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.
I am a business owner downtown and appreciate the opportunity to comment on the parklets. While I absolutely see the benefits of our wonderful restaurants to a thriving downtown, our business, like many others, has very much been negatively affected by the parklets. Many people come downtown for other reasons besides dining and the lack of parking has been seen as a huge deterrent to them. Many even comment they "don't bother coming downtown anymore because they know they won't find street parking". While there are parking garages that can accommodate people who cannot find street parking, the reality is that most customers to retail or businesses strongly prefer street parking for their needs. And to add insult to injury the majority of the parklets frequently are completely empty, taking up valuable parking spaces without benefiting anyone.
When the pandemic first started and restaurants were hit hard with not being allowed inside dining, I can see how the parklets made sense as a sacrifice we could all make to help the restaurants. But now that it is allowed (and many people feel comfortable eating inside) there is no reason to take away from all the other patrons and businesses to keep the parklets. There are a number of businesses Downtown who have outdoor seating as a part of their lease which provide an outlet for people who feel more comfortable sitting outside.
I understand that you may be getting comments from people who are able to walk Downtown and like to sit outside but please consider all the other businesses and customers that make our Downtown a vibrant community and not just a dining destination.
As another commenter mentioned, anytime there is a street closure or parking reduction it severely hurts most retail and service businesses. When it happens once or twice a year, we can accept it as a trade off that helps our fellow restaurant businesses. We hope you will consider the length of time the rest of us have sacrificed our parking for the benefit of restaurants and give back the parking to the others.
Also mentioned by another commenter- if you do decide to keep the parklets, please remove them before the 4th quarter. Last year the parklets sat completely empty for the whole winter and those of us in retail who count on those months for our sales were very disappointed to hear our customers not wanting to come downtown to shop.
I understand you are trying to please many but please consider ALL businesses in your decision.
I am a retail business owner in Downtown Frederick. I am very concerned that you are considering extending the parklets and reinstating curbside pickup zones.
In the mayor's comments, he mentions he has heard from community members who were not feeling comfortable with indoor dining. With the removal of the parklets, you are not eliminating outdoor dining in downtown. Outdoor dining will continue to be offered up and down Market and Patrick Streets, with even more options than pre-pandemic, as restaurants, like The Tasting Room, have expanded into their sidewalk space.
In fairness to all concerned, please let the parklets go away, as originally voted, and bring Frederick back to a sense of normalcy. Everyone has suffered and sacrificed; don't continue to negatively affect nearly all businesses and services to benefit just a few. Thank you,
Jeff Hurwitz, Colonial Jewelers
I am a big supporter of the pop up dining and parklets, etc. I say this as a downtown resident and frequent walker. Please do what you can to maintain this now and beyond the pandemic.
Hello! I am a downtown resident, as well as the owner of The Muse, a business on N Market St. I am writing in regards to the topic of continuing pop up dining initiatives, including street closures, parklets and curbside pick up zones. While I appreciate that these initiatives have been enjoyed by some community members and have perhaps helped some restaurants, by and large they have been detrimental to most of the business community, and so I ask that these measures not be continued. My reasons for this opinion are as follows:
1. from a purely logistical perspective, the lack of parking created by the pop up dining initiatives was a huge deterrent to my customers, and also created challenges for delivery drivers as well as for mobility-challenged folks who need accessible parking. Many folks I heard from simply avoided downtown because they did not want to deal with the lack of parking, and those that did venture out often spent less and shopped less because they feared getting a parking ticket because the only parking the could find was in a curbside zone.
2. The pop up dining initiatives have not brought money downtown. Given the money and resources being spent to make pop up dining happen, it must have a strong positive economic impact to justify its existence, and the opposite is true. In most cases it has had a neutral or negative impact on business. Sales at my business are pretty consistently down anytime the street is closed, and the lack of parking has had a continued negative sales impact. Pop up dining is attracting folks who are interested in the novelty of it, it is not attracting people who are interested in spending money downtown. If pop up dining is to continue, it must benefit all downtown businesses, not just a select few.
