Councillors have pumped the brakes on a plan to pedestrianize part of Barrie’s downtown this summer.
During city’s council meeting on Monday night, councillors considered a report from staff which recommended “pedestrianizing” Dunlop Street between Mulcaster and Clapperton Streets from June 15 to Oct. 15 this year, to allow for a pedestrian and cyclists-only experience in Barrie’s downtown.
Coun. Mike McCann raised concerns about the planning of the initiative, wanting to see a business plan from Barrie’s Downtown BIA outlining marketing and promotion plans before council proceeded with approving the street closure.
“Reading this report, I really feel it’s putting the cart before the horse,” said McCann. “The buck stops with city council. Dunlop Street is our responsibility. The BIA shares in that responsibility, but at the end of the day, we are responsible, so I would like a little more control.”
“A lot of the businesses are not co-operative. Some of them just don’t want this,” he added.
Coun. Robert Thomson said he didn’t think it was appropriate for council to get involved in the inner workings of the BIA.
“I think we have to be a little bit careful,” said Thomson. “The (executive director) of the BIA should be the one making decisions. If some of the members want it, and some of the members don’t, that’s the job of the board and the executive director (to deal with). I think we’ve been down the road of getting involved in the BIA. We should probably step back sometimes. That’s my opinion.”
McCann also suggested a hybrid model could work well, where Dunlop Street could be closed to vehicles only on certain days, or at certain times.
“This is going to affect curbside delivery. It’s going to affect retailers who have drop offs and pick ups. I just think we need more time. The worst thing we could do, is do something half-assed,” he said.
“Is this really the best year to close down Dunlop Street?” he added.
Coun. Jim Harris asked Andrea Miller, the city's general manager of infrastructure and growth management, if a hybrid model was one staff could be able to accommodate.
“Logistically, it may be more of a challenge for our operations staff to put up barricades and close things, say, on weekends only, but we’re open to exploring everything,” said Miller.
Mayor Jeff Lehman clarified that the original motion read that even if city council approved the motion to pedestrianize Dunlop Street, that the BIA would be the body to make the final call on how implementation would occur.
“The motion, as it was approved by general committee last week, basically says we’re going to let the businesses decide,” said Lehman.
Coun. Sergio Morales, who sits on the BIA board as an interim member, said the BIA had not yet decided on their course of action but would be reconvening later this week.
Lehman clarified that the amendment would mean the BIA would have to come back to council to present their plan before council would give final approval on the project.
“I have heard in the corridors from business owners and coffee shops who are dead opposed to this for reasons relating to their own businesses,” said Lehman.
“I’ve also heard widespread support," said the mayor. "My own view is we should be listening to business owners themselves, most directly. They’re the ones who can tell us, most directly, whether pedestrianization will support them or not.”
Kelly McKenna, executive director with the Barrie Downtown BIA, said the pedestrianization idea came from a survey completed by downtown merchants. About 82 self-identified business owners participated.
“It was sort of a weird split, with about 70 (per cent in favour of pedestrianization), and 30 against. It wasn’t an overwhelming majority. So, to make sure we sent personalized emails to businesses who would be directly affected, and that’s where we had some real concerns raised from some of our shop owners,” said McKenna.
According to McKenna, concerns from Dunlop Street business owners included accessibility for older clientele and questions about marketing.
“I do think we need to take a moment to consider those concerns and develop a plan that would be progressive but also not detrimental to the businesses on Dunlop that are already suffering,” she said.
McKenna said the board would now be meeting on Wednesday to be updated on the process and determine next steps.
“I really want to listen to the board’s input. They have a lot of experience,” she said. “Then we’ll start thinking about maybe putting together a working group who would put a proper plan together. We don’t want to do this, especially in these times, in a half-baked way.”
McKenna added that she really liked Couns. Mike McCann and Jim Harris’ suggestion of a hybrid model, and would be exploring it as part of the BIA plan.
The BIA will report back with a business and marketing plan during the general committee meeting planned for June 22.
