IX. PUBLIC COMMENTS
This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the Mayor and Aldermen regarding items that may or may not appear on the Agenda. Please note speakers should first give their name and address. You are reminded that these proceedings are broadcast on live TV and you should speak clearly. All comments are limited to a total of five minutes per individual. Comments can be provided through the e-comments feature on the City website prior to the meeting, or by calling 301-600-1213 during the meeting.
Balboa, Frederick, MD: as a resident of Frederick who spends a considerable amount of time downtown; I see outdoor dining as a growth opportunity--born out of a crisis. Outdoor dining provided a critical economic lifeline for restaurant owners to feed their families, while keeping Fred's economic engine puttering along. We should continue to capitalize on the existing, historical aestetics that make it so unique, while developing an equally engaging atmosphere around it. Yes, the existing jersey barriers are patently ugly, but you can iterate this North Philly look over time and replace them with professional cafe patio fencing or barriers. To pull the outdoor dining option away from restaurant owners right now, would be like jumping out of an airplane without your reserve parachute, when things go sideways again. And I'm convinced that they will. Plus, some residents and visitors won't feel comfortable eating indoors for some time to come. This pandemic took away alot from this community, it's time for creative and outside-the-box thinking to effectively exploit the unintended opportunities that it opened up.
As a resident of Fredrick I am requesting that we keep the outdoor dining process, let’s continue to meet safely and minimize the spread of covid. Please keep the businesses alive by helping them bring in the business they need by creating the safe space needed. Thank you for your consideration
As a resident of Frederick, I strongly support the decision to end outdoor dining. Market Street is intended for commercial use, and we need our roads and parking spaces clear for normal traffic. It’s time to stop asking the taxpayers of our community to subsidize this wasteful and unnecessary practice. Downtown Frederick needs to get back to business as usual.
My family owns Pretzel and Pizza Creations and we are downtown frederick residents with 2 small children. From a personal perspective, the parklets have allowed us to bring our kids to many of the downtown restaurants we love without having to dine indoors.
From the perspective of business owners, the parklets have been a tremendous addition to downtown. With case numbers rising again and fall and winter approaching, many of our customers are not comfortable dining indoors. The parklets in combination with outdoor heaters allowed us to serve our customers outdoors year round. Please don’t take them away when we need them most, with the leanest months ahead for most of the restaurant industry.
As a resident of Frederick, I strongly support the continuation of outdoor dining in Downtown Frederick. It has been a wonderful addition to an already fantastic dining scene here. If there are increased restrictions on indoor dining again, this will allow our local restaurants to continue to remain open and customers will feel more comfortable if the outside option is still available. Please keep the outdoor dining and even consider expanding it!
I live in the city and want to dine in the city. The Delta Covid Variant is bad and getting worse by the day. I do not want to eat inside. Please extend the outdoor dining so we can continue to patronize the downtown restaurants.
As a Downtown Frederick (N Market St) resident, I support the continuation and expansion of outdoor dining. I believe offering outdoor dining is vital to the success of our local restaurant industry. I see that owners of other businesses have expressed concerns about some of the parklets obstructing their businesses and that should be addressed, but with the numerous parking garages in downtown, I don't think parking spaces should be the priority. I love that some restaurants have made the extra effort to beautify their outdoor areas but adding wooden floors, plants, heaters, umbrellas, etc. More of that should be encouraged as well.
Restaurants are a huge draw to come to downtown Frederick, and the outdoor dining we've had over the last two summers has been an incredible experience. It not only assisted in keeping the restaurants open, but gave the diners the ability to (as safely as possible) enjoy their favorite venues again. I would love to see the Jersey walls come down, and something more permanent and elegant in their place.
Also, less parking on market st has drastically improved the traffic through there as well. 10 out of 10. Keep the outdoor dining.
Please keep current outside dinning and consider expanding. It is safe and enjoyable to dine outside. While working in downtown, even if I'm not eating myself, it is nice to see people enjoying their meals outside.
