More than 100 companies require a repair of the Burlington “crisis”

Remove the sidewalks from the sidewalks. Clean graffiti. Prohibit public nudity in and around Church Street. Force an outdoor popular soup to move away from the city center buyers.

It is among the actions that city leaders should take to face the economic “crisis” in downtown Burlington, according to more than 100 local businessmen.

Business owners – including many retailers and marquee restaurants along the Church street market – Friday, an open letter to the mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Demanding action on 10 fronts.

“Companies close, long-term employees appreciated leave and residents are choosing more and more to avoid the city center,” said the letter. “Those of us who stay feel neglected and more and more dangerous.”

The letter was published one day after the owners of Nectar’s, the legendary music place on the main street, said that they would close the bar for the summer.

The signatories stressed the well-published problems of public poisoning, real estate crime and homeless to note an prolonged drop in customer traffic in the city center. This was aggravated by disturbing traffic closings associated with long -term repairs to infrastructure on Main Street and the economic uncertainties associated with national commercial policy, said Marc Sherman, owner of Outdoor Gear Exchange.

Outdoor Gear Exchange experienced a 40% drop in pedestrian traffic this year, said Sherman. The nominated restaurant at James Beard prices, Honey Road, experienced a 20% drop in guests, Seven days reported last month. HOT coffee owners. On Main Street did not take a pay check this year.

Business owners pushed the city to compensate them for the construction impacts, but the officials said it was not possible given the city’s budgetary crisis. Also Friday, Mulvaney-Stanak dismissed 18 workers in the city, including certain union employees, with the aim of reducing a budgetary gap by $ 8 million.

A number of companies have closed from the pandemic, although the new tenants continue to germinate in their place along rue Church.

The letter requires other modifications to the city’s parking garages, which have become hot spots to stroll it and the consumption of drugs. Companies want safety improvements and two hours of free parking for buyers. They also want the city to force food and not the cops to move its daily distribution of free lunch far from the market garage.

The city hired a sheriff deputy to patrol the garage during the day last year, but allowed food and not cops to continue its voluntary work on public property.

The letter also provides for a greater police presence in the city center and “restorative” consequences for people who commit crimes, such as attributing them to picking up needles and rubbing human waste from sidewalks.

On this front, companies also want the city to strengthen its cleaning programs in needle and graffiti.

City regulations do not give up people to wander naked throughout the city, although the dishabling in public is not authorized. The signatories of the letters say that it is time to cross public nudity in the “city center”.

Finally, they asked managers to improve signaling around construction zones and constantly evolving street closures, and to spend taxes for a coordinated marketing effort to promote the city center and “restore it as a dynamic, safe and inclusive space”.

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comments on Friday afternoon.

Sherman, in an interview, said that business owners also planned to seek support measures for state officials in the coming weeks. He also called on residents to continue shopping in local businesses. Everyone has an interest in supporting a healthy local economy, he said, noting the value of the properties high in Burlington.

“Their property values ​​are fantastic because of the city center of Burlington,” he said. “But if they chose to shop online and the suburbs, they abandon their neighbors.”