Graham, Donna
From: KEVIN FLYNN
Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2022 9:58 PM
To: Board of Aldermen
Subject: Downtown Barriers
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Good Evening:
| am writing to put forth my opinion regarding the placement of Jersey Barriers on Main Street to
support expanded outdoor dining.
In the spirit of fuil disclosure:
« [donot take advantage of sidewalk dining, but it is something that i support (see below) under
the proper circumstances
e | do go downtown to support other Main Street merchants
Prior to the pandemic, downtown dining appeared to be working just fine, where owners were allowed
to set up tables and chairs on the sidewalk in front of their establishment. If anything, | remember the
City being more restrictive. If | remember correctly, | recall a warm Spring, where downtown
restaurants wanted to put out table and chairs early for St. Patrick's Day. The answer from the City
was NO. Dining was only allowed between certain dates. Let There Be Outdoor Dining! | Nashua,
NH Patch
Now, we seem to be going to the opposite end of the spectrum to accommodate a level of outdoor
dining that | think is not required.
The expanded dining made sense to me when in-door dining was significantly restricted to social
distancing requirements. Businesses would have closed without this accommodation. It was the
neighborly thing to do. But now, those restrictions are no longer there, and it should revert back to
what it was. | also say this because other merchants, who don't serve food and/or drink are being
negatively impacted due to loss of parking on Main Street. How is this fair to them? Other thoughts:
e [am concerned for public safety when both the Fire and Police departments come out so
strongly against this
e |am also not overly impressed with the use of barriers ... even after they were fully decorated
last year. Some looked great, while others looked unsightly ... again: no consistency in how
this was rolled out.
| also don't appreciate the "sneaky way" this all appears to be happening. Even if everything is above
board, it just doesn't seem to be that way, and people are rightfully questioning what is really going
on. What ideas have been presented? Who presented them? etc. etc. etc.
