It's Out of Here

Damn.

Steve Karp absolutely hit one out of the park last night.

I'm not talking "deep shot to left field lands in the net" sort of out of the park. No way. His performance last night was a "make him pee in a cup to check him for steroids" kind of homer. Check his bat for cork too. It was out of here. Never a question.

The evening started off well. Karp stood close to the front doors, waiting for people as they entered the building. Some filtered by while others waited in line to say hello, shake his hand, provide a thought or two.

Karp may have made the drive to Newburyport from Newton, but he played the congenial host last night. Hell, they were even providing coffee, cookies and bottled water. (I think it was on New England Development's dime.) He came ostensibly to listen to the concerns of the people in this city, but it became clear during the evening that Karp has been listening all along.

Before you suggest that my goodwill can be bought for a cookie, I didn't take a snack (although I did have a coffee and still am sipping my bottle of Fiji water as I write this.) I enjoyed the presentation of NED's early vision on Newburyport, which I'll get into later. But in my eyes what really won the evening for me was the final segment of Karp's talk.

Rather than open immediately to questions, Karp presented a list of questions he's heard on "the street." I can't say for sure that he's collecting all these complaints, but someone on his staff is taking notes about our fears and concerns. Time will tell whether or not they'll address them, but at least they're hearing you.

So here is Karp's Q&A with himself. I did my best to quote directly and paraphrased when I knew I couldn't.

Why is this taking so long?
"One thing we've learned after doing this for 35 years is that you don't present a plan that doesn't work," he said. He understands that people are anxious to see what New England development is going to do. "I assure you. There is no secret plan. We needed to understand the character of the community.

Are we trying to create another Nantucket? (Believe it or not this was the first time he uttered the word Nantucket in his 25 minute presentation.)
"This isn't Nantucket and I think we appreciate that. I think because of the fact we developed a lot of Nantucket we get complaints about things we built in 1785 (drew some laughs), and they may not like the fact that we may have painted some door red. But the HDC (Historic District Commission) told us we could paint it red or red. Those things happen. This is a different place, a different market. Nantucket is a seasonal resort and during the 1990s things got a little bit out of control. Values went a little crazy. We built a golf course that attracts peopel from all over the U.S. It has an airport which is the second busiest airport in New England during the summer. Lots of private jets. There are lots of private jets that come in and it's become a very affluent community. We didn't create that. We're in the middle of that."
"We're not trying to make this another Nantucket, nor would we be foolish enough to force another Nantucket on you. We may take some of the best of Nantucket. Then it's your decision to tell us whether you like them or not. And we'll try to work on that together."

What about Parking?
"You have to address that, not us. We can work with you. It's something that we've talked about for a long time ...I think we’ll all benefit" from a parking plan. As for a parking garage, he acknowledge there are questions about locatoin and who would pay for a structure. Perhaps New England Development and the city could share costs. "We're open to all those things. We’ve done them before. We’d like to do them here and we're hopeful we can work in a way that is beneficial to all of us and that would be beneficial to the entire downtown.

Will New Retail Be Dominated By National Chains?
"The character of downtown is not something that works for national chains. I'm not saying they can't be here...but we're not trying to flood the downtown with them. We would lose the value of the downtown and we'd lose the value of our own properties. We can't compete with regional shopping centers in Newburyport. But we think economic growth helps the merchants that are here, and the more people we can bring" the better for all downtown businesses.
"Look at the sales of the stores and restaurants in the summer months. And look at them in January. They're not great. They have to average out. It's a very hard business to run." You have to add and remove staff depending upon the season. "If we could even that out and encourage people to come to the downtown it would benefit the rest of the merchants."

Will the Marina cater to only Luxury Yachts?
"This is like the Nantucket question ... without [local boats] you're going to lose the character that has been created here over such a long time. It'd be a shame to turn our back on that."

Will the city be involved in the development process?
"I can’t tell you this any more sincerely. This is you're process not ours. The city and its officials have an opportunity to be involved." That includes planning board, conservation commission, Mass Highway and other permitting boards.

What about Traffic?
"You have to help yourself to solve the problem. We can't do it by ourselves. People in other communities if they can't get into this downtown and they can't park in the downtown they won't come. Nantucket choked itself a bit in the summer with not enough parking and not enough access."

How about public access to the Waterfront?
"There will be public access and public benefit." He said details would be worked out with the state, but there could be "walk way construction across the waterfront when that's in our control." He said view corridors would be part of the final plan, providing views of the river from Merrimack Street.

What about Pedestrian Access?
"We value Newburyport. We’re probably developing 20 different areas from Washington DC to Bangor Maine and we've developed in downtowns. We developed a block in Sante Fe with lots of similarities" with concern about historical preservation.
"But we value Newburyport. We’ve made a decision to put our effort, our money our time here because we think is a very special place and we think we can add to the vitality and still keep the historic character.

"We can’t do it by ourselves. We have to do it together. I like that there are so many people here. I hope you contine to come. I hope you contine to participate, I think if you do participate you will be very happy with what’s done for a long time to come."

I'm not sure if my scribblings do the segment justice, but I think they suggest that Karp isn't some far-off nobleman who will storm into town one day with armies of lawyers and builders to implement his plan.

The guy gives every appearance of wanting to be part of what Newburyport is, and what it could become. He concedes he can't please everyone, but last night he asked folks to speak loud and clear about what we want to see happen down along the water.

People in this town certainly have no problem speaking their mind. But now we can do so with an idea that Karp is actually listening.

Perhaps this will work out afterall.



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