Main Street Workshop Creates Some Vocal Outcries(posted May 6) "Dog and pony show", "smoke and mirrors" and "disappointment" were some of the adjectives used by business owners to express their irritation and opinion with the little information they received at Main Street Workshop conducted by Speedway Redevelopment Commission and American Structure Point. Many of the Gasoline Alley and Main Street business owners left the three-hour May 1 meeting at the Brickyard Crossing Hotel before it was over. Forty-seven people attended the meeting, and at one point, it became standing room only as they listened to Shane Burkhardt of American Structure Point give an hour narrative of the near-year-long planning process. Burkhardt could not answer specific questions concerning time lines, costs or definitive plans. He said the purpose of the workshop was to gather input from the group so Main Street would be its own special unique place. The audience was not in the mood to listen to the history of master planning process and all of its public input meetings. Burkhardt was often interrupted with questions that indicated that people were ready to engage in a question and answer format, but they were only put off by Burkhardt's inability to answer questions mainly because SRC has not finalized the master plan. Some of the vocal outcries had tones of anger. At one point, Burkhardt asked a gentleman to leave if he could not refrain from his outbursts. About half of business owners and residents remained interested enough to participate in the brainstorming session to develop the physical characteristics of the streetscape. Susan Luebbert of Speedway Monogramming organized the meeting so business owners on Main Street and Gasoline Alley could have a dialogue with the Speedway Redevelopment Commission concerning the magnitude of the redevelopment plans. She believed the small business owners were being overlooked through this master planning process and wanted to give them an equal opportunity beyond the big businesses of Praxair, G.M. Allison Transmission and IMS. There appears to be a communication problem for people to find current information from the SRC. As of May 6, the SRC's web page has not been updated since the minutes from the February 19 meeting. The May 21st meeting will be at the High School Auditorium to unveil the Main Street Master Plan at 6 p.m. Although Luebbert used the word disappointment to describe the meeting, she did give the SRC and American Structure Point the benefit of the doubt by saying maybe she misinterpreted the format because the word workshop is printed on the flier. The redevelopment plans have a greater impact than beyond Speedway's boundaries. Although not confirmed, there is a discussion of vacating Grande Avenue so G.M. Allison Transmission can operate the plant more efficiently. The road currently divides the plant. In a previous meeting, HNTB Engineer John Myers, who conducted the transportation report, was hesitant to vacate Grande Avenue because the action provided no transportation benefit. It would only add to the deficit of the insufficient number of north-south corridors on the Westside. The vacation is only to help business efficiencies for Allison. Vacating Grande Avenue could have dreadful consequences to businesses like Lyndhurst Lawnmowers, Earl's Indy, and Indy Motor Sports Supply that rely on the street for customers to reach Gasoline Alley. Charlie Patterson, developer, did not really receive any answers about the fate of Gasoline Alley if Grande Avenue was closed. Patterson developed Gasoline Alley about 30 years ago and has 12 tenants. Nancy Back of Lyndhurst Lawnmowers thought the meeting was going to discuss the whole area, not just Main Street. Back did not stay for the rest of the meeting. Some business owners participated in the workshop regardless if they believed their input made a difference. The workshop involved placing dots on streetscape photos to indicate their preference in paving, lighting, public art, lights, or to draw future ideas about Main Street. Mark Lamb of Speedway Trophy did stay for the entire meeting, but said the workshop to provide public input was more of a smoke and mirrors game. "I am afraid of eminent domain if I am not able to afford to convert my store front like the master plan. I just spent $50,000 on improvements. I don't want to be dictated how I must decorate my building," he said. Lamb thinks the redevelopment might be too late. "The wealthy residents have already moved out of the county. They are shopping at Avon, Plainfield and Brownsburg," he said. He doesn't think the redevelopment will attract them back especially if the majority of Main Street owners are small businesses. Lamb also explained some of the businesses owners vocalized their anger in the meeting because they are scared. "The fear is coming out as anger. They don't know how to communicate," he said. Scott Albrecht, resident, did not want change to Main Street. He likes it the way it is because it brings a comfort zone of familiarity to him. He thinks the redevelopment has a major flaw to it because the town is not a major metropolitan town with Main Street being the major thoroughfare. He attributed to the low participation in planning process to the inability of businesses owners to be able to ask questions about issues that could threaten their livelihood. Dave Meko of Gasoline Alley said he would relocate to Main Street if it had accessibility from Crawfordsville to Main Street. However, that did not match the visionary concepts presented at the end of the workshop. Jennifer Lyttie of Affaire All Occasion Catering did not want a direct access from Crawfordsville to Main Street because it would mean moving from 4900 W. 16th Street where she operates her business. "The limited access defines Main Street," she said. She used the phrase "it felt like it was the end of the world" for her when she heard of the potential demolition of 4900 W. 16th Street to put in an access street. One comment heard was "Small business owners should not have to be sacrificed at the expense for new businesses to come." The Lytties have been doing business for eight years in Speedway. To emphasize their importance, Joshua Lyttie explained, their biggest client is catering for the Loop For Life where approximately 4,000 Harley Riders circle the city. "We serve about 35 hotel size pans full of barbeque," he said. It takes about 45 days of organization and logistics to feed the riders. Speedway Redevelopment Commission President Scott Harris said access is important to bring visibility to Main Street. Lamb and Lyttie contended it would just bring in high-speed commuters that would not stop at Main Street shops. Lyttie suggested the success of Main Street would be linked to the quality of jobs it creates. She did not want to fill the vacant holes with "Joe jobs," that would be created by proposed future retail plans of a bookstore, ice cream parlor, and clothing shops. She recommended the town should try to attract bio medical jobs and educational institutions to the Speed Zone. Traci Lipp recommended a community center or a fitness center to the area. She wanted a safe place for children to be able to play. Many of the participants also ruled out the idea of a roundabout at Georgetown, 16th Street and Crawfordsville Road. However, Burkhardt said traffic studies show roundabouts are safer because they are less likely to cause t-bone accidents compared to the signal lights. At the end of the meeting, Liz Glover, owner of Charlie Brown's, approached Burkhardt with a sympathetic tone, saying she was glad she didn't have his job because of the way some of the crowd treated him. "I am tired of them beating up on him (Burkhardt) and tearing this project down. We hired him to do a job because we need to do something to our tax base. If we don't fill these vacant spots with businesses, the homeowners will make up for it with higher taxes to cover the losses. We need to let him do his job. If we don't like the plan (that is unveiled May 21), we can change it," she said. |
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