Frederick Maryland Online

According to this article we may have another park in Frederick some day.

A Frederick County Circuit Court judge has ruled that the City of Frederick may move forward in court to seize 148 acres in Frederick’s West end for a $39 million regional park.

In January, property owners Hargett Farm Development, LLC asked Circuit Court Judge Theresa M. Adams to dismiss the city’s condemnation of its land off Butterfly Lane.

The company bought the property for $6.5 million in 2005. Frederick’s Planning Commission had approved construction of 158 townhouses on the property, part of a 645-home plan to be built by Pleasants Development of Clarksburg.

The city is seeking to instead use the land as a regional park. Its plans include substations for police and public works personnel, as well as improvements to the intersection of Butterfly Lane and Md. Route 180.

In her decision, received by City Hall Monday, Adams denied Hargett Farm Development’s request.

There is still some legal wrangling to do, but hopefully the city will prevail and we will get some much needed park land.

~Guy~

I noticed today that there are two new signs along Rte. 355 for a new shopping center, scheduled for fall of 2009 (they finally took down the signs that said fall, 2007).  One sign is across the street from May’s Restaurant and the other one is across the street from Office Depot.  Does anyone have any information on what is going in there?   What would you like to see go in there?   We certainly don’t need any more office/school supply stores or home improvement stores or craft stores on this side of town.  It’s probably not considered residential enough to support a grocery store but one would be nice over there.  Personally, I prefer the open space myself.

Lizfrog

They have rescheduled the meeting to the 23rd.

Based on the feedback received and the anticipated attendance, we have decided to reschedule the Residents Focus Group for Wednesday January 23rd, 6:30pm at City Hall in Room 212.

Again, our goal is to have a group of 10-12 City residents to participate in a focus group-format discussion on the retail mix within downtown Frederick. This will be followed in early February by a larger format Community Meeting, on a date still TBD. A final report with recommendations will then go to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen at a workshop in late February or early March.

We’ll be sure to keep everyone informed, and appreciate your assistance in keeping your neighbors informed as well. Thanks for your interest and hope to see you on January 23rd.

Best regards,

Heather Gramm

Heather Gramm, CEcD

Business Development Specialist

The City of Frederick Economic Development

101 N Court Street, Frederick, MD 21701

Phone 301-600-6362 or Fax 301-600-6363

hgramm@cityoffrederick.com

Frederick: A Great American Business Destination

Fungusblogs

I received this email from the city today and wanted to share it with others:

If you could send the email below to the NACs in an effort to bring together a focus group on downtown retail and the topic of national/independent retail, that would be greatly appreciated. We would like a cross-section of residents from across the City. Also, I realize that it’s quick notice to meet this Thursday - if you don’t get a good response, we could also hold the meeting on Wednesday January 23rd, same time and place.

Good afternoon,

The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development and the Downtown Frederick Partnership have teamed up to explore the future of retail in Downtown Frederick. Through an extensive community outreach initiative, we are seeking input from a broad range of audiences through a variety of resources to determine what people love most about downtown; what they least like; what they want to see more of in downtown; and their opinions regarding the mix of national retail and independent merchants within Downtown.

The first 2 phases of this outreach are complete. During November and December DED and the Partnership collected over 1,000 responses to an online survey from people throughout Frederick County and the region and interviewed 315 customers on the sidewalks of Downtown. Our next phase is a series of focus groups, and we need your help.

Please join us on Thursday January 10th at 6:30pm for the Downtown Retailers focus group. The focus group will be held at City Hall, in meeting room 212.

Through this effort we hope to delve into the more complex, in-depth reasoning behind the results of the surveys. This is a critical piece of this effort and we hope that you will be able to participate. Please respond to this email at your earliest convenience with whether or not you can attend, or call me directly at 301-600-6362.

Best regards and happy New Year,

Heather

Heather Gramm, CEcD

Business Development Specialist

The City of Frederick Economic Development

101 N Court Street, Frederick, MD 21701

Phone 301-600-6362 or Fax 301-600-6363

hgramm@cityoffrederick.com

Frederick: A Great American Business Destination

Fungusblogs

According to this article from Slate, a new Starbucks doesn’t necessarily spell doom and gloom for local coffee shops. In fact, they may help them out.

Strange as it sounds, the best way to boost sales at your independently owned coffeehouse may just be to have Starbucks move in next-door.

That’s certainly how it worked out for Hyman [an independent coffee shop owner]. Soon after declining Starbucks’s buyout offer, Hyman received the expected news that the company was opening up next to one of his stores. But instead of panicking, he decided to call his friend Jim Stewart, founder of the Seattle’s Best Coffee chain, to find out what really happens when a Starbucks opens nearby. “You’re going to love it,” Stewart reported. “They’ll do all of your marketing for you, and your sales will soar.” The prediction came true: Each new Starbucks store created a local buzz, drawing new converts to the latte-drinking fold. When the lines at Starbucks grew beyond the point of reason, these converts started venturing out—and, Look! There was another coffeehouse right next-door! Hyman’s new neighbor boosted his sales so much that he decided to turn the tactic around and start targeting Starbucks. “We bought a Chinese restaurant right next to one of their stores and converted it, and by God, it was doing $1 million a year right away,” he said.

