More Than 100 Businesses Seek Relief From Burlington ‘Crisis’

Removing needles from sidewalks. Cleaning up graffiti. Banning public nudity in and around Church Street. Forcing an outdoor soup kitchen to move away from downtown shoppers.

Those are among the actions that city leaders should take to deal with the economic “crisis” in downtown Burlington, according to more than 100 local businesspeople.

The business owners — including many of the marquee retailers and restaurants along the Church Street Marketplace —  penned an open letter to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak on Friday demanding action on 10 fronts.

“Businesses are closing their doors, valued long-term employees are leaving, and residents are increasingly choosing to avoid the downtown area,” the letter states. “Those of us who remain feel neglected and increasingly unsafe.”

The letter was issued a day after owners of Nectar’s, the legendary Main Street music venue, said they would shutter the bar for the summer.

Signatories pointed to the well-publicized problems of public intoxication, property crime and homelessness in noting a prolonged drop in customer traffic downtown. That has been compounded by disruptive traffic closures associated with the long-term infrastructure repairs on Main Street and economic uncertainties associated with national trade policy, said Marc Sherman, owner of Outdoor Gear Exchange.

Outdoor Gear Exchange has experienced a 40 percent drop in foot traffic this year, Sherman said. The James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Honey Road has seen a 20 percent drop in diners, Seven Days reported last month. The owners of Café HOT. on Main Street haven’t taken a paycheck this year.

Business owners pushed the city to compensate them for construction impacts, but officials said that wasn’t feasible given the city’s budget crunch. Also on Friday, Mulvaney-Stanak laid off 18 city workers, including some union employees, in an effort to narrow an $8 million budget gap.

A number of businesses have closed since the pandemic, though new tenants continue to sprout in their place along Church Street.

The letter calls for further changes to city parking garages, which have become hot spots for loitering and drug use. Businesses want security upgrades and two hours of free parking for shoppers. They also want the city to compel Food Not Cops to relocate its daily free lunch distribution away from the Marketplace Garage.

The city hired a sheriff’s deputy to patrol the garage during daytime hours last year, but has allowed Food Not Cops to continue its volunteer work on public property.

The letter also calls for a larger police presence downtown and “restorative” consequences for people who commit crimes, such as assigning them to pick up needles and scrub human waste from sidewalks.

On that front, the businesses also want the city to beef up its needle and graffiti cleanup programs.

City regulations do not bar people from roaming naked throughout the city, though disrobing in public isn’t allowed. Letter signatories say it’s time to outlaw public nudity in the “downtown core.”

Last, they asked for officials to improve signage around ever-shifting construction zones and street closures, and to spend tax dollars on a coordinated marketing effort to promote downtown and “re-establish it as a vibrant, safe, and inclusive space.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.

Sherman, in an interview, said business owners also plan to seek supportive action from state officials in the weeks ahead. He also appealed to residents to continue to shop at local businesses. Everyone has a stake in supporting a healthy local economy, he said, noting the high property values in Burlington.

“Their property values are fantastic because of downtown Burlington,” he said. “But if they chose to shop online and the suburbs, they’re abandoning their neighbors.”