2007-06-18 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7 Mr. Rod Gentry, 400 E. Main Street, a senior officer at Union Bank and Trust, a DBA member, thanked Council for supporting the trial crossing. He said the downtown mall is the economic engine for the City, and he asked Council to vote to keep the crossing. Ms. Morgan Perkins, Sage Moon Gallery, a resident of 314 Eastbrook Drive, asked Council to support a permanent crossing. She said as a business owner she feels it is really needed. She said the crossing also benefits handicapped persons who are often dropped off at the crossing. She said she wants the mall to be beautiful but noted that it is also the downtown business district. nd Mr. Richard Berman, 205 2 Street, N.W., said he is opposed to keeping the crossing open. He said he does not think it has had that much impact on businesses. He said he does not see people being dropped off at the crossing, but thinks it is being used as a cut through. He said the mall is a pedestrian obstacle course with the vendors, cafes and crossings. Mr. Mark Kavit, 400 Altamont Street, said he would ideally like to see the mall all pedestrian, but said he uses the crossing quite often and feels people who use it are respectful of pedestrians. He said that trucks and trailers should be prohibited from using the crossing. Mr. Peter Kleeman, 407 Hedge Street, said he is intrigued by the report and letter from DBA, and feels their data is based on opinion. He said he thinks the survey results are compelling not to continue the crossing. He noted there was a reduction in th pedestrians at the 4 Street area. He said there is more opportunity for incidents with vehicles and pedestrians. He said he thinks trips would be better handled by circulating transit. Mr. Bob Hodous, 1309 Lester Drive, said he read the data opposite of Mr. Kleeman. He said it is important to insure that businesses on the mall remain viable, and thinks the crossing has been successful and safe. He said he feels the crossing is better at thth 4 Street than 5 Street because of concern about people using the garage elevator. He said he thinks the current direction of the crossing is best. He said he thinks the crossing is helping make good use of the City’s investment in the Water Street parking garage. rd Ms. Joan Fenton, 105 3 Street, S.W., Co-chair of DBA, said that all figures show two people to one in favor of the crossing. She said original fears about the crossing have not come to fruition. She said businesses look at what their customers say and the vast majority are saying they want the crossing. nd Mr. Bill Lucy, 410 2 Street, N.E. said Council should focus on the goal of strengthening the activity level at the east end of the mall. He said he voted against the crossing as a Planning Commission member because he did not think that the evidence was sound, and he thought the effect would be to hurt pedestrian levels at the east end of the mall, which he noted the data shows dropped 17% which is consistent with the notion that the crossing is a barrier. He said he thinks there is some problem with the methodology and there needs to be a longer time period. He said the crossing should be closed for a year and then studied. th Mr. David Repass, 227 E. Jefferson Street, said that the mall celebrated its 30 anniversary last summer. He said Council may be presiding over the decline of the mall. He said pedestrian traffic has decreased, the Water Street garage is never filled to capacity, and people are not coming down to shop as much. He said many issues need to be addressed about the mall as a whole, including: Does the City want the mall to be one long food court or a variety of shops? Does the City want tourists to come to the Visitors Center (he said there is a problem with signage to the Visitors Center)?; Does the City want to help merchants with quick transactions? He said the answer to this is apparently no as there are very few 15 minute parking spaces. Is the City aware many people, especially women, do not like to park in garages? He said apparently not. He recommended that a total survey be conducted in and around Charlottesville.