Anyone want to open up a coffee shop next to the new downtown Starbucks?

~Guy~

I just wanted to do a quick follow-up on the whole debate on chains in downtown Frederick by letting you all know that the survey I mentioned in that post is now available on the City of Frederick’s website.  This is your chance to let your opinions be counted!

Lizfrog 

From an article by Bradley Olson and Josh Mitchell in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun:

Lawmakers should seriously consider adding Frederick County to the locations where slot machine gambling would be allowed under a proposal for a state referendum being weighed by the General Assembly, several delegates suggested yesterday in a brief hearing on the matter.

“This is a very popular part of the state that we’ve just kind of left alone,” said Del. Frank S. Turner, a Howard County Democrat who chairs a House subcommittee that is considering a Senate bill on slots passed last week.

This is definitely another hot-button issue in our neck of the woods.From a November 3rd FNP article:

Although the state wouldn’t see much of the money right away, slot machines would eventually generate an estimated $700 million annually after several years, according to O’Malley administration estimates. More than half of the money would go toward education.

From the same article:

On the other side of the debate, Comptroller Peter Franchot, who has been an outspoken slots opponent, said he was saddened to see the state pursuing a “sleazy, predatory, corrupt, regressive tax on poor people.”

Franchot pointed out that Maryland once had legalized slot machines. In 1949, Charles County earned the nickname “Little Vegas” for having slots, only to have the machines banned in 1967.

“The results were disastrous: corruption and crime, broken families, ruined communities, destruction of things that we care about,” Franchot said at a morning rally against the machines. “Yet, here we are again, going down the same old troubled path.”

What do you think? The only experience I have with slot machines is a few years ago in Las Vegas where I lost about $20 on a nickel slot machine. I didn’t see much thrill in the whole thing but I did notice some people at the same slot machines hour after hour. I have heard the argument that most people who gamble at slot machines are the ones who can least afford to lose the money. I wonder if that’s true. If it is, slots in Frederick could be a very dangerous proposal for many people.

*UPDATE*

A subcommittee of state lawmakers voted today to add Frederick County as a location for slots.

Frederick replaces slots at Ocean Downs Racetrack near Ocean City.

Gov. Martin O’Malley originally proposed five locations for slots in Maryland, but did not include Frederick.

The Financial Resources subcommittee added Frederick because it would compete with Charles Town, W.Va. and make more money, committee members said.

(UPDATE again)

Looks like it’s a moot point, at least for now.

Lizfrog

Lizfrog posted about the Downtown Frederick Partnership’s study on whether chain stores should be kept out of Frederick. This in-depth article by Matthew Robb in the Washington Post explores the issue further.

But as Carroll Creek Park sends out ripples of economic revitalization, some say Frederick is changing too much, too fast. Office buildings and parking decks are multiplying. Residential and commercial rents are rising. Long-term residents are leaving. As the economic tide pushes old faces out and draws new faces in, people are asking: Is quaint Frederick at risk of losing what makes it special?

I wonder how this will shake out?

~Guy~

From today’s FNP, with a promise for a more thorough article tomorrow:

Frederick’s city government and the Downtown Frederick Partnership want four months to study whether the city should keep chain stores out of downtown.

Comments from residents and others show this is something the city needs to at least examine, said Alderman David Koontz, who called for a discussion of the issue at today’s workshop.

Opponents of such a measure believe there is no proof the city needs to keep chain stores out of downtown, and that existing rules already make it hard to attract businesses.

At least 20 other municipalities throughout the country have enacted laws limiting where chain businesses can operate, according to the nonprofit Institute for Local Self-Reliance.

At the moment, six national chains or franchises are in downtown Frederick, according to the city’s Department of Economic Development — Ben & Jerry’s, Five Guys Famous Burgers & Fries, The Temple - Paul Mitchell Hair School, Talbot’s, Orvis-Hunting Creek Outfitters and The Greene Turtle. That’s about 3 percent of the 195 retail shops and restaurants downtown.

The Department of Economic Development has already reviewed the city’s retail market and prices for real estate and rentals, said Heather Gramm, the department’s business development specialist. Now it wants to go out into the community to conduct surveys and focus groups.

Hopefully these surveys will be something that’s easy to participate in and are taken seriously, because there are a lot of people in town with very strong opinions about the issue of chains in downtown Frederick.

Lizfrog 

I ran across the web site for the Frederick Department of Economic Development this morning. There is a lot of good information in their monthly news letter.

The Fisher Building: A Second Chance

The Fisher Building, located adjacent to the Carroll Creek Parking Deck on Creek Side Alley has stood empty for many years, deemed an unsafe structure by City Code Enforcement. The City has awarded a bid to Fitzgerald’s

Heavy Timber Construction for renovation and ownership of the building. Fitzgerald’s will stabilize the structure, preserve the existing building, and create an appropriate adaptive use for the property. For more information, contact Dean Fitzgerald at 301-898-9340.

Lizfrog