Rate Safford. As a resident of downtown Frederick I would absolutely like to see outdoor dining not only remain but be expanded. More outdoor dining equals more jobs and revenue. The Pandemic shows no signs of going away and indoor dining is becoming increasingly dangerous.
I would like to see expanded outdoor dining options continue even at the expense of reduced street parking. Many people continue to feel uncomfortable with indoor dining as the delta Covid variant spikes. But we would also like to support our local restaurants. The expanded option as weather permits should be adopted.
A downtown resident for 15 years, I support continued outdoor dining. The state's restrictions on capacity may have passed, but many people remain uncomfortable with in with indoor dining. At the end of June, a national Morning Consult found that 34% of adults still weren't comfortable with indoor dining, a number that's no doubt gone up since the emergence of the Delta variant.
Locally, there's been strong support for outdoor dining - even if it as at the expense of on street parking. During the public survey conducted by the city, Downtown Frederick Partnership and Ausherman Family Foundation in the spring of '21 about the future of Downtown Frederick’s streetscape, 65% of the almost 2,000 respondents said they would like to see more outdoor dining in Downtown Frederick.
Personally, I'll admit that I'm not a fan of the Jersey barriers, but other cities such as Baltimore and Washington DC have managed to implement parklets in a more attractive manner by following the National Association of City Transportation Officials guidelines rather than Federal Highway Administrations Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
I would love to see outdoor dining offered in downtown Frederick as the weather permits. Last year with the heat lamps I felt very safe dining out and continuing to support our local businesses. Please continue 🙏
Outdoor dining is wonderful. It assures a healthier, safer Frederick and it is just lovely. I knew may people who traveled down from Montgomery county just to enjoy it. Please keep outdoor dining in Frederick!
The general public is always going to have reasons why things are inconvenient. The reality is these businesses are suffering and they're just trying to make money and move forward. They've been through enough over the past 2 years and if outdoor seating helps them expand their capacity then it should happen. Lets not forget fall and winter are a stones throw from now. While they have time and weather on their side, let them try to recover.
Thank you for allowing me to comment. Emporium Antiques has been a fixture in downtown Frederick for 35 years. The amount of complaints from our customers about the loss of parking spaces to "parklets" is unprecedented. Please do not extend this program. Besides the fact that parklets are highly unattractive, and people eating on a city street looks ridiculous. Merchants could not voice their displeasure to city leaders who used the "state of emergency" to pass this temporary measure without public comment or correct procedure. If you want downtown Frederick to look like a European City with lovely downtown sidewalk dining, then do it the right way. But for now, downtown needs its parking spaces back.
I live and work downtown and am in support of continuing parklets and continuing to schedule the closure of Market Street. It would be helpful to have data about the nature of visitation stimulated by abundant outdoor dining. Anecdotally, I've seen that folks tend to stay and browse longer downtown if they're able to safely have a meal during their visit, without worrying about their exposure level indoors. Parking on Market and Patrick Streets has always been tricky and we have never been able to count on the presence of nearby street parking- the action of parallel parking on the street and blocking lanes while parking is more of a nuisance to safe and convenient movement through the City than the presence of parklets. The pandemic is far from over and we should continue to offer safe, innovative enticements to visit our community. We should prioritize our spaces for people over cars.
As a business owner on Market Street, I have heard the positives and negatives from our customers of keeping the parklets/dining in the street.
With the parklets, I see them used to their full capacity at times, and others they are empty. When they are full it is a wonderful thing to see that there are people downtown and patronizing the restaurants and then hopefully making their way over to other businesses.
When they are empty though I see it cause frustration to those that want to come downtown to a certain shop and just want to pick up something quickly but, can’t find parking except in a garage.
The fix to this may be to reduce the size of the parklets.
As for closing the street, the last one in August I saw more traffic of people walking and eating than at any of the others. I also had visitors from out of town though that were very confused by it with it only be closed for tables and chairs to be set out. If we are going to have street closures I agree with others we need to have something such as music/events/ or even allow other businesses/vendors to set up in the middle of them that would not be able to sell downtown.
