Each sheet of paper tacked up at the Hart Center last week had a question penned across the top as business owners and others gathered to discuss problems facing Davisburg’s downtown area.
‘What words describe the Davisburg hamlet??
Armed with magic markers, participants moved from one question to the next.
‘How should the hamlet relate to the surrounding area??
‘As a successful downtown, what would a typical visitor’s experience be like??
The meeting was what many hoped would be the first step in solving a series of ongoing challenges facing business owners in the block-long downtown area ? also known as the hamlet.
‘I’m really pleased with the way the meeting turned out,? said township planner Dick Carlsile of Carlisle Wortman Associates, noting turnout was higher than expected. ‘We had a lot of energy in the room, a lot of good ideas and some real interest from people who want to improve and revitalize the area.?
Revitalization of the downtown area has been on the minds of business and property owners for years, but recently surfaced and gained attention as it was named a ‘priority? among some candidates running for a township board seat in the Aug. 5 primary election.
At an April 10 township board meeting’from which her husband, Supervisor Collin Walls recused himself’Diana Walls, chair of the Downtown Davisburg Association and owner of Walls Realty, told the board work has been done to improve the downtown area over the course of several years.
However, she said, the association has arrived at a roadblock and cannot go any farther without backing and assistance from the township on issues such as infrastructure and enforcement of ordinances.
The following month, the board authorized funding up to $5,000 for contracting with township planner Carlisle Wortman Associates to implement a work plan for downtown Davisburg.
Last week, the firm facilitated a meeting for business and property owners to begin looking sharing ideas for what they need and want.
Once information gathered at last week’s meeting is assimilated and a vision created, Carlisle said, the firm will embark on a second step to help develop the organization and commitment to implement ideas.
‘The harder part will be to solve the disagreements over parking and other issues,? he said. ‘But we’ll get there, that’s what we do.?
Disagreements, indeed. Although many business and property owners hesitate to talk about the issues in depth or on the record, it was clear a long history of dispute and hard feelings hang in the air over Broadway.
Still, a number of new and unique businesses’including an organic coffee and tea house, a new yoga studio and the Healing Center, where a number of practitioners offer varying modalities to soothe the mind, body and spirit’recently arrived in the hamlet, most built on the momentum of Sweet Grass, a metaphysical shop also offering classes, workshops and entertainment.
Autumn Anderson of Widdershins, where customers can create blends from hundreds of essential and fragrant oils, said she came away from last week’s meeting feeling hopeful about getting some help from the township.
‘The place looks drab, it needs to be freshened up,? Anderson said, noting new awnings and a few potted plants could go a long way.
But drabness is just the beginning. Many business owners would like to see a sewer system, new lighting, replacement of broken sidewalks and a solution to a parking problem that causes more than just a lack of places for people to leave their cars.
On more than one occasion, a customer has returned to Anderson’s store with a note that was left on his or her windshield.
‘Thank you for you inconsideration in parking,? read one, written on a 3×5 card. ‘We will do the same for you at your business.?
Anderson said she was embarrassed, apologized and gave the woman some free merchandise.
‘What else could I do?? she said. ‘That customer spent a long time in here, spent a lot of money, then came back with this note and said ‘Uh, this doesn’t exactly make me want to come back to your town.??
The complaining from other businesses grew even louder when Anderson brought in a psychic reader and attracted a much larger crowd than she’d anticipated.
She doesn’t get it.
‘Why would you be mad about a hundred people coming into town?? she wonders. ‘It’s a hundred people who might stop at your party store, or a hundred people who might decide ‘hey, this is a nice place? and maybe want to buy some real estate.?
But Anderson refuses to be discouraged.
She’s excited about a concert series she recently started, has made friends with many of the other business owners in town, and says she’s just ignoring the others and having fun.
‘We are an artistic community ready to pop,? she said. ‘There’s such good energy here. I’m just going to run over all the negativity.?
Sweet Grass owner Cheryl Deane said she was hopeful after the meeting, but felt discouraged the following day after a second meeting, scheduled on the initiative of business owners’took a turn for the negative.
Deane said she’s getting used to hearing it.
‘There’s one group of people who says ‘OK, everyone, let’s come together,? and another group that says, ‘well, this is the way it’s always been done,?? she said. ‘Change is not their thing. We just keep hearing ‘can’t, won’t, can’t won’t, and ‘this will never happen.??
Like Anderson, though, Deane said she refuses to be discouraged.
‘We’re better off going forward on our own, and I hope as it starts to grow, the others might see that this is a good thing for Davisburg and want to get on board,,? she said. ‘I’m definitely open to keep working with them, and with the township, but in the meantime I’m forging my own way and making things happen.?
But in the other camp, just down the street at the Candle Factory, co-owner Melissa Beznitz said she knows how the newer people feel.
‘They have the same attitude I had when we first got here,? she said, noting she and her mother and sister opened the business about 8 years ago. ‘I’ve just been so disappointed and discouraged over the years.?
Why? Come back next week as The Clarkston News continues its look at downtown Davisburg. We’ll tell you what other business owners are saying, look at some ongoing problems, and explain what the township can’and can’t’do about providing assistance with everything from sidewalks to sewers.