MARYANNE FIRTH/Tribune Staff
The Olde Humberstone Main St. Community Improvement Plan took a giant step forward Monday night in city council chambers.
The design option unanimously supported by councillors was developed to maximize on-street planting and landscaping along Main St. It includes the removal of 18 on-street parking spaces between the Weir Bridge and Elm St.
Three new municipal parking lots will be built, adding to existing parking along Main St. W.
Planning director Dan Aquilina said two public meetings have been held to get community input on the CIP. At the first in November 2009, two options for the final streetscape design were presented to the public. Following that meeting, designs were refined based on public input. A third option — the one approved by council Monday night — was presented to the public at a February meeting.
Consultants from MBTW Group can now begin final detailed design drawings.
The city has debentured $4.3 million for the project.
Local business owners and members of the Port Colborne Gateway Association attended Monday's meeting to have their say on the issue.
Linda Sloat, owner of Flirt and @27 on Main St., told council the removal of on-street parking would not have a negative impact on businesses.
"It's time to move forward," she said.
"We can't do half the job and expect results the CIP expected to achieve."
Sloat said the CIP implementation is important not only for local businesses but for the city as a whole.
Frank Danch, owner of Frank's Home Building Centre, said sidewalks and streets are in "dire need of repair," but he disagrees with the removal of on-street parking.
Removing parking on Main St. will "reduce profitability for merchants," he argued.
Danch also raised concerns about businesses being able to receive deliveries with on-street parking removed.
"This is an urban planner's conception of something that's going to turn bad," he said.
Mary Reeves, owner of Mary's Enchanted Garden and a member of the Port Colborne Gateway Association, said Main St. is the major stretch of road visitors see when travelling through the lakeside city.
She said proposed changes to Main St. would encourage visitors to stop in the city and shop, rather than simply pass through.
Reeves said the approval of the third design option is "vital for the overall direction" of the CIP.
"Anything short of Option 3 is equivalent to a Band-Aid. We don't want a Band-Aid, we want a remedy."
Reeves said the overall objective of the project is to make Main St. "more comfortable, more enticing … a destination in itself."
Rev. Albert Briand, of Bethel Outreach Ministries on Main St., believes without ample parking on the street, businesses will suffer.
Briand also questioned whether intentions to narrow the street would impede transport trucks from travelling down the roadway.
"Main St. is the King's Highway … The lifeline of this town is tractor-trailers," he said.
Gateway Association chair Gino Spada said the CIP was created to help local businesses prosper.
He urged council that if a decision was not made Monday, construction may be pushed back until next year.
The project is expected to take five to six months to be completed, he said.
He hopes work can begin in the spring and end "before snow flies."
City staff will be available to speak with Main St. business owners on a one-on-one basis to discuss potential issues concerning deliveries and parking. Main St. landowners may be contacted to discuss potential shared use of private parking lots.