Closing of the streets or designated parking spaces to be dinning need to also in some way benefit everyone.
Balboa, Frederick, MD: as a resident of Frederick who spends a considerable amount of time downtown; I see outdoor dining as a growth opportunity--born out of a crisis. Outdoor dining provided a critical economic lifeline for restaurant owners to feed their families, while keeping Fred's economic engine puttering along. We should continue to capitalize on the existing, historical aestetics that make it so unique, while developing an equally engaging atmosphere around it. Yes, the existing jersey barriers are patently ugly, but you can iterate this North Philly look over time and replace them with professional cafe patio fencing or barriers. To pull the outdoor dining option away from restaurant owners right now, would be like jumping out of an airplane without your reserve parachute, when things go sideways again. And I'm convinced that they will. Plus, some residents and visitors won't feel comfortable eating indoors for some time to come. This pandemic took away alot from this community, it's time for creative and outside-the-box thinking to effectively exploit the unintended opportunities that it opened up.
Testing
As a resident of Fredrick I am requesting that we keep the outdoor dining process, let’s continue to meet safely and minimize the spread of covid. Please keep the businesses alive by helping them bring in the business they need by creating the safe space needed. Thank you for your consideration
As a resident of Frederick, I strongly support the decision to end outdoor dining. Market Street is intended for commercial use, and we need our roads and parking spaces clear for normal traffic. It’s time to stop asking the taxpayers of our community to subsidize this wasteful and unnecessary practice. Downtown Frederick needs to get back to business as usual.
My family owns Pretzel and Pizza Creations and we are downtown frederick residents with 2 small children. From a personal perspective, the parklets have allowed us to bring our kids to many of the downtown restaurants we love without having to dine indoors.
From the perspective of business owners, the parklets have been a tremendous addition to downtown. With case numbers rising again and fall and winter approaching, many of our customers are not comfortable dining indoors. The parklets in combination with outdoor heaters allowed us to serve our customers outdoors year round. Please don’t take them away when we need them most, with the leanest months ahead for most of the restaurant industry.
As a resident of Frederick, I strongly support the continuation of outdoor dining in Downtown Frederick. It has been a wonderful addition to an already fantastic dining scene here. If there are increased restrictions on indoor dining again, this will allow our local restaurants to continue to remain open and customers will feel more comfortable if the outside option is still available. Please keep the outdoor dining and even consider expanding it!
I live in the city and want to dine in the city. The Delta Covid Variant is bad and getting worse by the day. I do not want to eat inside. Please extend the outdoor dining so we can continue to patronize the downtown restaurants.
As a Downtown Frederick (N Market St) resident, I support the continuation and expansion of outdoor dining. I believe offering outdoor dining is vital to the success of our local restaurant industry. I see that owners of other businesses have expressed concerns about some of the parklets obstructing their businesses and that should be addressed, but with the numerous parking garages in downtown, I don't think parking spaces should be the priority. I love that some restaurants have made the extra effort to beautify their outdoor areas but adding wooden floors, plants, heaters, umbrellas, etc. More of that should be encouraged as well.
Restaurants are a huge draw to come to downtown Frederick, and the outdoor dining we've had over the last two summers has been an incredible experience. It not only assisted in keeping the restaurants open, but gave the diners the ability to (as safely as possible) enjoy their favorite venues again. I would love to see the Jersey walls come down, and something more permanent and elegant in their place.
Also, less parking on market st has drastically improved the traffic through there as well. 10 out of 10. Keep the outdoor dining.
Please keep current outside dinning and consider expanding. It is safe and enjoyable to dine outside. While working in downtown, even if I'm not eating myself, it is nice to see people enjoying their meals outside.
Rate Safford. As a resident of downtown Frederick I would absolutely like to see outdoor dining not only remain but be expanded. More outdoor dining equals more jobs and revenue. The Pandemic shows no signs of going away and indoor dining is becoming increasingly dangerous.
