January 15, 2007
On the Scene | Political newcomer Roger Katz, Augusta's recently elected mayor, on downtown development and the city's bursting big-box bubble
By Douglas Rooks
Unlike some Maine cities, Augusta tends to keep its mayor for a long time. Each of the last four holders of the capitol's highest office ˆ Peter Thompson, William Burney, John Bridge, and William Dowling ˆ served for at least four years, and in some cases eight years, the current maximum under the city charter's term limits. Since becoming a city in 1849, Augusta has had just 54 mayors.
Roger Katz, who was inaugurated January 2 in a ceremony that featured former governor Angus King, a longtime friend, assumes an office with relatively little statutory authority but a traditionally strong influence over the capitol's direction. As Mayor, Katz hopes to use that influence to change the direction of development in the city's long-ignored downtown.
The son of longtime state Sen. Bennett Katz, he is a partner in the firm of Lipman, Katz and McKee. And while Katz has no previous elective experience, he chaired several important city projects, including the most recent charter commission, the merger of the city's water and sewer utilities, and private fundraising for the new Cony High School, which opened in September. Just before taking office, Katz sat down with Mainebiz to talk about his views and vision for Augusta.
Mainebiz: Augusta has changed a lot since the early 1990s. A survey back then said the capital was "under retailed." But in recent years, there's been an explosion of retail growth ˆ over 1.5 million sq. ft. at the Marketplace at Augusta, and now the 500,000-square-foot Augusta Crossing shopping center under construction off Western Avenue. Can this continue?
Roger Katz: The big-box boom has pretty much run its course. I don't see more proposals of that kind coming along any time soon.
Commercial development and sprawl has become a concern in the city's residential neighborhoods. Although they didn't pass, there were referendum questions in 2005 to stop the Augusta Crossing development and the Hannaford supermarket on the site of the old Cony High School. What was your take on those issues?
I supported the Augusta Crossing development, as did most of the voters. I was concerned about the Cony site plan ˆ particularly the way it was done, with one quick vote by the city council. [The council accepted a $2 million offer for the site two years before the high school was relocated.]
The Hannaford plan is still in litigation several years later. Will it be built?
Yes, it will, and I think the neighbors will ultimately be pleased. But we all need to take a lesson from the lack of citizen participation.
How should the process have worked?
The way the current review for the Flatiron Building, the part of the high school that remains, is going. All possibilities ˆ from commercial development to a civic auditorium and performing arts center ˆ are on the table, and everyone can participate.
Augusta lost many residents in the 1990s ˆ almost 3,000 people, or 13% of its population. Even though the city hadn't been growing for several decades, that kind of drop was unprecedented. What happened?
People believed that housing was more affordable in the communities just next door ˆ Sidney, Vassalboro, Chelsea and Manchester. That's where they went. Most of them didn't go far.
How big a problem is it?
It's big. Cities can't sustain that kind of decline for long and remain vital places. It's not just the numbers, but who we lost. We have a substantially higher poverty rate now. Nearly half the kids at Cony are eligible for subsidized lunches. We lost parts of the middle and upper-middle classes and that's not a healthy thing.
How do you get them back, or attract new people?
We have very affordable housing now. The older neighborhoods have bargains, and families are starting to take advantage.
Do neighborhoods need protection from commercial development?
Sometimes they do. There have been proposals for historic districts in Augusta that haven't been very well thought out, unfortunately. Historic districts can be terribly restrictive and prevent reasonable development, but they can also protect a neighborhood and increase property values. I'd like to dust off the plans and take another look at a district that can work that way.
How about property taxes? Are they a factor?
They are, but unless we have local option taxes or big changes in state revenue sharing, property taxes are always going to be higher in Maine cities than in the surrounding towns. We're a service center for 50,000 people, but they don't all pay taxes here.
So what can you do to change the perception of high costs? Holly Dominie, a planning consultant, did a study in the 1990s that showed when commuting costs and the lack of services in the outlying towns are figured in, it's actually cheaper to live in Augusta.
