Parking Plan Endangered

I'm gonna try to get my blog going on....

The Daily News surprised me a bit this morning with the headline, "Mayor's Parking Plan in Jeopardt." I thought all systems were go for the paid parking plan after the city negotiated agreements with the NRA and Waterfront Trust.

But the council has concerns and I'm not sure they're unfounded. Read them here.

My surprise diminished as I read the article, not only because of the council's stated concerns. I also have my own misgivings.

I do believe we need to charge for parking downtown. We simply are leaving much-needed money on the table by not charging our visitors and residents a reasonable fee to park downtown.

But I never was a fan of Mayor Holaday's inconsistent plan to to charge for parking in the lots while leaving the streets free. Drivers are like water, they'll search far and wide for the path of less resistance (or in this case cost) if its easily available. I felt this plan would lead to increased cruising downtown and excursions into our neighborhoods, which would have led to a hodge podge of resident-only parking restrictions.

I'm not sure why on-street parking wasn't included from the start. I suspect it was a bid to soften any opposition to the plan by assuring residents that they could still park downtown for free, at least on the street. But the overall plan struck me as a half-hearted effort to institute paid parking.

Looking forward to seeing what the full council does.

Is Chain-ge a'coming?

The closing of the venerable Newburyport Card & Gift shop -- as reported in The Daily News today -- is most interesting.

It seems to me that if a chain store were to come into Newburyport, this would be the place. I suspect the 2,400-square-foot space is one of the large retail spots downtown.

According to the paper, the owner of the store and building were one of the same. He sold the latter and closed the former when the buyer understandably decided to go into a new direction.

Let's see what happens.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council

I may try to get to the council meeting tonight to speak in favor of the proposal to apply an additional local tax to restaurant and B&B bills. However, it's tough to get out of the house with soccer/meal/bedtime so we'll see what happens.

This is approximately what I will/would say.

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I'm here to speak in favor of the proposed addition of local meals and lodging taxes in Newburyport.

I concede this is a lousy time to talk new taxes. People are struggling financially, trying to make ends meet. The economy is officially out of its recession but you'll have a hard time seeing evidence of that these days.

However, this proposals goes beyond just raising new revenue. The addition of these two taxes can be the beginning of a shift in how this city raises taxes, a move away from relying almost exclusively on property taxes.

In fact, I'd argue that these taxes present a fairer way of generating revenue for the city. Newburyport is a destination city drawing people from all over to our sidewalks, boardwalks and restaurants. That identity is only going to grow in the coming years as Steve Karp develops the parcels downtown

That development is only going to draw more cars to our streets, people to our sidewalks and customers to our restaurants and hotels. I don't have a problem with that. In fact, I think it's great for the economic viability of the city. But these developments will come at a cost, both financial and actual in the form of more traffic.


As a resident of the city I'd like to see us be in a position to benefit from this growth in business. Yes, we'll see an increase in property taxes when these projects are built out but one could argue that will hardly cover the services these new buildings will require.

But a small tax added to every restaurant and hotel bill gives the people of this city a bigger stake in the financial success of downtown. As more people come into the city to dine and stay, more money will come back to the city in form of taxes.

Furthermore, these taxes will spread a bit of the burden of this congestion to the very people causing it, the visitors. Yes, Newburyport residents also eat in city restaurants, but the vast majority of local eateries wouldn't be able to survive without visitors to the city so I think it's safe to say those from outside the city will pay a decent share of the new taxes.

And I completely support the idea of dedicating any new revenue toward maintaining the downtown or going toward other infrastructure projects that will benefit the businesses who are charging the taxes.

In closing, we need to move away from the model of relying only on homeowners and property owners for taxes. These measures simply ask those who are visiting our city to share a bit of the responsbility of keeping it the beautiful place that it is.

UPDATE: I never made it to the meeting, but the matters were referred to budget and finance committee.

Go Ahead, Tax My Food

The pre-election timing of this effort is surprising, but I'm glad someone finally took the initiative to propose including a local meal tax on city restaurants, particularly if the money were used to maintain the streets and sidewalks of the downtown.

Daily News article here. Ward 4 Councilor Ed Cameron, the electorally unopposed proposer, also writes on it here in his blog.

