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Danville approves retail stimulus plan
Downtown business owners to get assistance

by Geoff Gillette

Starting this spring, Danville retailers will be getting some help in weathering the financial storm rocking the nation. At their March 3 meeting, members of the Town Council unveiled a $400,000 plan to provide economic stimulus to the downtown business district.

The plan, crafted by Economic Development Director Jill Bergman and Transportation Director Tai Williams, would help businesses using a multi-tiered approach.

Williams said staff had studied the situation with many downtown businesses and determined that the initiatives introduced in the stimulus package would focus on three initiatives.

* Retail retention - helping existing businesses with marketing and promotion efforts.

* Retail expansion - bring further retail into the downtown area through permit processing assistance and fee waivers.

* Modified zoning - temporary relaxation of zoning requirements related to promotional signage and outdoor seating as a means of generating outdoor traffic to retailers.

Each area contained several initiatives. In retail retention, business owners could take part in a marketing workshop to provide some strategies for staying afloat in a down economy. Grants would be available to give businesses the chance to seek out audits and marketing assessments. Retailers would also be given an individual page on the Danville In Style Web site.

Under retail expansion, grant funding assistance would be available to help with facade design consultation and improvements. Additionally, this initiative would provide a "business concierge" service for permit processing assistance. Fees would be waived for permit plan checking, building inspection, business licensing and in lieu parking fees.

More than two dozen area retailers attended the meeting to give their feedback on the new stimulus plan. First to speak to the council was Danville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Melony Newman. Newman congratulated the council on its forward thinking and promised the full support of the Chamber.

"We are ready to partner with the town. We are happy to promote this program, walking the town business to business. Just let us know how to help," she said. "Together as partners with a unified vision we can navigate through these challenging financial waters."

The majority of the business owners were very supportive of the plan and appreciative of the effort by the council. Some had concerns about how far the plan will go.

Blair Barry of Barry and Volkman architects said that a $1,000 grant for a façade improvement consultation does not provide enough funding for any meaningful architectural design work. "We get many tenants and building owners who want improvements and are amazed at how much it costs," he explained.

Peter Cedolini, owner of Mangia Mi, questioned the town's in lieu parking fees. Cedolini said fees such as this are keeping businesses from coming into Danville.

"What's more important? Getting these fees or sustaining a business for a longer period? The town needs to be cognizant of what these one-time fees could mean for new businesses," he stated.

Cedolini said his restaurant has the ability to add 20 more chairs inside but he is unable to do so because of the fees. "There's got to be some wiggle room in here to let us grow. I'm struggling right now."

Small Fry Shoppe owner Linda Stolow also called on the council to re-evaluate parking restrictions

"I think we have to change our attitude about parking," she claimed, "because every time we give someone an overtime parking ticket of $25 we turn them away."

Other questions had to do with which businesses would be eligible for some of the stimulus initiatives and how many businesses would be able to take advantage of the plan.

After more than an hour of testimony, council members discussed the plan. Councilman Mike Shimansky said the plan was a good first step. Shimansky said that he agreed with much of the plan but felt there were some problems, such as spending money on consultants for "brand imaging." He suggested postponing the vote on the stimulus package in order to consult with other businesses in town and get their feedback.

Councilman Mike Doyle disagreed. "I don't believe we should put this off another moment. We've already talked about this three times. Town staff has been working on this for months," he said.

Doyle added that he believes the town should get the stimulus plan into the field as soon as possible in order to send the message to the business owners that the council shares their concerns.

The stimulus plan was moved with several caveats: Existing businesses should be allowed to utilize the initiatives available for both new and existing retail; the money allotted for the façade improvement designs should be increased to $1,500; and the number of businesses that will be helped in the initial implementation of the plan was increased from 10 to 25.

The change to the funding level increased the cost of the plan from $200,000 to $392,500. Mayor Newell Arnerich explained that the town retained almost $500,000 in unattached Community Development Funds, so the increase would not result in any general fund monies being moved over to cover the cost of the program.

Council members approved the plan unanimously, and staff members were directed to make the requested changes. Once those are completed, businesses will be able to apply for one of the initiative plans starting in early April.

Posted by Katy, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2009 at 11:15 pm

Wow! Not only is Socialism alive and well in Danville with the City Council doling out our tax dollars but the Danville Weekly has:

1. Decided to totally revise this article after comments by readers,

2. Totally deleted the comments on the original article by readrs.

Socialism sponsored by the Danville City Council and ...

Censorship by the Danville Weekly as engineered by Danville Weekly's Mr Geoff Gillette.

We suggest you put back up the original article instead of trying to defend the actions of the council as you did when you appended your own defense of such an ill-conceived act by this council.

Journalism in Danville? Not yet.

Posted by John, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 17, 2009 at 7:47 am

I sure hope that katy is misinformed but I don't think she is.

I agree that DVW should put up all its original content and the posts. That is censorship.

I would at least love to hear their side of the story. Maybe they could post it in this forum.

Posted by Geoff Gillette, Danville Weekly reporter, on Mar 17, 2009 at 9:58 am
Geoff Gillette is a member (registered user) of Danville Express

I would like to take a moment and respond to Katy's comments.

1. The article was not "totally revised". In between the time that the article was originally posted and when we went to press, changes were made in editing the story for our print edition. Further quotes were added, some language was changed to make the story read better. As a result of reader comments, we also attempted to make it more clear that the funds in question were not general fund monies, but instead came from the Community Development Agency, which is a separate entity. The funds must be used for downtown improvements and can't be used to pay down debt, etc.

2. On Friday, we post our entire print content, both in pdf form and each story as it appears in the print edition. The original story (and all the attendant comments) were not in fact deleted. The story remains online at Web Link, but the headline position it held was lost. The current architecture of our website does not allow for the new and old stories to be merged or linked. If we re-do an online story, it will come into play with an 'updated' tag on it. Regardless, in this case neither the story nor the comments were deleted.

3. No one's comments have been removed, changed or otherwise altered. There were two threads that emerged from this story due to the posting of the print version. Regardless, the changes to the updated story were not censorship but clarification and did not alter the facts that were presented or present them in a different light.

4. The Danville Weekly has taken no editorial position on the stimulus package. The story presented was a recounting of what happened at the meeting where the stimulus package was announced. If Katy had appeared at the meeting and expressed these concerns to the council, we certainly would have reported it.

5. The Town Council meets this evening and has a section called "For the Good of the Town" if anyone wishes to attend and express their concerns about this stimulus package. If you intend to do that you should get there at the beginning of the meeting as that is one of the first items on the agenda.

You can also write a letter to the editor, attend one of the monthly Mayor's mornings (next is 7:30 a.m. April 10 at Chow's), contact your council members or contact me directly. 837-8300 ext 234

6. We only remove comments from the Town Square forum when they are offensive, libelous or in some way violate our Terms of Service.

Posted by Concerned Citizen, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Mar 18, 2009 at 11:44 am

I, too, was disappointed to learn about Danville taking part in the federal stimulus package. The Danville Town Council needs closer scrutiny by our local residents.