Some Downtown Farmington business owners were surprised this week with the news that the streetscape project will make yet another dent in their wallets.
Imagine that you’ve supported a public construction project whose plans have always been presented showing flower beds and benches in the area around your business. Now imagine that, with construction well underway, you’ve been told that if you want a bench or flower bed in front of your business, you’ll have to pay for it.
Mind you, the people with whom I’ve spoken will probably just bite the bullet. What upsets them most is not the cost, but the fact that no one mentioned it during the planning process. Now, they feel as though they’re being pressured into paying, because without benches and flower beds, the streetscape isn’t going to look the way the streetscape should look.
Communciation really is everything, isn’t it?
–Joni Hubred-Golden
Publisher, The Enterprise
10 Comments
May 30, 2009 at 10:33 pm
They expected different? In Farmington? Really?
May 31, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Bob M,
Even though our town will always experience some rough patches, overall this is a nice city with lots of volunteers involved in their community. You seem to be aware of what’s going on. I encourage you to get involved and contribute your time and talent to make things better. You don’t want to have a reputation as someone always on the sidelines complaining and never contributing.
June 1, 2009 at 6:53 am
Mr. Freeman,
You’ve obviously missed my point – and Joni’s. I was commenting on the ongoing and historic lack of effective communication between city officials and business owners/citizens in our town, as was pointed out above and more fully illustrated in Mr. Judge’s piece below.
I have contributed many hours of volunteer work, in Farmington and Farmington Hills, where I live. But thanks for your concern about my reputation.
What I really wish to avoid is the reputation of being someone who positions oneself as a contributor to the community’s well being, while in fact offering up nothing substantive. You know, someone who, although perhaps well–meaning, feels they are a guardian of community values, but in fact serve as a detriment to real and beneficial progress. Someone who feels that communication is a one–way, condescending exercise. This has been and evidently still remains a problem.
May 31, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Joni,
I think I can offer some additional details that will help explain this situation in more detail. Please call me if you want to learn the other side of the story. It’s unlike you not to ask first.
June 1, 2009 at 12:31 am
When I was a journalist, my aim was always to present multiple sides in my news stories. As I’ve pointed out here before, this is a blog, and I’m no longer a reporter. (Although I have been told more than one journalist has taken information from The Enterprise and gone on to write those multi-sided news stories.)
If there’s another point of view or clarifying information, this is the place to share it – in the comments section.
June 1, 2009 at 12:32 am
I spoke with both Vince Pastue (City Manger) and Annette Knowles, (DDA Director) regarding the streetscape several times over the past year. During the meetings we spoke of changing the layout in front of my building, because I do not want a bench placed on my property.
This is not new information. I have been clear on this from day one. The temporary construction agreement presented to me still has the bench in front. I have rejected it, as I said I would.
Just this past week I have been asked to pay for an unknown cost of a flower bed; the other option is that they will just restore my concrete the way that it is today. That’s okay but I would have liked to integrate something along the lines of the streetscape project. I think this should have been worked out when I first informed the city that I did not want a bench.
I clearly understand the difference of the improvements that the city is making in the right-of-way vs. private property.
That said, I think the streetscape plans clearly benefit areas where buildings are built up to the right-of-way. I can’t imagine the amount of time/money the City has spent on parking issues for these very same businesses; the same businesses that will now greatly benefit with beautiful new landscaping up to their font door.
The inequity of the plans accentuates the strained relationships that started long ago with the businesses that have parking and the businesses that have not personally addressed their parking needs.
I think Vince and Annette both have good intentions but have failed to act prudently. I have always been willing to work with the city but I feel they have crossed the line. They have let too much buildup.
What Joni is saying is that they have poor communication, and they do.
June 2, 2009 at 2:12 am
I closely observed the workings in Farmington and Farmington Hills for five years, and I can say without even the hint hesitation that communication between city government, citizens and business owners is a consistent problem in both communities. Farmington Hills has a more sophisticated approach, largely because it’s a big city with more resources, but Hills officials recently endured a fairly divisive master plan process, in large part because certain critical aspects were not well communicated. In Farmington, improvements have been made, and I know more are in the works. But I still can’t get a timely agenda from the city’s Web site, and business owners have, over the years, complained that their voices have not been heard.
People who point to problems aren’t necessarily just complaining. Sometimes, they’re hoping somebody notices and does something to improve the situation.
June 4, 2009 at 12:14 am
Joni,
We are seemingly well informed…. but I have no idea of what you are talking about.
They just put a masssssive blank space infront of our building which I assume they (the DDA) are planning on filling in with greenscape.
I know city officials read this blog. Sure would be nice if they spoke up on this forum, came by and told us what is going on or just put something in our emails so that we are all equally informed.
June 4, 2009 at 5:27 pm
We spoke to Annette Knowles today in regards to the flower beds within the public portion of the streetscape. They will not cost us anything extra.
I believe what you are speaking of are those areas on private land. I am not familiar with those issues.
June 9, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Sunflour, that’s how it was explained to me – this is not an issue unless you own affected property.
I have given this post a great deal of thought, not because of the specific issue, but because of the responses it has generated. My point was never to argue the specific conflict. That’s between the city, the DDA and property owners, and I understand a resolution is in process. But why did this conflict arise at the point of construction? We’ve been talking streetscape for years. To me, that indicates an issue with communication, and I’ve heard that issue raised since the day I arrived in Farmington almost 10 years ago – with a different city council, a different city manager, a different DDA director. I’ve heard it from people in business and people who volunteer and people who were surprised by a rezoning in their neighborhood.
While progress has clearly been made, there’s more work to be done. Someday, maybe we’ll have that conversation. But not today.