Let's be frank here. We have some nice restaurants in town, a few really nice ones. But I'm not sure we have anything good enough to draw people from far and away.

What draws people here is the location, the downtown, the ability to enjoy a great meal and walk the boardwalk or visit the downtown shops.

I say it's perfectly reasonable to tack a small tax onto the meals being served in those restaurants to maintain the infrastructure that visitors--and us locals--like so much. I'm all for earmarking the funds for improvements downtown. Bricks will start to give away. Boardwalks will wear down. Things will need to be replaced and it'd be nice to have a dedicated stream to take care of those things.

I'm sure the fear is this revenue will get lost in the flood of tax money and go toward other city services (like a school...gasp!). But I'm guessing--since it's the only sales tax collected by the city--that the totals will be fairly easy to track. But I might be wrong on that.

I'm against, however, using this money to bolster any chamber marketing campaign as Ann Ormond suggests in the Daily News article. I'd like the extra money I'm paying to go toward paying for something tangible and visible like infrastructure.

It will be the subject of the council's Tuesday meeting.

Outside Dining

Good Reader Dick sent along this item from the Boston Globe's weekly West section. We are not alone when it comes to outside dining.

Count me as 1,001

Daily News Item: 1,000 rally to save Port's White Hen


Wars sometimes start in the most interesting places. With all batteries aimed toward the waterfront, who would have imagined the the first battle of the (latest) war over Newburyport's downtown would take place on Pond Street?


I'm speaking, of course, over New England Development's intention to force out the White Hen Pantry from its current location and allow CVS to take over the entire building.


One might see this as a fight between two corporate chains, but the ownership issues are really pointless. (For the record, I think the White Hen Pantry is locally owned, but it carries no local brand. This isn't Angie's.)


The true pertinent fact is this. The White Hen Pantry serves an important role in this community, and has for some time. It kept me alive during my time at the Daily News as it usually was the only place you could find coffee and a sandwich after a Newbury Town Meeting.


But even today, when I'm blessed with a more regular schedule, the White Hen Pantry is what it is supposed to be a convenient store where I can typically buy what I need when I need it.


I shop at the CVS as well as do thousands of others everyday. It's a fine store just the way it is. 


Ann Lagasse, in today's article in the Daily News, suggest Newburyport Development simply is trying to keep its anchor tenant happy. I get that. But I have hard time understanding how CVS isn't happy with the current arrangement, especially since it's taking over the rear of the store. Is CVS really going to leave this coveted spot if it doesn't get the tiny corner that White Hen Pantry currently possesses? I doubt it.


Newburyport and New England Development might want to focus on keeping their customers happy as well. If this is a sign of things to come--larger companies shoving out smaller ones at will--the fight over the downtown may be more brutal than I thought.

Psst, can you pass me the mojito

Well, I have tried and tried and tried, but I could NOT secure an alcholic drink--or any beverage whatsoever--from the folks dining on our city's fair sidewalks. Cheap bastards.

So perhaps we can put that red herring of a concern to rest. I guarantee that sidewalk dining will not turn our youths into $9 martini or boutique beer junkies. Let's go fry some other fish.

And while we're on the topic, can we lose the whole "European Feel" description. Save it for the NED marketing material but let's keep it out of everyday conversation. As one friend noted, Atlanta, Ga. is lousy with outside dining and I don't think anyone would confuse it with Paris.

Bottomline, side walk dining is good for diners and good for dining establishments. Let's figure out a way to make it work. I think any concerns about alcohol being passed to minors are ridiculous, and the businesses certainly need to make sure the sidwalks are clear enough.

Oh, and I hope the city is collecting a fee for the use of our sidewalks. Nothing too crazy, but it would seem fair.

BTW, I'm still a little lost on how a fire truck is supposed to get down Inn Street. This was reportedly a concern when Oregano's wanted to serve liquor outside but couldn't do so without erecting some barriers.

Won't those two giant wooden pillars in front of the Inn Street Barber shop get in the way, Oregano's seating or no Oregano's seating?

Root, Root, Root for the Trolley

The Globe did a little write up on our local trolley. Now I regret my earlier questioning of whether the trolley was too much.

It may be, but I'm rooting for the guy. I've got a boatload of respect for entrepreneurs who try and try again.