3. If pop up dining is continued, I encourage the city to find a way to animate the street closures and make them more likely to attract visitors. Currently, pop up dining is just tables and chairs in the street surrounded by traffic barriers; there is no incentive to shop or stay downtown. If street performances, outdoor fashion shows, live music, etc was added, it would actually create a festive atmosphere and might lead to more folks wanting to come downtown. Despite what the vocal minority on social media might think, tables and chairs on the pavement hasn’t created a festive atmosphere and hasn’t enticed people to visit downtown.
Thank you for your consideration and for all you do for our city!
My name is Mindy Cawley. I live in downtown and I own a business on E. Patrick Street. I'm commenting on the continuation of parklets for outdoor dining.
I know these parklets were very helpful for restaurants when seating limits were placed last year at the beginning of the pandemic. However, this huge reduction in on-street parking has been a burden on many other downtown businesses. Since restaurants have had full seating capacity for several months, it's time to put those parking spaces back into use to benefit all businesses.
My business sells large items including furniture. The extreme reduction of on street parking on Patrick has been a huge obstacle to my customers when they make large purchases. In addition, deliveries are extremely difficult as there are never spaces available. I see backups and lanes blocked by trucks every day. And many of those days, the parklets sit empty and unused.
Most restaurants do not even put tables out during the week so those spaces sit empty. I would estimate that over 80 percent of the time the parklet spaces are unused either because it's weekday or the weather is too hot, rainy or too cold to sit outside. In the meantime, our retail businesses are open and our customers are struggling to find parking. Something more flexible and adjustable would be much more fair to all businesses downtown.
If you choose to continue the parklets, please consider bringing back the 10 minute curbside pickup spaces that benefitted those of us in retail. Our customers used those frequently for pickups and have been frustrated since their removal.
Furthermore, if you vote to continue the parklets, consider removing them by November. The spaces were unused when the weather got cold and we desperately need those parking spaces for our very critical retail holiday shopping season. Especially as the weather worsens, retail shoppers will be more likely to stop in to businesses if parking is available nearby.
I am a business owner downtown and appreciate the opportunity to comment on the parklets. While I absolutely see the benefits of our wonderful restaurants to a thriving downtown, our business, like many others, has very much been negatively affected by the parklets. Many people come downtown for other reasons besides dining and the lack of parking has been seen as a huge deterrent to them. Many even comment they "don't bother coming downtown anymore because they know they won't find street parking". While there are parking garages that can accommodate people who cannot find street parking, the reality is that most customers to retail or businesses strongly prefer street parking for their needs. And to add insult to injury the majority of the parklets frequently are completely empty, taking up valuable parking spaces without benefiting anyone.
When the pandemic first started and restaurants were hit hard with not being allowed inside dining, I can see how the parklets made sense as a sacrifice we could all make to help the restaurants. But now that it is allowed (and many people feel comfortable eating inside) there is no reason to take away from all the other patrons and businesses to keep the parklets. There are a number of businesses Downtown who have outdoor seating as a part of their lease which provide an outlet for people who feel more comfortable sitting outside.
I understand that you may be getting comments from people who are able to walk Downtown and like to sit outside but please consider all the other businesses and customers that make our Downtown a vibrant community and not just a dining destination.
As another commenter mentioned, anytime there is a street closure or parking reduction it severely hurts most retail and service businesses. When it happens once or twice a year, we can accept it as a trade off that helps our fellow restaurant businesses. We hope you will consider the length of time the rest of us have sacrificed our parking for the benefit of restaurants and give back the parking to the others.
Also mentioned by another commenter- if you do decide to keep the parklets, please remove them before the 4th quarter. Last year the parklets sat completely empty for the whole winter and those of us in retail who count on those months for our sales were very disappointed to hear our customers not wanting to come downtown to shop.
I understand you are trying to please many but please consider ALL businesses in your decision.
I am a retail business owner in Downtown Frederick. I am very concerned that you are considering extending the parklets and reinstating curbside pickup zones.
