WESTFIELD—Local businesses are saying that the city’s construction and parking issues are having negative impacts all around downtown.
Business owners are altering their plans, including contemplating closing shop, due to lack of available parking for themselves and their patrons. Although the city has attempted to alleviate parking issues and has maintained that the finished product will greatly improve the downtown area and local economy, some current business owners are concerned that it may be too little too late.
Alternative Furniture storefront.
“There’s so many uncertainties I have that are still unresolved,” Marie Petlock, owner of Alternative Furniture at 170 and 172 Elm St., said about the parking issues.
Petlock said that she has seen her business revenue diminish since construction has begun and parking has become difficult to come by, especially after the Franklin St. parking lot was closed in March. Because of this, Petlock is now strongly considering closing her shop.
“Right now it’s 100 percent that I’m leaving,” she said. “I don’t want to leave, but when you can’t do what you want to do you don’t have a choice.”
In Petlock’s situation though, the merchandise may play into the lack of business, along with the parking. Petlock deals in mostly larger merchandise, such as dressers, tables and other large pieces of furniture, so maneuvering the pieces can be difficult and buyers have to be firmly invested in a purchase. She’s aware of the impact that the merchandise has on the situation, and still feels that the parking has compounded the issue.
“It’s the nature of the business and location,” Petlock said. “If my merchandise was smaller, it would be easier… But we offer something different.”
Petlock claimed that for her store, the front door is the only feasible way to move furniture in and out, and that in order to move furniture into or out of a vehicle, two parking spots are necessary. But in front of the store there are just four parking spots, all in a row, and all are on-street parking. And according to her and others, those spots fill quickly, and they are unable to claim them all the time.
But according to Peter Miller, city advancement officer, the problem for Alternative Furniture may not have been a sudden one.
“Even before construction started Alternative Furniture had concerns about parking. They had a lot of deliveries that had to be made and it was a challenging spot for them,” Miller said.
Back alley, behind Alternative Furniture, Whip City Music and other businesses.
However, Alternative Furniture has not been the only business that has claimed a negative impact by the situation.
Doug Cotton, owner of Whip City Music at 126 Elm St., said that business has been down for him since the beginning of construction, too.
“Parking has affected business definitely,” Cotton said. “I get a lot of complaints from customers about having to park a block away, and it’s an inconvenience for me when I have to park across the street and bring large equipment over.
“Some people won’t take lessons until the parking is taken care of,” he added.
In addition to Petlock and Cotton, other businesses have complained about the strain it has put upon them.
One anonymous manager said that their food establishment doesn’t serve lunch anymore because of the issues.
“All these businesses are down to no parking, so it’s not worth it to be open during the day anymore,” the anonymous manager said.
Additionally, Vincent Placzek, owner of The Nook at 8 Franklin St., noted that he has been frustrated with the issues, although not as much.
“Business has definitely decreased during the building process,” he said. “It’s been a hassle figuring out where to park, but it doesn’t bother me too much.”
In an attempt to alleviate these issues, the city of Westfield opened up the Franklin St. parking lot behind Elm St. on June 6, which is currently still under construction. While the spots are limited, it does allow some space for loading and unloading, and Mark Cressotti, city engineer, also said that the businesses there can utilize the cobblestone way that is behind there as a roadway to move merchandise in and out.
Parking lot under construction on Franklin St.
However, this opening coincided with the closing of the Arnold St. parking lot where the new PVTA pavilion will be, which happened on June 5. So, it seems that no additional parking was made, but rather spaces were supplemented with others.
City officials have sympathized with small businesses, though.
“These people have lived through constant construction, and [Mayor Brian Sullivan] has stressed that we need to take a break with construction and give these businesses a chance to establish themselves,” Miller said.
“It’s the most regrettable part of my job,” Cressotti said. “We try to be as careful as we can and get the message out and work with people, [but] it’s unavoidable.”
According to Miller, the complaints of parking tie into the larger goal, which is to have more foot traffic within the city overall.
“For a successful downtown, we need to have a culture where people aren’t expecting to park at the front door of where they’re going,” Miller said. “That’s part of what the effort is–to make it to have enough things to walk a block or more for.”
