We have watched the avenue since the complaints came in on the matter and the city sent letters to business owners saying they were violating the ordinance.
Without some merchandise in front of businesses, the avenue looks like a ghost town, some setting from a post apocalyptic film where a band of misfit mutant mercenaries are sure to be lurking.
While this may seem a drastic picture, we are in drastic times and businesses, especially the small ones, need every edge they can get.
That’s why Lawson’s proposal, to have merchandise displayed on the avenue Monday through Saturday, makes the most sense.
No matter what decision city council makes when it takes up the matter in October, someone is not going to be pleased.
However, we must think of the merchants and not ourselves on this issue.
We see merchandise on the avenue, within the constraints the Planning and Develop Department has proposed, as being logical. We see the guidelines set by this department as workable when compared to the option of having nothing or the compromise proposal of limiting these displays to Friday through Sunday. Most of the businesses which have displayed their goods in the past are closed on Sundays so that is a lost day.
Reading the guidelines proposed by the Planning and Development Department, we believe the measure accounts for having tasteful displays. Under this proposal merchandise would only be allowed along the street or sidewalk within a third of the length of a business’s frontage.
Other restrictions including the exclusion of upholstered furniture, mattresses, electronics, animals or livestock and appliances still apply. Businesses would be able to temporarily load or unload items in the front if there is no alley access.
As one business owner said last week, the avenue is not about beauty, it’s about business and we agree. The beauty from the avenue has to be addressed through fixing cracks in the sidewalks and perhaps rethinking the street scape, which we are certain Main Street Director Charles Williams and the Roanoke Avenue Business Alliance want to address.
Business owners last week stated how enforcement of the ordinance hurt them and we must rally behind them in this debate.
There are countless cities which allow this and we don’t see them turned into an outdoor flea market. We see this as an ingenious marketing tool for businesses which can’t afford to advertise but want the public to have something to see before coming inside.
That’s why Lawson’s Monday through Saturday sounds most enticing and in these tough times we applaud a council member and city council who is pro-business — Editor.
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