We need to tell people about that! And we have to emphasize what we do have, that this is a great place to live. The services are good, but there's a lot more. We are the capital, and the seat of [Kennebec] County government, but it's really the Kennebec River that sets us apart. This is one of the most beautiful river valleys in the world, and people who grew up here, like me, avoided the river because it was so polluted back in the 1960s and 70s that it was something to get away from. That's all changed.
We have to talk about what we've done besides bringing Wal-Mart and Target and Olive Garden to town. Lots of places have those.
What are those other things that have been done?
We have a new, state-of-the-art high school. That's incredibly important to families with kids. We have a new YMCA, after years of trying. We've given generous tax breaks to convert the old Kennebec Arsenal to housing and offices. That's a signature property on the river that we needed to bring back.
Why was the arsenal a multi-million-dollar tax-break agreement?
Because of its history, because of its visibility, and because we needed to show people how wonderful it can be to live where the river is your front yard. A Realtor friend told me that we really need to start thinking of the riverfront as coastal property, because that's what it is.
Is housing also important to the downtown? You've lost some stores, like Lamey-Wellehan, that were fixtures downtown.
With help from the state, we've done a great job of bringing people downtown during the day. Hundreds of people work downtown, and Key Plaza is nearly full. [Katz's law firm also renovated a downtown building and occupies three floors there.] But they're gone at night. People aren't living downtown the way they once did.
Why is that?
We've made it difficult to build and renovate. And people thought they wanted to live in the suburbs and have two cars. I tell my friends from away that Augusta now has suburbs, and they laugh, but it's true.
Will people come back?
They will. We have one workforce housing project with 28 units under way, and we'd like to have housing for a lot of [University of Maine at Augusta] students that are now scattered around the region. If you get young people together in one place, you have music, you have nightlife, you have a real downtown. It's worked in cities across the country. There's also a big market for condos downtown. People don't need all the space they have when they get older, and downtown is nicer than townhouses next to the interstate.
How about state workers? There are thousands in Augusta every day, but few of them seem to consider living here. A lot of them commute an hour or more each way.
We haven't found the answer yet, but we need to. There are not only thousands of workers, but also thousands of workers retiring in the next 10 years, and thousands more to replace them. Developers are building housing in Augusta again ˆ there's a 52-unit development near the new Cony, the first major new subdivision in a decade. If you have the housing you can get the people.
Aside from more people, what does Augusta need to compete and grow in the larger marketplace, including out-of-state? The city used to have a fair amount of manufacturing, but that's almost gone.
Everyone would like to see more commercial development besides retail. Unfortunately, manufacturing is still down across the country. What we can do is support our existing companies and help them expand. We've done that with [composites company] Kenway and [printing company] J.S. McCarthy. Kennebec Tool & Die is another important high-tech employer. But there are other opportunities ˆ distribution centers and call centers and other ways to diversify beyond serving just a local market. I do know we have to start marketing ourselves regionally. Each town or city in the area can't do it alone.
So what is Augusta's development region?
From Richmond to Waterville, all along the Kennebec. That's the key.
City services are often attractive to bigger companies, but how do you provide them without driving up the tax rate?
The city should be using TIFs itself. We're usually doing them at the request of a developer, as with the arsenal, but there's no reason the council can't write them, too. I'd like to see a TIF for the new Augusta Crossing development.
What would a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district accomplish there?
It would allow us to spend money on public services in the TIF district, and it would also shelter our school subsidies and revenue sharing from the state, and keep more of the new tax revenue. I don't think TIFs are great tax policy, but they're what cities and service centers have available, so as mayor I think we should use them to the city's benefit.
When you go beyond Maine's borders, what is Augusta known for now? Is it the big-box capital of Maine? Is that a good thing to be?
I do think the big-box wave is drawing to a close. There's always a pendulum swing to development, and I think we will begin to see Augusta as a livable city coming to the forefront. Transportation will be expensive in this century, and we have one of the best transportation networks in the state. We have lower-cost housing, particularly when you compare it to New York or Boston or even Portland.
So what do you see as a sign that the future is going to unfold this way?
One of the ideas for the new park at the [former] Edwards Mill site is a kayak rental operation. At first we might see 10 kayaks on the river, and people will start to look at it again in a different way. When we see 100 kayaks on the river on a beautiful summer day, we'll know we've succeeded.
How close is Augusta to seeing that happen?
