Graham, Donna
From: Jay Coffey
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2022 9:19 AM
To: Board of Aldermen
Ce: Graham, Donna; Cummings, Tim
Subject: Main Street - expanded seating and barriers
CAUTION: This email came from outside of the organization. Do not click links/open attachments if source is
unknown.
As a resident and businessowner, I’m opposed to the continuation of the expanded
sidewalk tables and barriers on Main Street for upcoming summer months. Certainly the
outside seating was needed for the summer of 2020, it probably saved many businesses
and jobs that year, but we are now in a different time and the need no longer exist.
The reduction of parking and travel lanes constricted travel up and down Main Street,
during the summer months I would avoid traveling on Main St. as much as possible, I
would go far out of my way to get over to the Broad Street Parkway to avoid the
congestion from Library Hill to City Hall. When you were on Main Street or the side
streets, you usually sat for several traffic light cycles before you could move a block.
The restaurants aren’t the only businesses downtown, one type of business can’t be to
the determinant of the other businesses on the street. Every business on Main Street
pays taxes and should have full access to the sidewalks, the parking in front of their
business, and the public should be able to travel without impediment on the sidewalks
and streets. The limited sidewalk seating worked perfectly for years, and it should be
returned.
If there is another reason why the city feels the expanded seating is necessary, it should
be transparent and disclose the reason, open it up for debate. It doesn’t make sense to
say the expanded outside seating is needed for Covid safety when it is safe to eat inside
for 8 months of the year, but not the other 4 months of the year. This summer is the
time to return to normalcy and not expend the seating and install the barriers.
Jay Coffey | Executive Vice President | The Coffey Insurance Agency
2 Wellman Avenue, suite 320 Nashua, NH 03064-1463
P:603-883-6600 | F: 603-882-0091 | C: 603-566-1141 | email: jcoffey@coffeyins.com
Coffey
The Coffey
Insurance
Agency
*The Right People, The Right Coverage. The Right Choe”
