[Summit] zoning variance for Clarke's Florist location

[Theresa Mathiesen]

OK, now imagine Seven Stars with idling car engines and honking drivers.
(We live 3 houses away from the Citizens Bank drive-through.)

-- Elva

On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 10:26 AM, Breslers <breslerfamily at gmail.com> wrote:

> We live one block from Seven Star and although the bakery seems a pretty
> cooperative neighbor, it is NOT a residential area use! The coming of the
> bakery and the ballet school effectively extended the Hope Street active
> commercial zone another block. They both have very busy times. There was
> almost NO traffic from the previous gas station and funeral home (except the
> occasional funeral)  Now the overflow of cars park on our block and side
> streets, and there is constant parking, pulling in and out on both blocks of
> Hope, plus a steady flow of U-turns on our corner of Hope & 6th, when
> previously they were rare.  It is not horrible, but it is definitely NOT
> residential traffic.  I am glad to see successful businesses, especially in
> this economy, but I am NOT glad of all the noticably more car exhaust and
> road dirt that comes in my first floor apartment, which I am breathing in
> and well as washing up off the window sills.
>
> I have not said anything about Clark's so far, because I don't live in that
> stretch, but actually I do know a little about it because my husband
> occasionally goes to the Chabbad House there. That area already can be busy.
> Chabbad itself causes very little traffic (~5-6 cars come) once a day in the
> evening, but there are two eating establishments on the corner which can
> have quite a bit of cars, to the point of disturbing the flow of traffic.  I
> don't think adding another place, just a block away, on that narrow street
> would be a good idea.  It would definitely make a real active commercial
> zone in that area.
> North Main makes more sense, or maybe down in the college commercial zone.
>
> Mrs B
>
> On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 9:51 AM, Kate Sanders <katesndrs at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Thanks for informing us about this! I also oppose this variance. North
>> Main needs businesses, and this sort of business would be very appropriate
>> there, but it's a bad idea in Clarke's current location and would set a very
>> bad precedent. A business like the one they propose would be a great
>> addition to North Main. In their current location, if they want to close
>> down and sell, replacing them with residential property would make the most
>> sense.
>>
>> The only positive argument I've seen in this thread is that we already
>> have a lot of traffic at Seven Stars Bakery and that's okay. First --
>> Clarke's is in a very different neighborhood from Seven Stars. The whole
>> stretch of Hope Street from Olney to Rochambeau is almost entirely
>> residential; you can count the retail businesses there on the fingers of one
>> hand (maybe two, if you include medical offices).
>>
>> Second, I like Seven Stars and am glad to see a neighbor succeed so well
>> -- but the level of traffic there is not okay. Even in a neighborhood full
>> of businesses that pull in car traffic, Seven Stars is the most problematic.
>> How to deal with it is another issue for another thread (it's not entirely
>> Seven Stars' fault, and they have tried), but let's not make that kind of
>> traffic the threshold for acceptability, especially in a predominantly
>> residential area.
>>
>> Third -- does anyone remember when Domino's Pizza was in the same area as
>> Clarke's, near Tortilla Flats? Their delivery cars were a real hazard in
>> that residential area. Domino's move to North Main was an improvement for
>> both Hope Street and North Main. Allowing this new drive-through proposal
>> would erase that progress.
>>
>> Finally and most importantly, if Clarke's closes, where will we be able to
>> buy their pies? :-)  Could they perhaps combine forces with Seven Stars and
>> sell pie there, as well as coffee and bread?
>>
>> Kate Sanders
>> Sixth Street
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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