Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1449252
4 UCW FEBRUARY 9 - 15, 2022 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM STAFF PUBLISHER Bill Bowman Bill@upandcomingweekly.com OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Paulette Naylor accounting@upandcomingweekly.com EDITOR Emily Sussman editor@upandcomingweekly.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Hannah Lee assistanteditor@upandcomingweekly. com PRODUCTION MANAGER/ GRAPHIC DESIGNER Dylan Hooker art@upandcomingweekly.com STAFF WRITERS Elaina J. Martin Alyson Hansen MARKETING ASSOCIATE Linda McAlister linda@upandcomingweekly.com DISTRIBUTION MANAGER/SALES ADMINISTRATOR Laurel Handforth laurel@upandcomingweekly.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Pitt Dickey, Thomas Kelsey, Dr. Tamara Holmes Brothers, Kathleen Ramsey, Rabbi Dov Goldberg COVER Designed by Dylan Hooker –––––––––––- Up & Coming Weekly www.upandcomingweekly.com 208 Rowan St. P.O. Box 53461 Fayetteville, NC 28305 PHONE: 910-484-6200- FAX: 910-484-9218 Up & Coming Weekly is a "Quality of Life" publication with local features, news and information on what's happening in and around the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Up & Coming Weekly is published weekly on Wednesdays. Up & Coming Weekly welcomes manuscripts, photographs and artwork for publication consideration, but assumes no responsibility for them. We cannot accept responsibility for the return of unsolicited manuscripts or material. Opinions expressed by contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. The publisher reserves the right to edit or reject copy submitted for publication. Up & Coming Weekly is free of charge and distributed at indoor and outdoor locations throughout Fayetteville, Fort Bragg, Pope Army Airfield, Hope Mills and Spring Lake. Readers are limited to one copy per person. © 2020 by F&B Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of editorial or advertisements without permission is strictly prohibited. Various ads with art graphics designed with elements from: vecteezy.com and freepik.com. 82 64 82 83 79 82 63 64 83 66 64 65 THU FEB 10 FRI FEB 11 SAT FEB 12 SUN FEB 13 MON FEB 14 TUE FEB 15 61 35 62 37 63 36 58 30 52 25 49 28 Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Partly Cloudy Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Mostly Sunny Association of Community Publishers PUBLISHER'S PEN Well, it's big news in North Carolina when the Fayetteville/Cumberland County CEO of the Eco- nomic Development Corporation announces indus- try giant Amazon is bringing 500 new jobs into our community with its 1.3 million square foot distribu- tion center. at's precisely what Robert Van Geons reported last week. is announcement marks the second Amazon facility to grace our community. An Amazon delivery center will open on Dunn Road soon. ese announcements are excellent news and are a pretty good indication that Van Geons has ad- ditional positive economic news forthcoming. What makes the Fayetteville community so attractive, you may ask? Well, many things, but I would think the two biggest influencers are our location with easy access to the I-95 North-South corridor and a young and abundant labor force of thousands of men and women exiting Ft. Bragg each year. So, what's not to like about creating hundreds of jobs and bringing thousands of new residents into our community? With this being the case, you would think the City of Fayetteville would be doing everything possible to welcome these new arrivals by showcasing our unique local amenities that create and enhance our quality of life. Indeed, we would want to welcome these newcomers, intro- duce them to our diverse resources, invite them to engage in our abundant cultural activities, explore our historic Downtown, shop in our stores and eat in our restaurants. At best, you would think city leadership would not intentionally create barriers for this kind of introduction and indoctrination. You would think. Well, I was surprised to learn that the Downtown Alliance Vice-President C. John Malzone an- nounced that they would be introducing and circu- lating petitions asking the City to eliminate evening parking fees Downtown because the Alliance feels these fees are stifling the growth and development of local downtown businesses. e Alliance is a non-profit 501(c)(6) entity of people, organizations, and businesses in downtown Fayetteville. Over the last decade, the Alliance has invested in and nurtured a hospitable, consumer-friendly down- town business district. ey have facilitated many changes that have allowed businesses to grow, expand and prosper by implementing suggestions and improvements that have made the Fayetteville Historic downtown experience more inviting, excit- ing, and enjoyable. Outdoor merchandising, better signage and sidewalk dining options are just a few of their many accomplishments. ese business and property owners are located in a Municipal Service District. e MSD requires that they pay an additional self-imposed property tax. is allows Alliance members to have a voice on how these tax dollars are spent and weigh in on policies and ordinances that directly and indirectly affect their businesses and livelihoods. Specifically, the Downtown Alliance will distrib- ute petitions to downtown businesses, make them available online, and ask all residents to sign on and support the demand to end nighttime paid parking and charges for event parking during ball games. e petition also supports limiting the number of event paid-parking locations and hours. Free evening weekend parking supports downtown busi- nesses, restaurants, museums and entertainment venues that visitors and residents love and support. is action comes 18 months after enforced paid parking went into effect. During this period, it has become evident that people avoid coming downtown in the evenings to enjoy movies, dining, shopping, fitness and even just walking to enjoy the city's ambiance. Alliance members are adamant that there should be no on-street parking enforce- ment after 5 p.m. at any time. Without a doubt, paid parking and evening enforcement drives away visitors and customers. It's a complaint heard repeatedly and is becoming too hard to ignore. Paid parking after 5 p.m. and during events on weekends has harmed downtown businesses' cultural and economic vitality. We agree. is practice hinders patrons and investors and penalizes visitors who readily support downtown Fayetteville, art venues, restaurants or cultural events. We don't agree with or understand why the Downtown Alliance organization carries this initiative forward by itself? e evening and event parking fees are a problem that affects the members and operations of several organizations. Is there support from the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce? e Cool Spring Down- town District? Fayetteville Convention & Visitors Bureau? And, the Arts Council? ese are questions that need to be answered. e Downtown Alliance is made up of busi- ness people. Entrepreneurs operate bottom-line, profit and loss operations that become a reality and "hard truth" of their success or failure. ese are not agencies that depend on government fund- ing, specialized community grants or donations through the generosity of others. ese folks have their livelihoods on the line every day. ese small to medium-size local companies are the lifeblood of a prosperous city center. Up & Coming Weekly sup- ports this petition and feels the City of Fayetteville should be doing everything within its power to encourage, support and nurture these businesses rather than continually imposing barriers and hard- ships impeding their success. e organizations mentioned above, all relevant in their own right, need to step up and support those who have readily and unselfishly invested in Fayetteville's Historic Downtown community. I end with this reality and insight: Every prosperous City has a thriving downtown community. It's time to dismantle all the organizational silos, count the empty storefronts and the businesses that have come and gone out of business trying to support the downtown com- munity, and start working as a dynamic coalition in support of a city we love. To support this initiative, contact the Downtown Alliance at shopdowntownfaync@gmail.com, www.faydta.com, Facebook/fayDTA. To sign the petition, contact any Downtown Alliance down- town merchant or sign online at www.change.org/ freeparkingdowntownfaync. For more information or questions about the petition, contact C. John Malzone 910-813-7378. And, as always, thank you for reading Up & Coming Weekly. BILL BOWMAN, Publisher, UP & COMING WEEKLY. COMMENTS? BILL@upandcomingweekly.com. 910-484-6200. Downtown business owners petition city council to end evening paid parking by BILL BOWMAN