In the mayor's comments, he mentions he has heard from community members who were not feeling comfortable with indoor dining. With the removal of the parklets, you are not eliminating outdoor dining in downtown. Outdoor dining will continue to be offered up and down Market and Patrick Streets, with even more options than pre-pandemic, as restaurants, like The Tasting Room, have expanded into their sidewalk space.
In fairness to all concerned, please let the parklets go away, as originally voted, and bring Frederick back to a sense of normalcy. Everyone has suffered and sacrificed; don't continue to negatively affect nearly all businesses and services to benefit just a few. Thank you,
Jeff Hurwitz, Colonial Jewelers
I am a big supporter of the pop up dining and parklets, etc. I say this as a downtown resident and frequent walker. Please do what you can to maintain this now and beyond the pandemic.
Hello! I am a downtown resident, as well as the owner of The Muse, a business on N Market St. I am writing in regards to the topic of continuing pop up dining initiatives, including street closures, parklets and curbside pick up zones. While I appreciate that these initiatives have been enjoyed by some community members and have perhaps helped some restaurants, by and large they have been detrimental to most of the business community, and so I ask that these measures not be continued. My reasons for this opinion are as follows:
1. from a purely logistical perspective, the lack of parking created by the pop up dining initiatives was a huge deterrent to my customers, and also created challenges for delivery drivers as well as for mobility-challenged folks who need accessible parking. Many folks I heard from simply avoided downtown because they did not want to deal with the lack of parking, and those that did venture out often spent less and shopped less because they feared getting a parking ticket because the only parking the could find was in a curbside zone.
2. The pop up dining initiatives have not brought money downtown. Given the money and resources being spent to make pop up dining happen, it must have a strong positive economic impact to justify its existence, and the opposite is true. In most cases it has had a neutral or negative impact on business. Sales at my business are pretty consistently down anytime the street is closed, and the lack of parking has had a continued negative sales impact. Pop up dining is attracting folks who are interested in the novelty of it, it is not attracting people who are interested in spending money downtown. If pop up dining is to continue, it must benefit all downtown businesses, not just a select few.
3. If pop up dining is continued, I encourage the city to find a way to animate the street closures and make them more likely to attract visitors. Currently, pop up dining is just tables and chairs in the street surrounded by traffic barriers; there is no incentive to shop or stay downtown. If street performances, outdoor fashion shows, live music, etc was added, it would actually create a festive atmosphere and might lead to more folks wanting to come downtown. Despite what the vocal minority on social media might think, tables and chairs on the pavement hasn’t created a festive atmosphere and hasn’t enticed people to visit downtown.
Thank you for your consideration and for all you do for our city!
My name is Mindy Cawley. I live in downtown and I own a business on E. Patrick Street. I'm commenting on the continuation of parklets for outdoor dining.
I know these parklets were very helpful for restaurants when seating limits were placed last year at the beginning of the pandemic. However, this huge reduction in on-street parking has been a burden on many other downtown businesses. Since restaurants have had full seating capacity for several months, it's time to put those parking spaces back into use to benefit all businesses.
My business sells large items including furniture. The extreme reduction of on street parking on Patrick has been a huge obstacle to my customers when they make large purchases. In addition, deliveries are extremely difficult as there are never spaces available. I see backups and lanes blocked by trucks every day. And many of those days, the parklets sit empty and unused.
Most restaurants do not even put tables out during the week so those spaces sit empty. I would estimate that over 80 percent of the time the parklet spaces are unused either because it's weekday or the weather is too hot, rainy or too cold to sit outside. In the meantime, our retail businesses are open and our customers are struggling to find parking. Something more flexible and adjustable would be much more fair to all businesses downtown.
If you choose to continue the parklets, please consider bringing back the 10 minute curbside pickup spaces that benefitted those of us in retail. Our customers used those frequently for pickups and have been frustrated since their removal.
Furthermore, if you vote to continue the parklets, consider removing them by November. The spaces were unused when the weather got cold and we desperately need those parking spaces for our very critical retail holiday shopping season. Especially as the weather worsens, retail shoppers will be more likely to stop in to businesses if parking is available nearby.
Thank you for your consideration.