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Athens business owners voiced frustrations with city leadership at a town hall meeting

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Saraquoia Bryant says that decisions made by Athens city officials may force her to close her uptown business.

Modern image of Court Street in Athens Ohio
[File Photo]
Bryant was one of several small-business owners who shared their frustrations at a town hall meeting this week over what they feel is a city administration that does not do enough to support local businesses.

“It’s probably too late to save my business,” Bryant told the crowd that had gathered at the Community Center on a frigid Wednesday evening.

Bryant was one of the meeting’s organizers. She owns Cool Digs Rock Shop on West Union Street in uptown Athens.

Several months after Bryant opened the shop, major renovations began on the building next door, which sits at the corner of West Union and Court Street, directly across the street from the main entrance to Ohio University.

One of the first things the construction company did was to fence off the section of sidewalk that runs adjacent to the building along West Union.

This meant anyone wanting to access Bryant’s store without jaywalking had to walk down the opposite side of West Union, cross the street at the next intersection and then walk back up.

Bryant says the sidewalk closure significantly reduced foot traffic to her shop, causing a big drop in sales.

“For me, it’s been devastating,” she told the crowd, “and my experiences with trying to get the assistance of our elected leaders has been just as heartbreaking.” 

Other business owners echoed this sentiment.

“I really can’t think of any example of where the city has ever helped us or made any sort of real accommodation to assist us in opening and operating a local business,” said James Wanke, an owner of three Athens businesses, including the Silver Serpent smoke shop in the uptown district.

Wanke and other business owners contrasted their experience with what they see as special incentives offered to encourage large, out-of-town corporations to open up chains in the city. This, they said, is eroding the city’s identity as a place committed to preserving its unique local character.

“It seems to me like our city government is more interested in big businesses coming in than supporting the people who work here,” said Barbara Stout, who owns Athens Underground, a vintage clothing store on Court Street.

“Athens is small, it is isolated,” Stout said. “What makes it wonderful apart from the people and the nice scenery is we’ve always had a certain funk — there are all these funky little shops. It’s going away. We’re turning into a small, isolated version of any large town.”

Michael Wood, owner of Republic of Athens Records and a City Council member, told the audience there was something they could do to immediately improve the fortunes of local business owners.

“You can vote with your feet. Don’t wait for your political leaders. … You don’t have to buy at Amazon. You can buy a book at Little Professor,” he said, referring to an independent bookstore in uptown Athens.

“It’s totally fair to be mad about things that aren’t working — you should be. But also you do have power. And so please show up, buy rocks,” Wood said, in a reference to Bryant’s gem store. “They’re struggling. You can show up now and do something that will actually change something.”

Don Wirtshafter, a local attorney, suggested that when a project is proposed that will cause disruptions to the community, a plan be required up front that will address the impacts and how to minimize them. These are known as community benefit plans, and if the city is unwilling to do this, he said, the residents of Athens can require them through an initiative.

“If we’re a strong enough community, we can make every developer come to the table with our community, examine the impacts on the community, examine what our community needs are, and try to find a middle ground where this developer can help our community and help deal with the impacts that their development’s going to have on our community,” Wirtshafter said.

Keith Chapman, who owns a jewelry store in uptown Athens, agreed this is a good place to start. He said many of the projects causing disruptions are beneficial to the community but there’s too little thought put into how to lessen the impact.

“I’m asking the officials whenever a project comes to their table to first ask, how are we going to do that project with zero interruption? Because that’s an easy thing to handle upfront,” he said. 

 Others suggested local merchants band together and become more active in lobbying for their collective interests, and improve the lines of communication between the business community and city leadership.

Mayor Steve Patterson, who was in the audience along with several City Council members, picked up on this theme. The city could create a small-business committee, he said, or appoint a liaison, “someone whose job is to continue to work with businesses, understand businesses, and be that conduit between city government and the local businesses.”

Vanessa Kaukonen, who owns a boutique store in uptown Athens, said she hoped the city officials in attendance took what they heard over the course of the nearly two-hour-long meeting to heart.

“You have to listen to what’s happening. The community will rise up and you may be out of a job because we won’t elect you,” she said. “I want to work with you. I think they want to work with you. I really do. But clearly I hope you’re listening because they’re frustrated.”