One BLT, with a side of Syrah

I'll be honest. I wasn't a huge Taffy's fan back in the 1990s.

I know. I'm a yuppie. I know. I didn't appreciate "the real Newburyport."

I didn't dislike Taffy's. I just didn't think it was worth the march up State Street. I usually hit Angies, Fowle's and, if I wanted to spend an entire afternoon scoring an overpriced sandwich, the former Middle Street Foods.

Heck I probably hit the old Bergson's 10-times more than I hit Taffy's. (Other favorites include Foodees, Ciro's and the old salad bar at Teaberries.)

I just wanted to lay all that out on the table so I didn't come off as a major hypocrite in stating that I'm glad Taffy's is coming back. I'm always in the market for a lunch alternative, and I work so comfortably close to Taffy's now that I can see it becoming a regular haunt. I just hope they serve a decent cup of coffee.

Apparently, they'll be serving something else too. I just found out that someone--I'm unclear who exactly--is looking to open a wine bar somewhere behind Taffy's, probably in the building along Prince Place and across from the library. The liquor commission will take up the application tonight.

No details beyond that, but if I can wash a club sandwich down with a glass of David Bruce Syrah, I'll be a happy man.

Now, commence with the hurling of the yuppie-themed invectives.

Cuckoo for Cuckoo's Nest

I'm a huge fan of businesses that go above and beyond. For example, if I store stays open a few minutes late so I can pick up a crucial item, I'm their's. Grand Trunk has done it. So has the Natural Dog and Village Pet Shop. Conversely, I also hold ridiculously huge grudges against businesses that don't honor me--the regular customer.

(I still haven't forgotten the one experience when during my exile when I pulled off 95 to grab a coffee at Cafe Bagel, formerly at Port Plaza. It was 6:45 p.m. The shop closed at 7 p.m. but the doors were locked. The two teenage girls cleaning behind the counter just shrugged when I stared through the door. I'm a small man. I never forgave them and....well, look what happened.)

Anyway, the Cuckoo's Nest earned a place in my honor roll on Saturday. On the way to a birthday party in New Hampshire, I went downtown looking to buy a Celtics or Red Sox outfit for the birthday boy: the two-year-old son of of a very good friend of mine. I wanted to hit the Cuckoo's Nest because I knew they'd have what I wanted.

The Boy, who was the guest at the party, and I met up with a friend who, after hearing my plans, dropped the bomb that the Cuckoo's Nest had vacated its State Street quarters. Only then did I remember that the store was moving up to Pleasant Street at the former Market Flair site. I only hoped the move was complete, and the store was open.

My hopes were dashed. As I rounded the corner of State and Pleasant I spotted the brown paper covering the windows. We forged ahead anyway, hoping to get the full story. Once we were in front of the store we saw the note that told us the store would open sometime in March, but it offered no further details.

Peering through the gaps between the paper and the door frame, we eyed merchandise hanging neatly on the walls of the store. We also hear a fairly large crowd inside, but the store was clearly closed. Still, we stayed and we hoped.

I proceeded to tell my friend--in a louder than normal voice--how badly I needed to buy something for this birthday boy. Where oh where would I find an authentic Celtics jersey or Red Sox outfit for a two-year-old with the party starting in just a few minutes.

Just then, the door opened. A family lined out of the store and the store's owner--never got her name--asked if we needed help and offered that the store would open in a week. I made a dumb joke about waiting outside until the day came, and then explained my plight. You know where this is going.

She immediately let me in the store, allowed me to pick out an outfit and even gave The Boy, who thankfully is too young to be embarrassed by his father, a free baseball that screams out Joe Castiglione's famous call of the final play of the 2004 World Series. (I never get tired of hearing that.) She was even ready to take my debit card.

I recognize this doesn't rank high in the list of humanitarian efforts. But I thought it was a very nice effort by a very nice lady who is opening a very nice shop this weekend. Make sure you check it out.

The birthday boy loved the outfit, btw. Thanks Cuckoo's Nest.

UPDATE: Walked by this morning. CN appears to be open now.

Couldn't have said it better

I'm having a bit of trouble generating posts these days. It's not that there isn't anything to write about, or that I don't have opinions on issues like the landfill, wind turbine or the downtown. I do.

