Shop owners complain that Lisbon Street improvements will harm business.
LEWISTON – Plans to beautify the south entrance to the city’s downtown drew fire Monday from small business owners.
Proposed trees would hide store signs and awnings, said Rick LaChapelle, owner of the Lewiston Pawn Shop. Extended curbs, like those at the end of Lisbon Street, would reduce the number of streetside parking spaces.
Traffic will snarl and already struggling businesses will suffer, said Norman Rousseau, a city councilor and owner of Twin City Liquidation.
“It just hurts,” LaChapelle said.
Monday’s meeting was the second of two public hearings on the plan to create an attractive southern gateway to the downtown.
Plans would add trees, repave sidewalks and improve crosswalks along Lisbon and Canal streets, from their intersection to Chestnut Street.
Landscape engineer Todd Richardson, who presented the plan, said the aim is to create a pretty, pedestrian-friendly entry into the downtown. For drivers who enter the city from Lisbon Street and those who come in from the south bridge, the effect would be one of a newer, gentler neighborhood.
Chain-link fences would be replaced by wrought iron. Steely overhead lights would be replaced by warmer, ornamental street lights.
The changes would encircle millions of dollars in development within the two-block corridor. Oxford Networks, Andover College and VIP Auto are all developing properties there.
A parking garage is planned and more small businesses, which Richardson called “potential future infill,” are expected.
The new people expected to work or attend classes in the neighborhood will translate to new customers for LaChapelle.
However, the street changes will make it harder for someone to come into his shop, he said. With only three streetside parking spaces nearby, instead of the current 15, people will be less likely to drop in, he said.
It’s a problem that the city has already suffered, said Rousseau.
“One space close by is worth five or 10 in a parking garage,” said the city councilor. Part of the reason businesses on lower Lisbon Street have suffered is the difficulty in parking, he said.
It would look nice, though, LaChapelle said.
“It looks good,” he said. “It really does.”
It is uncertain whether there will be more public discussion about the planned changes. Technically, the plans are cleared to move forward. They will need neither Planning Board nor City Council approval.
However, they may go before the City Council anyway, said Jim Andrews, Lewiston’s director of Economic and Community Development.
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