32 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Improving walkability cost me an election
Run again. It was a shit year for incumbents.
It could be several years before your community realizes all the benefits of the project. Thank you for taking one for the team.
As necessary as these projects may be the cure can be worse than the disease in the short term. Large capital projects are very disruptive to retail and dining; those low margin business often have just a few weeks or months of cash on hand. Losing 10% or more of business for any length of time can be devastating. Property may change hands. Businesses may close. Losing a few on one block can lead to retail collapse. Next thing you know, your storefronts are filled by financial service firms and chiropractors. Good bye sales tax base. Oh and then they may also be hit by a property tax assessment for said improvements.
Not for the OP: People who work in planning and economic development tend to be a bit clueless on this stuff. Yes, small business owners can be reptilian, superstitious, and misinformed; often they can’t think beyond what they see out the front door. As a small business owner I’ve had plenty of debates with my peers about parking minimums and traffic speed/volume on our main street. So understand where people like me are coming from and develop tools to avoid empty storefronts. Major capital projects can last years and cost tens of millions. Of that amount very little is directed towards helping existing businesses stay viable. Bridges loans, grants, and property tax relief should be budgeted for and even counted as a local match for such projects.
Comment by manchesterisbell at 11/11/2024 at 15:04 UTC
15 upvotes, 2 direct replies
I’m not opposed to that at all. What you said is accurate and reasonable. Unfortunately, that was never how the discussions went. Two things to provide more detail: We got the state to impose requirements on the contractors. No street could be closed longer than 2 weeks, ever. Parking was back open to all businesses within 4 months (btw, I forgot to mention we put in rear angled, back in parking haha). Also, with a couple months left to go in the project, we passed a program for businesses who had seen a demonstrable decrease in net profits due to construction to receive a rebate on taxes. The issue is that no business seems to be able to do that because it’s based on net profits…
One of our main restaurants in the center of construction actually saw an increase in business in 2024 vs 2023 because new owners managed it better.