Members of the business community remain unhappy over results of opinion polling on proposed changes to parts of the downtown core with regard to the Downtown Revitalization Plan. Three options were presented by council at a meeting on July 30,2012 of this year and input was solicited from local businesses regarding possible changes to the intersection of Third Avenue and Hwy. 16.
The businessmen voted unanimously for option A which would have left street parking as it is at present. Council decided to go with option C. The businesses feel that their input was disregarded and are worried about how the changes will affect them. Specifically, changes that would reduce parking and narrow the already busy, winding, and crooked artery of Hwy.16.
"At the meeting we gave them all the reasons we decided and it was unanimous," said business owner Wayne Brown, proprietor of Process 4 art gallery. "Every one of the businesses said option A. And we gave our reasons for option A. And then we got a letter [from council] saying they were going with option C.
"When you look at council's letter, it says that it hopes to encourage tourists to stop and explore. Where are you going to stop if there are no parking spaces? I don't care how beautiful you make our town, they aren't going to stop if there's no parking spaces," continued Brown. "No one is against beautification. We understand that beautification is important to our community, I've had this shop for 35 years, I was the art teacher for three years before that. Beautification is obviously important to me... the aesthetics of this town. Unfortunately they don't consult people like me," he said.
This sentiment was echoed in a July 26, 2012, letter to mayor and council from the acting president of the Burns Lake and District Chamber of Commerce (BLDCC), Ron Zayac which states in part; “The BLDCC is pleased to recognize the Downtown Revitalization Plan as a positive way to beautify the Village of Burns Lake and further promote economic growth and development in Burns Lake.
The chamber was disappointed, however, by the visible lack of respect during the last Downtown Revitalization Committee meeting, as local business owners sought to express frustration regarding the long term stability of their business.
The Chamber is devoted to empowering and supporting local business, and therefore urges the mayor and council to carefully consider the thoughts of local business owners who strive to contribute to sustaining the local economy.”
The letter concludes, “What we are asking for is open dialog with the affected businesses with a willingness to directly answer their concerns.”
When asked about the process, Mayor Luke Strimbold said that when these concerns came up they went back to the Ministry of Transportation who will be in charge of the paving project and asked them for some options around the intersection of Third Avenue and Hwy.16, which were subsequently provided.
“Then we said we’ll discuss this with the business people and try to understand what their concerns are and attempt to let them know what our thoughts and ideas are,” said Strimbold.
The business people opted for plan A, which Mayor Strimbold says reflected the status quo; basically no changes to the intersection.
In the end, he said, both the committee and council felt that option C was the best fit in terms of focusing on pedestrian safety and promoting active transport, which means alternative ways of getting around town such as biking.
“We believe option C is the best option, we actually added some additional parking in front of the theatre and Redferns,” said Mayor Strimbold. “We took all the ideas into consideration, we listened to the business owners and got their perspective, we listened to the committee, and also as a council, we really wanted to pursue the safety and active transport in downtown Burns Lake.”
He would like to do it a little differently next time, Strimbold said. “We as a council recognize that we need to engage our business people earlier on in the process. We’ve learned a lot in this process, we would like to see more engagement in the future, earlier on in the game.”