowa side of the Mississippi River.
This permeable pavement, which was paid for by River Action and retains rainfall, keeping it from running off into the sewers, was put in about a week ago. In addition, the City of LeClaire is spending $800,000 on improvements along the levee, paving what is now a dirt road and adding curbs and sidewalks. The city also recently bought a vacant gas station, which it will demolish in the next few weeks and prepare for development. Then there's a new city hall, a new public-works facility, the new library (which opened in 2004), a new fire station (2002), and a new police station (2002).
On the wish list is historic lighting, the creation of a more pedestrian-friendly downtown, a larger, more connected business district, new parking, and architectural standards so new construction in the historic downtown complements older structures. A bandshell on the levee is also a possibility.
In the private sector, there are a handful of new businesses in the shopping district, loads of high-end residential development, an active shopkeepers' association, three new buildings being built downtown, and a chamber of commerce whose membership has grown nearly 56 percent in the past two years. Outside of downtown, near Interstate 80, are a new McDonald's and an under-construction Holiday Inn Express.
And then there are the private-public partnerships. Downtown retailers are charged with submitting a growth plan for the central city to the city council by November 11. The city uses hotel/motel tax revenues to match shopkeeper marketing outlays. And city government is also matching funds raised by the Buffalo Bill museum to build a shelter for the Lone Star, which was built in 1868. The boat, according to a 1989 landmark study, is "the only remaining example of a wooden-hull boat built in the traditional Western Rivers fashion."
Not bad for a town of roughly 3,000 people with an annual budget of $7 million, and it's paying dividends. In 2004 alone, the city's population grew 13 percent.
"The last three years have been tremendous," said Rodney Collier, a city-council member and business owner. "The next five years are going to be an explosion."
Collier's optimism appears nearly universal in LeClaire. "If I had five more spaces, I could rent them," said Mike Wolfe, another city-council member and a LeClaire property owner. He estimated that the small city has seen between eight and 10 new businesses open their doors in the past two years.
Collier, who's 39 years old, and Wolfe, who's 40, are part of a youth movement in LeClaire - younger people, often not lifelong residents, who've shaken up this historic town and helped turn it into a thriving destination for both shopping and housing.
Over the past several years, LeClaire has seen "tremendous growth on all fronts" - business, residential, and government, said Rick Reed, who runs an advertising-design business there. When asked what was responsible for all the progress, Reed's response was simple: "people pulling together."
Reed is 47 years old and the president of the LeClaire Chamber of Commerce. His grandfather was a friend of LeClaire's own Buffalo Bill, but he himself has only lived in LeClaire for nine years. "There is a wave of community leaders coming into town," Reed said. That includes people such as Collier, Wolfe, and Mary Farmer - who are in their first terms on the city council - Reed, and Mike Hall, who moved to LeClaire from Chicago three years ago and opened Dwellings.
Collier's family was looking to start a business in 1997. At the time, they lived in Bettendorf. They looked at Cumberland Square, but when they drove through LeClaire, "we said, 'This is it,'" Collier said. "It had a bright future ... and I wanted to be a part of that."
The Colliers' shop, Grasshoppers, moved across the street in 2001, into a massive hilltop house built in 1870. In 2003, the family turned the dirt-floor cellar into Vintage Vine.
Wolfe owned a bike shop in the Village of East Davenport for a decade. He's lived in LeClaire for nine years, and closed his Davenport store in 2002.
Wolfe walks around downtown LeClaire followed by his eight-year-old dog Patches, and talks to virtually everybody. He said he's considered an outsider because he wasn't born in the city, but you'd never know it watching him operate; he's energetic and friendly, and he not only knows everybody's name, but everybody knows his dog's name.
Kathy Arterburn, who runs Kat's Flower Cart, said one element that's particularly encouraging about LeClaire is the diversity of the growth. "It's not just antiques any more," she said.
John Vize has operated a tour boat on the Mississippi in LeClaire for the past two years. He used to work the Rock River, but "the Rock River was the stepchild" compared to LeClaire, and business has been great so far this year. He guessed he's served five times as many people this year compared to last. "I'm even looking at a bigger boat," he said.
The Challenges of Growth
Most LeClaire leaders note that the city's growth has taken place in just a few years, but obviously it stretches back a decade or more. Many point to the opening of the Faithful Pilot 14 years ago. That restaurant's proprietors, Steve and Nancy Rosetti, first saw the potential for LeClaire as an upscale destination. "They're the first ones who took the chance," Wolfe said.
LeClaire is ideally situated for the type of community it's become. It's on the Mississippi River and right next to Interstate 80, and Highway 67 runs through downtown. When asked why he chose LeClaire for his boat business, Vize gave a familiar refrain: "Location, location, location."
Collier said there have always been people making investments in individual properties, but the efforts were never coordinated. "Individually we're only taking this town so far," he said. "There wasn't any progress being made in LeClaire 10 years ago."
"Old LeClaire would have stagnated," said Jo Ann McNurlen, proprietor of Trudy's Treasures. McNurlen was raised in the area and returned after 30 years away.
