In speaking to the Friends of Pat Evans, err, I mean Friends of Downtown, Meadowmont developer and Board of Trustees Chair Roger Perry identified the same problems that I have been talking about in regards to Chapel Hill's downtown.
"You have to treat downtown with deference," Perry said. "You've got to put more money into downtown than into outlying areas." That means more and better lighting and, in the case of one particular area, sidewalks.
"That we don't have sidewalks along Rosemary all the way is nuts," he said. "We're tying an arm behind our backs." [...]Perry saved his most critical words for the "irresponsible ownership" of some downtown buildings. Without mentioning specific names, he riffed on "absentee owners" who don't act as good stewards of the town or their properties, allowing buildings to slip below fire code standards and otherwise exhibiting no sense of urgency in filling vacancies in prime retail locations.
- heraldsun.com: Perry weighs in on downtown issues, 12/5/08
I also agree with him in that there are a lot of good things about downtown right now, including the businesses on the West End. Perry proposed stepping up enforcement of existing laws like safety codes on negligent landlords, that does seem like the least the Town could do. But I think there's got to be more we can do about deadbeat property owners. Your ideas?
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maybe Roger Perry should mimic the airport strategy
Why doesn't he get with his same cronies in the legislature to give him & his local buddies the power to make anyone do whatever he wants in Chapel Hill? It worked with getting total control over airport siting and, what the hell, he is entitled to such power isn't he?