But I've been overthinking things lately, turning what might be a simple post into a raging debate of sorts in my head. As a result, I'm faced with the prospect of writing a lengthy blog post that gives voice to every perspective being considered in my tiny brain.

So when I'm pressed for time I opt to punt, to not write anything rather than make he effort to edit myself.

This is a long-winded way of telling you that I appreciate it when others offer thoughts as well, particularly when they articulate questions or concerns I share. Below is one of those instances. I wish the author left a name, but I won't look an anonymous horse in the mouth.

From a commenter:

I guess the major issue facing the local economy for the next year or two is the fact that not only do a vast number of local businesses depend on consumer discretionary spending, but the targeted consumer demographic aren't people who earn $12/hr but folks on the higher end of the income scale...the same folks who have been disproportionately affected by the economic downturn (if you work at Mcdonald's your job is fairly secure whereas if you work at AIG...).

It will be most interesting to see how the 'port weathers the storm. From my perspective I've already seen both fees and occupancy rates dropping at the local marinas...in my experience a good barometer of a slower summer.

Ahoy

In today's News, Katie FarrellCurley talks with one of the owners of the Black Dog shops and provides a little more information on the Tall Ships.

Left me wondering what these ships actually looked like. You can find that here.

I'll admit, my sense of protectionism kicked in a bit. Not only will the Black Dog store compete with many of the offerings already downtown, but the ships might do the same for our existing marine-based businesses, many of which also rent from New England Development.

But I'm holding onto the general theory that these shops and ships could be a large enough draw to, if you'll pardon the cliche, raise the tide for all the downtown boats, land-based or otherwise.

It certainly beats an empty storefront.

Photo taken from the web site for the Black Dog ships.

Oh Dear

WARNING: The below was written by an idiot who can't tell Nantucket from Martha's Vineyard. Actually I can, normally, but reason slipped away this morning and that slippage led to a number or erroneous comments, comparisons and wise cracks. If you get can look past that considerable error, the rest of the post makes just as much sense as anything else on this blog, which is rather depressing.

We're going to need more torches.

Boston.com had this little ditty today. Apparently, Nantucket's famous Black Dog store has chosen to open its newest "General Store" in Newburyport.

I'm sure this decision came after a nationwide search and Steve Karp's ownership of half the downtown and a great deal of Nantucket had nothing to do with the decision.

For the record, I don't know if Karp owns the building housing the Black Dog shop in Nantucket, but I'm assuming he does, which is why I snickered a bit reading this quote from Ann Lagasse.

"We are excited Black Dog has selected Newburyport for their newest location," she said. "It will give residents and visitors alike a fun place to shop."

No doubt, this will fuel the fears that Steve Karp is trying to turn Newburyport into Nantucket's Mini-Me. 

So let me toss another log onto the fire. Also from the article.

According to Newburyport Development, Newburyport is seeking to become a major tourist destination in Massachusetts.

Which is true of course, but no doubt this will rile some folks.

As for me, I've never shopped there so I can't say I'm all excited about the addition. But in this economy who am I to complain? If the shop can draw folks from the North Shore--this will be the company's only North Shore location--then how can this be a bad thing? Most of the other shops can be found on the Cape and Islands with the exception of shops in Mystic, CT, Newport, RI, Portland, ME and Annapolis, MD, so this is pretty good company.

(Since this is the 10th store, I think Black Dog would have been permitted by the proposed Chain Store ban, which in these times seems as dated as a thin piano key neck tie.)

I'm not sure where it'll be headed. Perhaps Chico's? It would be nice to fill that spot.

As an aside, I am surprised to not read this in the Daily News. Maybe NED just issued the release this morning, but a little love for the local press might have been worthy of consideration. Of course it's possible the News got the release and simply opted not to run with it.

Speaking of

I'm not sure when it was installed, but the store directory is standing tall in Market Square.

I stared at it for a minute. Contemplated taking a picture but realized I still don't quite know how to pull photos off my camera phone so I walked away.

I'm not sure if I like it or not. Scratch that. I don't NOT like it. But I'm not sure if I do like it.

But Are The Newburyport Posts?