It's clear that there's still some tension between "old" LeClaire and "new." Pelo's coffee shop is a general store dating to the middle of the last century that has a display of nylons up-front and caters to the senior-citizen crowd. That's a stark contrast to businesses such as the Faithful Pilot and Dwellings, which sells contemporary home accessories.
Yet LeClaire has done a good job separating business that fits in well with the downtown's historic character and those that don't. Hotels and fast food are largely relegated to the "hill" area right off I-80, while specialty retail and service businesses make up the downtown business district. "It's two separate things that feed off each other," Collier said.
Still, LeClaire's growth poses a lot of challenges: how to integrate new construction with the historic district, how to foster growth without giving away taxpayer money, how to make the city's housing more affordable, how to say "no" to developers if they ask for too much or their vision doesn't match the city's, how to keep all that disposable income from people living in half-million-dollar homes from leaving LeClaire and going to stores in Davenport and Bettendorf. "I'm glad we have them," Collier said of those issues, "but they're tough."
LeClaire, for instance, has made extensive and aggressive use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), including for greenfield housing development. If Davenport used TIF as much as LeClaire, critics (including this paper) would howl in protest.
"It was something to get the ball rolling," Wolfe said, adding that he doesn't think LeClaire will use TIF as frequently in the future.
The city council last used TIF with the Cody Hunt development, a project that was approved earlier this month. Cody Hunt will include 155 homes, ranging from $185,000 to $255,000.
Collier said the project deserved assistance because, relatively speaking, the homes and lots are inexpensive. "The major selling point for me was the price," Wolfe said. It speaks to the growth of LeClaire that anything under $200,000 is considered affordable enough to merit a taxpayer subsidy.
While Wolfe sounded hesitant to use much TIF in the future, Collier is a major proponent. "I love seeing the growth," he said. "There's no reason to lock ourselves out [of using TIF for certain types of projects] when the state isn't locking us out." Still, he said, developers need to show the council that the project deserves city assistance. "I've always wanted to know the reasons why," Collier said.
The chamber's Reed thinks TIF has been instrumental in the city's progress. "We probably in due time would have gotten there" without using TIF, he said. But without that tool, "it wouldn't be possible to see the growth as fast as we have."
Collier and Wolfe were both excited about the growth yet to come in LeClaire. Collier said the city's bonding capacity is the main thing holding it back at this point. The city is now at about 80 percent of its bonding capacity, he said, but that will drop to 67 percent - a level Collier is more comfortable with - as bonds are retired on June 1. "The only thing I think we're missing is the money," Collier said. "We could probably spend $10 million [on development projects] easily."
This permeable pavement, which was paid for by River Action and retains rainfall, keeping it from running off into the sewers, was put in about a week ago. In addition, the City of LeClaire is spending $800,000 on improvements along the levee, paving what is now a dirt road and adding curbs and sidewalks. The city also recently bought a vacant gas station, which it will demolish in the next few weeks and prepare for development. Then there's a new city hall, a new public-works facility, the new library (which opened in 2004), a new fire station (2002), and a new police station (2002).
On the wish list is historic lighting, the creation of a more pedestrian-friendly downtown, a larger, more connected business district, new parking, and architectural standards so new construction in the historic downtown complements older structures. A bandshell on the levee is also a possibility.
In the private sector, there are a handful of new businesses in the shopping district, loads of high-end residential development, an active shopkeepers' association, three new buildings being built downtown, and a chamber of commerce whose membership has grown nearly 56 percent in the past two years. Outside of downtown, near Interstate 80, are a new McDonald's and an under-construction Holiday Inn Express.
And then there are the private-public partnerships. Downtown retailers are charged with submitting a growth plan for the central city to the city council by November 11. The city uses hotel/motel tax revenues to match shopkeeper marketing outlays. And city government is also matching funds raised by the Buffalo Bill museum to build a shelter for the Lone Star, which was built in 1868. The boat, according to a 1989 landmark study, is "the only remaining example of a wooden-hull boat built in the traditional Western Rivers fashion."
Not bad for a town of roughly 3,000 people with an annual budget of $7 million, and it's paying dividends. In 2004 alone, the city's population grew 13 percent.
"The last three years have been tremendous," said Rodney Collier, a city-council member and business owner. "The next five years are going to be an explosion."
Collier's optimism appears nearly universal in LeClaire. "If I had five more spaces, I could rent them," said Mike Wolfe, another city-council member and a LeClaire property owner. He estimated that the small city has seen between eight and 10 new businesses open their doors in the past two years.
Collier, who's 39 years old, and Wolfe, who's 40, are part of a youth movement in LeClaire - younger people, often not lifelong residents, who've shaken up this historic town and helped turn it into a thriving destination for both shopping and housing.
Over the past several years, LeClaire has seen "tremendous growth on all fronts" - business, residential, and government, said Rick Reed, who runs an advertising-design business there. When asked what was responsible for all the progress, Reed's response was simple: "people pulling together."