I grew up here and have lived here all my life. I could have practiced in Boston or Washington, but I love Augusta and I wanted to raise my family here. I think it's a terrific place, but I also see how much unrealized potential it has, and how much it will take to get there.
So that's why you ran for mayor?
That's why.
Roger Katz, who was inaugurated January 2 in a ceremony that featured former governor Angus King, a longtime friend, assumes an office with relatively little statutory authority but a traditionally strong influence over the capitol's direction. As Mayor, Katz hopes to use that influence to change the direction of development in the city's long-ignored downtown.
The son of longtime state Sen. Bennett Katz, he is a partner in the firm of Lipman, Katz and McKee. And while Katz has no previous elective experience, he chaired several important city projects, including the most recent charter commission, the merger of the city's water and sewer utilities, and private fundraising for the new Cony High School, which opened in September. Just before taking office, Katz sat down with Mainebiz to talk about his views and vision for Augusta.
Mainebiz: Augusta has changed a lot since the early 1990s. A survey back then said the capital was "under retailed." But in recent years, there's been an explosion of retail growth ˆ over 1.5 million sq. ft. at the Marketplace at Augusta, and now the 500,000-square-foot Augusta Crossing shopping center under construction off Western Avenue. Can this continue?
Roger Katz: The big-box boom has pretty much run its course. I don't see more proposals of that kind coming along any time soon.
Commercial development and sprawl has become a concern in the city's residential neighborhoods. Although they didn't pass, there were referendum questions in 2005 to stop the Augusta Crossing development and the Hannaford supermarket on the site of the old Cony High School. What was your take on those issues?
I supported the Augusta Crossing development, as did most of the voters. I was concerned about the Cony site plan ˆ particularly the way it was done, with one quick vote by the city council. [The council accepted a $2 million offer for the site two years before the high school was relocated.]
The Hannaford plan is still in litigation several years later. Will it be built?
Yes, it will, and I think the neighbors will ultimately be pleased. But we all need to take a lesson from the lack of citizen participation.
How should the process have worked?
The way the current review for the Flatiron Building, the part of the high school that remains, is going. All possibilities ˆ from commercial development to a civic auditorium and performing arts center ˆ are on the table, and everyone can participate.
Augusta lost many residents in the 1990s ˆ almost 3,000 people, or 13% of its population. Even though the city hadn't been growing for several decades, that kind of drop was unprecedented. What happened?
People believed that housing was more affordable in the communities just next door ˆ Sidney, Vassalboro, Chelsea and Manchester. That's where they went. Most of them didn't go far.
How big a problem is it?
It's big. Cities can't sustain that kind of decline for long and remain vital places. It's not just the numbers, but who we lost. We have a substantially higher poverty rate now. Nearly half the kids at Cony are eligible for subsidized lunches. We lost parts of the middle and upper-middle classes and that's not a healthy thing.
How do you get them back, or attract new people?
We have very affordable housing now. The older neighborhoods have bargains, and families are starting to take advantage.
Do neighborhoods need protection from commercial development?
Sometimes they do. There have been proposals for historic districts in Augusta that haven't been very well thought out, unfortunately. Historic districts can be terribly restrictive and prevent reasonable development, but they can also protect a neighborhood and increase property values. I'd like to dust off the plans and take another look at a district that can work that way.
How about property taxes? Are they a factor?
They are, but unless we have local option taxes or big changes in state revenue sharing, property taxes are always going to be higher in Maine cities than in the surrounding towns. We're a service center for 50,000 people, but they don't all pay taxes here.
So what can you do to change the perception of high costs? Holly Dominie, a planning consultant, did a study in the 1990s that showed when commuting costs and the lack of services in the outlying towns are figured in, it's actually cheaper to live in Augusta.
We need to tell people about that! And we have to emphasize what we do have, that this is a great place to live. The services are good, but there's a lot more. We are the capital, and the seat of [Kennebec] County government, but it's really the Kennebec River that sets us apart. This is one of the most beautiful river valleys in the world, and people who grew up here, like me, avoided the river because it was so polluted back in the 1960s and 70s that it was something to get away from. That's all changed.
We have to talk about what we've done besides bringing Wal-Mart and Target and Olive Garden to town. Lots of places have those.