I would like to see expanded outdoor dining options continue even at the expense of reduced street parking. Many people continue to feel uncomfortable with indoor dining as the delta Covid variant spikes. But we would also like to support our local restaurants. The expanded option as weather permits should be adopted.
A downtown resident for 15 years, I support continued outdoor dining. The state's restrictions on capacity may have passed, but many people remain uncomfortable with in with indoor dining. At the end of June, a national Morning Consult found that 34% of adults still weren't comfortable with indoor dining, a number that's no doubt gone up since the emergence of the Delta variant.
Locally, there's been strong support for outdoor dining - even if it as at the expense of on street parking. During the public survey conducted by the city, Downtown Frederick Partnership and Ausherman Family Foundation in the spring of '21 about the future of Downtown Frederick’s streetscape, 65% of the almost 2,000 respondents said they would like to see more outdoor dining in Downtown Frederick.
Personally, I'll admit that I'm not a fan of the Jersey barriers, but other cities such as Baltimore and Washington DC have managed to implement parklets in a more attractive manner by following the National Association of City Transportation Officials guidelines rather than Federal Highway Administrations Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.
I would love to see outdoor dining offered in downtown Frederick as the weather permits. Last year with the heat lamps I felt very safe dining out and continuing to support our local businesses. Please continue 🙏
Thank you for allowing me to share my voice.
Outdoor dining is wonderful. It assures a healthier, safer Frederick and it is just lovely. I knew may people who traveled down from Montgomery county just to enjoy it. Please keep outdoor dining in Frederick!
The general public is always going to have reasons why things are inconvenient. The reality is these businesses are suffering and they're just trying to make money and move forward. They've been through enough over the past 2 years and if outdoor seating helps them expand their capacity then it should happen. Lets not forget fall and winter are a stones throw from now. While they have time and weather on their side, let them try to recover.
Thank you for allowing me to comment. Emporium Antiques has been a fixture in downtown Frederick for 35 years. The amount of complaints from our customers about the loss of parking spaces to "parklets" is unprecedented. Please do not extend this program. Besides the fact that parklets are highly unattractive, and people eating on a city street looks ridiculous. Merchants could not voice their displeasure to city leaders who used the "state of emergency" to pass this temporary measure without public comment or correct procedure. If you want downtown Frederick to look like a European City with lovely downtown sidewalk dining, then do it the right way. But for now, downtown needs its parking spaces back.
I love market street being closed, and all the outdoor dining! It should continue on indefinitely.
I live and work downtown and am in support of continuing parklets and continuing to schedule the closure of Market Street. It would be helpful to have data about the nature of visitation stimulated by abundant outdoor dining. Anecdotally, I've seen that folks tend to stay and browse longer downtown if they're able to safely have a meal during their visit, without worrying about their exposure level indoors. Parking on Market and Patrick Streets has always been tricky and we have never been able to count on the presence of nearby street parking- the action of parallel parking on the street and blocking lanes while parking is more of a nuisance to safe and convenient movement through the City than the presence of parklets. The pandemic is far from over and we should continue to offer safe, innovative enticements to visit our community. We should prioritize our spaces for people over cars.
As a business owner on Market Street, I have heard the positives and negatives from our customers of keeping the parklets/dining in the street.
With the parklets, I see them used to their full capacity at times, and others they are empty. When they are full it is a wonderful thing to see that there are people downtown and patronizing the restaurants and then hopefully making their way over to other businesses.
When they are empty though I see it cause frustration to those that want to come downtown to a certain shop and just want to pick up something quickly but, can’t find parking except in a garage.
The fix to this may be to reduce the size of the parklets.
As for closing the street, the last one in August I saw more traffic of people walking and eating than at any of the others. I also had visitors from out of town though that were very confused by it with it only be closed for tables and chairs to be set out. If we are going to have street closures I agree with others we need to have something such as music/events/ or even allow other businesses/vendors to set up in the middle of them that would not be able to sell downtown.
Closing of the streets or designated parking spaces to be dinning need to also in some way benefit everyone.