COUNCIL TO DISCUSS ARTS CENTER’S FUTURE

A long-awaited workshop on the future of the Poway Center for the Performing Arts will be held at the 7 p.m. Tuesday Poway City Council meeting.

City staff is seeking direction from the council on several critical decision points on the PCPA’S future, said Belinda Romero, community services manager and acting PCPA supervisor. Adoption of the discussed items will happen at a future meeting.

The decision points the council will be asked to discuss include the PCPA’S use and user policy, such as possibly expanding the number of days the PCPA is available for public use. Maintaining the current PCPA policy that priority use is for arts and education programming is also up for discussion.

The council will also be asked to make decisions on cost recovery, including how much to reduce the annual subsidy and by what time frame, plus possible new fees. The agreements with user groups will also be discussed, along with fundraising, best practices research, an arts advisory committee concept and next steps.

The fate of the PCPA has been in question since a council workshop held in November 2019 that focused on possible alternate operating models. The ongoing annual operating subsidy is approximately $700,000, Romero said. The PCPA also needs about $3.3 million in capital projects, including HVAC work, roofing and seat replacement.

The city initially explored selling the PCPA to the Poway Unified School District, which owns the land on which the facility is built. Councilman Dave Grosch, a member of the council’s PCPA ad hoc committee, said in December this was no longer likely.

Romero said ad hoc committee members and staff have held multiple meetings since December with user groups and stakeholders to discuss ideas and opportunities to transition to a more fiscally sustainable operating model. They have also discussed how to fund future capital improvements and improve operational efficiency, while also providing more equitable access to the facility.

Also on Tuesday, the council will hold a pre-development conference for a request for a 20-lot subdivision. It would extend Holly Oak Way and utilize an affordable housing density bonus on a 4.77-acre parcel at 13667 Twin Peaks Road. The property is on the south side of Twin Peaks Road between the Midland Road and Budwin Lane intersections. This is an advisory-only item and no vote will be held, but the council will provide feedback to the developer.

The meeting will be held virtually. It can be viewed live at poway.org/councilmeetings or on TV via Cox Channel 24 and Spectrum Channel 19. Members of the public may speak and participate via poway.org/meeting or by calling (877) 853-5247 with meeting ID 623-291-9830.