What are those other things that have been done?
We have a new, state-of-the-art high school. That's incredibly important to families with kids. We have a new YMCA, after years of trying. We've given generous tax breaks to convert the old Kennebec Arsenal to housing and offices. That's a signature property on the river that we needed to bring back.
Why was the arsenal a multi-million-dollar tax-break agreement?
Because of its history, because of its visibility, and because we needed to show people how wonderful it can be to live where the river is your front yard. A Realtor friend told me that we really need to start thinking of the riverfront as coastal property, because that's what it is.
Is housing also important to the downtown? You've lost some stores, like Lamey-Wellehan, that were fixtures downtown.
With help from the state, we've done a great job of bringing people downtown during the day. Hundreds of people work downtown, and Key Plaza is nearly full. [Katz's law firm also renovated a downtown building and occupies three floors there.] But they're gone at night. People aren't living downtown the way they once did.
Why is that?
We've made it difficult to build and renovate. And people thought they wanted to live in the suburbs and have two cars. I tell my friends from away that Augusta now has suburbs, and they laugh, but it's true.
Will people come back?
They will. We have one workforce housing project with 28 units under way, and we'd like to have housing for a lot of [University of Maine at Augusta] students that are now scattered around the region. If you get young people together in one place, you have music, you have nightlife, you have a real downtown. It's worked in cities across the country. There's also a big market for condos downtown. People don't need all the space they have when they get older, and downtown is nicer than townhouses next to the interstate.
How about state workers? There are thousands in Augusta every day, but few of them seem to consider living here. A lot of them commute an hour or more each way.
We haven't found the answer yet, but we need to. There are not only thousands of workers, but also thousands of workers retiring in the next 10 years, and thousands more to replace them. Developers are building housing in Augusta again ˆ there's a 52-unit development near the new Cony, the first major new subdivision in a decade. If you have the housing you can get the people.
Aside from more people, what does Augusta need to compete and grow in the larger marketplace, including out-of-state? The city used to have a fair amount of manufacturing, but that's almost gone.
Everyone would like to see more commercial development besides retail. Unfortunately, manufacturing is still down across the country. What we can do is support our existing companies and help them expand. We've done that with [composites company] Kenway and [printing company] J.S. McCarthy. Kennebec Tool & Die is another important high-tech employer. But there are other opportunities ˆ distribution centers and call centers and other ways to diversify beyond serving just a local market. I do know we have to start marketing ourselves regionally. Each town or city in the area can't do it alone.
So what is Augusta's development region?
From Richmond to Waterville, all along the Kennebec. That's the key.
City services are often attractive to bigger companies, but how do you provide them without driving up the tax rate?
The city should be using TIFs itself. We're usually doing them at the request of a developer, as with the arsenal, but there's no reason the council can't write them, too. I'd like to see a TIF for the new Augusta Crossing development.
What would a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district accomplish there?
It would allow us to spend money on public services in the TIF district, and it would also shelter our school subsidies and revenue sharing from the state, and keep more of the new tax revenue. I don't think TIFs are great tax policy, but they're what cities and service centers have available, so as mayor I think we should use them to the city's benefit.
When you go beyond Maine's borders, what is Augusta known for now? Is it the big-box capital of Maine? Is that a good thing to be?
I do think the big-box wave is drawing to a close. There's always a pendulum swing to development, and I think we will begin to see Augusta as a livable city coming to the forefront. Transportation will be expensive in this century, and we have one of the best transportation networks in the state. We have lower-cost housing, particularly when you compare it to New York or Boston or even Portland.
So what do you see as a sign that the future is going to unfold this way?
One of the ideas for the new park at the [former] Edwards Mill site is a kayak rental operation. At first we might see 10 kayaks on the river, and people will start to look at it again in a different way. When we see 100 kayaks on the river on a beautiful summer day, we'll know we've succeeded.
How close is Augusta to seeing that happen?
I grew up here and have lived here all my life. I could have practiced in Boston or Washington, but I love Augusta and I wanted to raise my family here. I think it's a terrific place, but I also see how much unrealized potential it has, and how much it will take to get there.
So that's why you ran for mayor?
That's why.
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