Adams Merchants, Selectmen Discuss Strategy
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"The idea here is to see if there's something we can do as a town to help you along," said Chairman Joseph R. Dean Jr.
The meeting, called to discuss the town's sign bylaw, featured representatives from both Park and Hoosac streets, as well as members from the Summer Street Association of Merchants.
When Selectman Donald Sommer said he thought Park Street should be the major focus of the town's efforts and attention, several business owners questioned why the two commercial districts needed to be separated.
"For the last five years or so, we've put considerable money into Park Street and it hasn't been a big enough spark to get the downtown going again," said Sommer. "We can't support two commercial districts in town. That's not to say that Summer Street can't have a few small businesses, as it has historically."
Sommer called for "dramatic ideas" that would draw people to the town's main stretch.
Roger Hassan, who owns Colleen's Sweet Treats and Gifts and is the co-chairman of the Summer Street Association of Merchants, asked why promoting the area meant only focusing on one portion of the downtown.
"This discussion keeps getting separated into Park Street and Summer Street. The streets are so close together, why don't we just call it the downtown section? Let's call it the Adams business district and have everybody share the wealth," Hassan said.
Hassan's comments were met with some applause from the merchants gathered at the meeting but no real solutions were proposed by either the board or the guests.
Selectman Joseph Solomon, who has been instrumental in supporting the merchants' association, asked for feedback on what obstacles business owners felt deterred customers.
Ken Cooper, the owner of Park Street Electronics, called for a change in signage regulations, stating that a "tasteful box-lit sign" would draw more attention to the shops open after dusk.
"Neon signs cost three times as much and look gawdy," Cooper said. "When it gets dark, it looks like a ghost town. Box-lit signs would make it look a lot more alive."
Town zoning bylaws mandate that signs be "illuminated only by a steady, stationary shielded light."
Community Development Director Donna Cesan advocated against using box lights, noting that the plastic boxes were not in line with the historical character of the street.
"In the past, the town has recognized that we have beautiful 19th-century historic buildings and the exterior-lit signs are perfectly in keeping with that. In my opinion, these other signs can very quickly destroy the character," said Cesan.
"Some of signs can be extremely garish and are inappropriate for the character of our downtown," she added.
Jim Wol, owner of the Colonial Country Shoppe, cautioned about allowing the wrong kind of signs.
"We're a New England town. Do we want to look like a strip mall or a New England town?" he asked.
Cesan called for volunteers to enter into discussions with the community development office to discuss possible changes to the sign bylaws that could be done by next year's town meeting.
On Summer Street, the issue of absent landlords caused Grille Restaurant owner Daniel Paciorek and Board of Health member Roy Thompson to ask what the town can do to help clean up the properties.
"You have to get landlords involved and with some of them, you run up against a stone wall," said Paciorek. "Some of the people who own them, they're not going to change."
For Wol, the key to the town's future success is ensuring that the town and the merchants work together.
"We need to come together and market Adams together," he said.
