We were initially for pop-up dining when it was utilized as a relief measure to assist restaurants during the height of the pandemic and curtailment of indoor dining, but absent that hardship, we are against the reimplementation. The reduced parking, especially on weekends impacts retailers a great deal.
There is also the idea of fundamental fairness. It's no longer just a perception that the City of Frederick, and Partnership favor restaurants over traditional retail establishments. It began with sidewalk seating, and has now evolved to parklets. Would retailers be allowed to expand their square footage to include sidewalks or parklets? If not, why?
We hope you take the time to read our comments. We are frequent patrons of our local restaurants, and friends of many proprietors. We were heartened to see these measures as a novel way to help them during their darkest hours, but there's no reason to favor some, while impacting others from this point forward.
The Partnership supports approval of the recommendations of the Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee. The Partnership is supporting these recommendations for a variety of reasons.
The Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee's recommendations represent a consensus of retailers, restaurateurs, professional business owners and residents - both from Downtown Frederick as well as the remainder of the City. All of these voices have a role to play in downtown's overall success. In general, the Partnership seeks consensus as it is extremely unlikely that any one solution will completely satisfy all of the great variety of businesses and viewpoints on any issue. Downtown needs both retailers and restaurants to be a vibrant, successful place.
The recommendations do not include street closures, a strongly held request from the downtown retail community. The Partnership is well aware that a significant number of retailers have expressed, over the past several years including prior to the pandemic, that street closures negatively impact their business sales.
The recommendations do allow for parklets, a request from the downtown restaurant community that has support from residents, and address many of the concerns expressed over the past two years of implementation. The proposed fee ensures that the business who requests a parklet pays for the use of public parking. The fee also increases the likelihood that a participating business will actively utilize the parklet space. The proposed timeline (April 15 to October 31) addresses concerns related to the availability of parking during the holiday season. The recommendations also address the aesthetics of the parklets. At this time, 13 restaurants have expressed an interest in parklets for the 2022 season, as compared to 25 participating businesses previously.
The recommendations allow for outside dining in parks and on private property as well as a continued expansion of the physical areas served by food trucks. These proposals were met with general acceptance by all stakeholders.
For all of these reasons, the Partnership supports approval of the legislation required to implement the recommendations of the Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.
Kara Norman, Executive Director
Downtown Frederick Partnership
Thanks for taking the time for public comments about the future of outdoor dining in Frederick.
After surveying the downtown community, parklets only had marginal support. While parklets are another option for outdoor dining, the removal of critical on-street parking is the issue. Basing the pricing on the revenue the city is losing at an individual meter is extremely short-sighted. At metered parking spaces, on any given day, you can have at least twenty different vehicles going in and out for short term usage, vital for times when parking in the deck does not make sense.
These high turnover spots are so valuable to the life and livelihood of downtown that a cost of at least $1000 per month ( $800 on side streets ) is appropriate, given that high usage to each space.
The proposed rate is too low considering the additional revenue the restaurants will receive from the added space and the cost that EVERYONE pays from the loss of the opportunity to access them for their intended use.
If this is a multi-year policy you are discussing, please allow a process for the rates to change to meet market demands.
Let's keep downtown vibrant and active; metered parking is a huge, underappreciated part of that equation.
Thank you for your consideration,
Jeffrey Hurwitz, Owner, Colonial Jewelers
We were initially for pop-up dining when it was utilized as a relief measure to assist restaurants during the height of the pandemic and curtailment of indoor dining, but absent that hardship, we are against the reimplementation. The reduced parking, especially on weekends impacts retailers a great deal.
There is also the idea of fundamental fairness. It's no longer just a perception that the City of Frederick, and Partnership favor restaurants over traditional retail establishments. It began with sidewalk seating, and has now evolved to parklets. Would retailers be allowed to expand their square footage to include sidewalks or parklets? If not, why?
We hope you take the time to read our comments. We are frequent patrons of our local restaurants, and friends of many proprietors. We were heartened to see these measures as a novel way to help them during their darkest hours, but there's no reason to favor some, while impacting others from this point forward.
Dan & Theresa Shykind
Owners
Downtown Piano Works
The Partnership supports approval of the recommendations of the Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee. The Partnership is supporting these recommendations for a variety of reasons.
The Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee's recommendations represent a consensus of retailers, restaurateurs, professional business owners and residents - both from Downtown Frederick as well as the remainder of the City. All of these voices have a role to play in downtown's overall success. In general, the Partnership seeks consensus as it is extremely unlikely that any one solution will completely satisfy all of the great variety of businesses and viewpoints on any issue. Downtown needs both retailers and restaurants to be a vibrant, successful place.
The recommendations do not include street closures, a strongly held request from the downtown retail community. The Partnership is well aware that a significant number of retailers have expressed, over the past several years including prior to the pandemic, that street closures negatively impact their business sales.
The recommendations do allow for parklets, a request from the downtown restaurant community that has support from residents, and address many of the concerns expressed over the past two years of implementation. The proposed fee ensures that the business who requests a parklet pays for the use of public parking. The fee also increases the likelihood that a participating business will actively utilize the parklet space. The proposed timeline (April 15 to October 31) addresses concerns related to the availability of parking during the holiday season. The recommendations also address the aesthetics of the parklets. At this time, 13 restaurants have expressed an interest in parklets for the 2022 season, as compared to 25 participating businesses previously.
The recommendations allow for outside dining in parks and on private property as well as a continued expansion of the physical areas served by food trucks. These proposals were met with general acceptance by all stakeholders.
For all of these reasons, the Partnership supports approval of the legislation required to implement the recommendations of the Pop Up Dining Ad Hoc Advisory Committee.
Kara Norman, Executive Director
Downtown Frederick Partnership
Thanks for taking the time for public comments about the future of outdoor dining in Frederick.
After surveying the downtown community, parklets only had marginal support. While parklets are another option for outdoor dining, the removal of critical on-street parking is the issue. Basing the pricing on the revenue the city is losing at an individual meter is extremely short-sighted. At metered parking spaces, on any given day, you can have at least twenty different vehicles going in and out for short term usage, vital for times when parking in the deck does not make sense.
These high turnover spots are so valuable to the life and livelihood of downtown that a cost of at least $1000 per month ( $800 on side streets ) is appropriate, given that high usage to each space.
The proposed rate is too low considering the additional revenue the restaurants will receive from the added space and the cost that EVERYONE pays from the loss of the opportunity to access them for their intended use.
If this is a multi-year policy you are discussing, please allow a process for the rates to change to meet market demands.
Let's keep downtown vibrant and active; metered parking is a huge, underappreciated part of that equation.
Thank you for your consideration,
Jeffrey Hurwitz, Owner, Colonial Jewelers