Reed is 47 years old and the president of the LeClaire Chamber of Commerce. His grandfather was a friend of LeClaire's own Buffalo Bill, but he himself has only lived in LeClaire for nine years. "There is a wave of community leaders coming into town," Reed said. That includes people such as Collier, Wolfe, and Mary Farmer - who are in their first terms on the city council - Reed, and Mike Hall, who moved to LeClaire from Chicago three years ago and opened Dwellings.
Collier's family was looking to start a business in 1997. At the time, they lived in Bettendorf. They looked at Cumberland Square, but when they drove through LeClaire, "we said, 'This is it,'" Collier said. "It had a bright future ... and I wanted to be a part of that."
The Colliers' shop, Grasshoppers, moved across the street in 2001, into a massive hilltop house built in 1870. In 2003, the family turned the dirt-floor cellar into Vintage Vine.
Wolfe owned a bike shop in the Village of East Davenport for a decade. He's lived in LeClaire for nine years, and closed his Davenport store in 2002.
Wolfe walks around downtown LeClaire followed by his eight-year-old dog Patches, and talks to virtually everybody. He said he's considered an outsider because he wasn't born in the city, but you'd never know it watching him operate; he's energetic and friendly, and he not only knows everybody's name, but everybody knows his dog's name.
Kathy Arterburn, who runs Kat's Flower Cart, said one element that's particularly encouraging about LeClaire is the diversity of the growth. "It's not just antiques any more," she said.
John Vize has operated a tour boat on the Mississippi in LeClaire for the past two years. He used to work the Rock River, but "the Rock River was the stepchild" compared to LeClaire, and business has been great so far this year. He guessed he's served five times as many people this year compared to last. "I'm even looking at a bigger boat," he said.
The Challenges of Growth
Most LeClaire leaders note that the city's growth has taken place in just a few years, but obviously it stretches back a decade or more. Many point to the opening of the Faithful Pilot 14 years ago. That restaurant's proprietors, Steve and Nancy Rosetti, first saw the potential for LeClaire as an upscale destination. "They're the first ones who took the chance," Wolfe said.
LeClaire is ideally situated for the type of community it's become. It's on the Mississippi River and right next to Interstate 80, and Highway 67 runs through downtown. When asked why he chose LeClaire for his boat business, Vize gave a familiar refrain: "Location, location, location."
Collier said there have always been people making investments in individual properties, but the efforts were never coordinated. "Individually we're only taking this town so far," he said. "There wasn't any progress being made in LeClaire 10 years ago."
"Old LeClaire would have stagnated," said Jo Ann McNurlen, proprietor of Trudy's Treasures. McNurlen was raised in the area and returned after 30 years away.
It's clear that there's still some tension between "old" LeClaire and "new." Pelo's coffee shop is a general store dating to the middle of the last century that has a display of nylons up-front and caters to the senior-citizen crowd. That's a stark contrast to businesses such as the Faithful Pilot and Dwellings, which sells contemporary home accessories.
Yet LeClaire has done a good job separating business that fits in well with the downtown's historic character and those that don't. Hotels and fast food are largely relegated to the "hill" area right off I-80, while specialty retail and service businesses make up the downtown business district. "It's two separate things that feed off each other," Collier said.
Still, LeClaire's growth poses a lot of challenges: how to integrate new construction with the historic district, how to foster growth without giving away taxpayer money, how to make the city's housing more affordable, how to say "no" to developers if they ask for too much or their vision doesn't match the city's, how to keep all that disposable income from people living in half-million-dollar homes from leaving LeClaire and going to stores in Davenport and Bettendorf. "I'm glad we have them," Collier said of those issues, "but they're tough."
LeClaire, for instance, has made extensive and aggressive use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF), including for greenfield housing development. If Davenport used TIF as much as LeClaire, critics (including this paper) would howl in protest.
"It was something to get the ball rolling," Wolfe said, adding that he doesn't think LeClaire will use TIF as frequently in the future.
The city council last used TIF with the Cody Hunt development, a project that was approved earlier this month. Cody Hunt will include 155 homes, ranging from $185,000 to $255,000.
Collier said the project deserved assistance because, relatively speaking, the homes and lots are inexpensive. "The major selling point for me was the price," Wolfe said. It speaks to the growth of LeClaire that anything under $200,000 is considered affordable enough to merit a taxpayer subsidy.
While Wolfe sounded hesitant to use much TIF in the future, Collier is a major proponent. "I love seeing the growth," he said. "There's no reason to lock ourselves out [of using TIF for certain types of projects] when the state isn't locking us out." Still, he said, developers need to show the council that the project deserves city assistance. "I've always wanted to know the reasons why," Collier said.
The chamber's Reed thinks TIF has been instrumental in the city's progress. "We probably in due time would have gotten there" without using TIF, he said. But without that tool, "it wouldn't be possible to see the growth as fast as we have."
Collier and Wolfe were both excited about the growth yet to come in LeClaire. Collier said the city's bonding capacity is the main thing holding it back at this point. The city is now at about 80 percent of its bonding capacity, he said, but that will drop to 67 percent - a level Collier is more comfortable with - as bonds are retired on June 1. "The only thing I think we're missing is the money," Collier said. "We could probably spend $10 million [on development projects] easily."
