The meeting had been called to finalize an already-approved tax incentive program from the city to Family Video worth $150,000 to encourage them to buy a building in a run-down area of town and open a video store there.
“In my opinion, we’ve already made the commitment to Family Video in terms of our development agreement,” City Attorney Ralph Smith said at Monday's meeting. “These proceedings are simply to make the agreement in compliance with the urban renewal law in order to facilitate tax increment financing.”
In May, the city council approved a $150,000 incentive tax increment financing package that would pay Family Video $50,000 upon completion of at least $350,000 in improvements to the building and a pay-as-you-go tax increment financing loan of $10,000 for 10 years. The project was intended to rehabilitate and increase the tax valuation of a blighted property that had sat vacant for several years.
The protesters, estimated at "just more than 20" by the local Charles City Press, provided their input to the city council.
“I am just appalled that we would have a business come into this community under the auspices of 'Family Video' that would work to destroy the town,” said pastor Dennis Bachman. "I believe if you look at other communities that allow similar things, you’ll see a trend that the crime rate is higher, juvenile incidents are higher and I just don’t think it’s a wise decision. I think we have a responsibility to keep our community as pure and as healthy as possible for the families.”
“I am troubled at the proposal of tax dollars being used as an incentive to bring a business into Charles City, in our beautiful town, that advertises a reality that is not accepted by us,” Rev. Jean Clark said. "It’s not acceptable to us.”
Clark then presented the Charles City mayor with a stack of petitions against the development deal with Family Video, signed, she said, by between 400-500 residents.
City Attorney Smith pointed out that the city “doesn’t have carte blanche authority to say that we’re not going to have adult businesses in Charles City. That right doesn’t exist under the Constitution. And the courts have defined this over and over again.” He also suggested that the public go to Family Video with their petitions. The city attorney then recommended that the council consider a revised resolution saying that the council will enter into a development agreement in the future, if and when Family Video has actually purchased the property in question.
“My understanding is that no purchase has been made as of this date and no one with the city has any knowledge that this is going to occur by the deadline of July 1,” he said. The city’s development agreement requires Family Video to own the property by that date.
The revised resolution passed on a 4-1 vote. Representatives of Family Video were not available for comment at press time.