The Salem News has an article reporting that the city of Peabody will give us 43 old street lights. Apparently, Peabody got the coin to replace their own while ours have fallen into a bit of disrepair.

Just see the photo above.

Nice pick up by Mayor Moak. This is a nice bit of recycling.

Downtown Filling Up

Well, we certainly spent enough time fretting about the closing of Mary Jane's or the defection of Ashley & Barnes to Amesbury. So it's worth noting that both spaces are now filled.

As far as I can tell, the only two significant vacancies downtown are the two small shops on Inn Street next to the Barber Shop and, of course, the future/former site of Chico's. UPDATE:Forgot about the always empty space next to the screening room. Senior Center anyone?

I suppose that's not too shabby in this crummy economy.

Retail Woes

Interesting article about the vacancy rates in other Eastern Massachusetts towns, mostly south west of Boston.

By the way

Curiosity finally got the best of me on Saturday. I climbed to the top of the Tannery building on the river side of Water Street (75 Water Street) to see why someone was installing canopies and putting in chairs.

It someday (soon I hope) will be roof seating for Andaman Thai Restaurant. This is guaranteed to be one of the best places to dine next summer. I asked our waitress when the roof might be ready. She didn't have any guess.

Is that officially part of the Tannery complex?

Put Down The Locally Owned Book Store

Boston Globe magazine ran an interesting piece Sunday detailing a potential clash of the titans in Nantucket.

Seems the "high-end homogenization" (to steal a phrase from Mary Eaton) of Nantucket by local noble Steve Karp has elicited a response from rest of the island's Summer elite, particuarly one Wendy Schmidt, wife of Google co-founder Eric Schmidt.

The debutante-do gooders have formed charitable trusts to help preserve some of the properties in businesses in town, including the locally owned bookstore that had been the genesis of the chain store ban instituted on the island. (I think it's the same store. I couldn't find the article that ran in the Daily News last December.)

It's an interesting dynamic. Essentially, the wealthy who have made their homes (or one of their homes) on island feel a sense of responsibility for driving up the cost of living on the island. Indirectly, they also could be held at least partly responsible for the downtown's tilt toward offering higher end (i.e. expensive) products that don't do the townies any good.

I applaud these people for accepting a level of responsibility and taking action. No doubt, some good will come from it. But the results clearly are mixed:

LAST YEAR, SCHMIDT MADE her first foray into downtown revitalization by purchasing the former Island Spirits lot on Washington Street, a piece of land near the waterfront, for $3.5 million. She offered it to the town, for $1 a season, to use as the site of a new hub for the Nantucket Regional Transportation Authority. (The town had asked voters to fund the purchase, but they refused in a September 2007 special election.) It is a project that, she says, plays into her desire to get people out of cars and into environmentally friendly public transportation and ease the congestion that is making downtown increasingly inaccessible.

As some people quoted in the article point out, can a well-heeled group of philanthropists really use their considerable means to maintain a sustainable, natural existence for the rest of their town. Or do their very efforts make the job of preserving the downtown even more difficult because locals come to expect help from their richer neighbors?

Interesting questions. Worth a read.

A-Frames

This issue has been covered to death so I won't repeat the arguments of Gillian Swart and others.

But I agree with today's Daily News editorial as well (although I disagree vehemently with last week's editorial knocking this summer's weather. This summer has been great!)

I can't buy into the conspiracy theories that the A-Frame ban is merely a tool to force out independent stores so the chains can move in. First, there no evidence that the chains want to move in. Second, if a Baby Gap wanted to move into the tea shop spot an A-frame sign wouldn't stand in the way.

But I do think A-frames will help our local businesses, so here's what we do.

First, the city designate certain areas of the sidewalk as A-Frame sites. They should obviously avoid high traffic areas, ramps and other risk sites.

Second, the city accepts applications for businesses to put A-frames into said sites. If there are more applications than a site can handle, then some sort of selection process is adopted. If two business are competing for the same site maybe each could take a side of the A-frame sign.

Third, the city--perhaps through through the NRA--adopt a design process for A-Frame signs since an process already exists for store fronts. Perhaps the city could identify two or three acceptable sign designs so we could have some uniformity. There are many.

Ideally, this process would remove risk, clutter and unattractive signs while giving businesses a bit of a boost.

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