Given other side of story, council bends toward the ‘other side of the street’

The other side of the weekend East Main Street downtown walking mall story slapped an abrupt about-face to the Front Royal Town Council’s initial impetus to end the Coronavirus recovery-driven initiative after hearing from two business owners on August 10, urging an end to the practice.

On August 10th Kelly Walker (The Studio: A Place for Learning) and Inna Kolesnik (Nicolle’s Jewelry Designs) gave the council a petition with 20 signatures, representing seven downtown businesses and eight residents in support of their call to reopen Front Royal’s Historic Downtown Business District’s East Main Street to weekend vehicular traffic.

ViNoVa co-owner Chris Kenworthy urged a more measured decision to preserve something that is working for many E. Main St. businesses and presented 594 signatures of residents and tourists, accompanied by 15 downtown business owners, favoring preservation of a downtown walking mall concept. Royal Examiner Photos by Roger Bianchini – Royal Examiner Video by Mark Williams

But what may have helped sway council from too hasty a decision on August 24th was Chris Kenworthy (ViNoVa tapa bar and restaurant), one of the 10 business owners of 11 speaking in favor of maintaining some semblance of the walking mall on a more permanent basis, handing council a counter-petition in support of the weekend walking mall. Kenworthy told the council that the petition contained 594 signatures, representing 15 downtown businesses and numerous town and county residents and tourists supporting the weekend walking mall idea.

Kenworthy called the weekend walking mall opposition “short-sighted” coming from a “small number” of downtown businesses.

C&C Frozen Treats William Huck, who took the lead in assisting the Town in getting proper permitting for the weekend walking mall street closures, told council they had given pandemic emergency management-strapped and struggling downtown businesses “hope” with their initial proactive approach and implored them not to pull the rug out from under that hope.

C&C Frozen Treats William Huck told council they had given ‘hope’ to many downtown merchants and asked that hope not be abruptly pulled away.

“You all have given us an opportunity as business owners to continue to move along as we saw fit within reason on Main Street, to advertise our business, our community, and our love for one another,” Huck told the council, pointing to the symbiotic relationship that had grown between the downtown business community and the town government during a time of social and economic chaos.

“But there’s hope. You all have given us hope. So, allow us as the chance as Main Street merchants and downtown organizations to come down together and find a way through to the other side.

“It’s not me against them or her against me … or I don’t like this person because of something he said 20 years ago, that’s not what this is about. This is about the here and now and the community … as one as a community. And let’s show the world what Front Royal is,” Huck concluded.

Only one person, Main Street Pawn’s Ralph Waller, spoke against maintaining some form of the walking mall at least through the fall tourist season. “Boy, I feel out of place here tonight,” Waller said as he reached the podium after six consecutive speakers urged council not to prematurely abandon a proactive and overall successful reaction to council’s late May idea to stimulate downtown businesses, particularly restaurants, as the governor’s Phase 2 COVID-19 Emergency Management reopening guidelines kicked in.

‘Boy, I feel out of place here tonight,” Main St. Pawn owner Ralph Waller commented after following 6 consecutive pro-walking mall speakers to the podium. While against the E. Main closure on principal, Waller suggested a pared-back compromise.

Waller acknowledged the honest emotion on display by proponents of the walking mall street closures but suggested local government must deal in facts, rather than emotion. Waller said that while the East Main closure didn’t impact him since he had previously closed on Saturdays, he noted others were impacted more directly.

“Maybe we can reach a compromise,” Waller suggested, adding that he believed the Friday afternoon to Monday morning closure was “totally wrong” and too oppressive for some businesses.

Perhaps taking up Waller’s challenge to deal in facts, rather than emotion, Kenworthy’s ViNoVa business partner Rachel Failmezger presented some numbers to council. She told town officials that through the entire month of April ViNoVa had made $4,900 with a zero payroll overhead, surviving on owner and staff volunteer work. During the last three days of May when the walking mall plan was first implemented for the Memorial Day weekend, the business took in $10,000. And over the past month ViNoVa’s payroll had climbed back to $20,000, she said, largely on the back of the added walking mall outdoor seating.

“We need your help to keep Main Street alive,” Failmezger told council, adding that more than numbers, “This is about people – I don’t want to have to let them go again,” she said of her staff.

Following her husband and business partner Tim to the podium, Vibe Properties and Front Royal Brewery’s principal Kerry Barnhart became emotional several times, first in recalling having to lay off 85% of her staff when the state COVID-19 Emergency Management directions went into place in April; then again in talking about being able to bring them back as Phase 2 Emergency Management reopening under pared-back social distancing guidelines kicked in, in conjunction with the Town’s walking mall initiative.

Above, Vibe Properties and FR Brewery’s Tim Barnhart preceded his wife, Kerry, below, to the podium. Both urged reconsideration of abrupt closure of the walking mall concept, which they noted has benefited four businesses in their E. Main investment properties. Below, Kerry Barnhart becomes emotional talking about the April layoff of 85% of their staff.

Others speaking in favor of some level of continuation of the downtown walking mall concept were Keith Menefee of the Down Home Country Bakery; Arlene Link of The Kiln Doctor; Virginia Beer Museum proprietor David Downes, though Downes primary topic was a revisiting of his opioid drug crisis initiative, reporting the local death of a 14-year-old girl since his appearance two weeks earlier, Edwin Right, Claire Schmidt and Tim Ratigan.

Jacob Meza told council he thought their collective “half-hearted” commitment to the walking mall plan was partly responsible for the impasse, leaving business owners and patrons unsure of the Town’s long-range plan for its Historic Downtown Business District. Meza suggested a more long-range commitment to whatever potential compromise strategy might be reached.

Vice-Mayor Bill Sealock, chairing the meeting for the vacationing Mayor Tewalt, reiterated his call for maintaining a partial opening with all variables on individual businesses taken into consideration. One suggestion he added was the consideration of some aspect of handicap parking as close as feasible to the walking mall area.

In the face of lost community festivals, a financial bonanza for many downtown businesses, Meza lauded the council’s initiative to stimulate a return to out-of-the-home dining and the occasional socializing toast “to remind us we’re human”.

Councilman Meza suggested a long-term commitment to whatever council concludes as to a solution on the walking mall concept so that business owners aren’t left in a month-to-month limbo as to the future of the downtown business district.

In the end a unanimous council consensus – with Lori Athey Cockrell and Mayor Tewalt absent – appeared reached to seek a mutually viable compromise on portions of East Main Street to remain closed to weekend vehicle traffic, likely through the fall tourist season, and possibly as a recurring annual seasonal initiative.

See this sometimes riveting public imploring of the council not to undo an overall positive initiative believed to be taking hold as fall weather and the tourist season approaches, and council’s discussion of a more permanent path forward in this Royal Examiner video.

Other Monday meeting topics included final approval of a non-binding franchise and pole agreement with LUMOR Networks Inc, doing business as SEGRA, to provide and maintain a fiber optics communications network; passage without discussion of three-item Consent Agenda including the recently presented 2nd Amendment Resolution committing the town government not to exercise the authority granted to it by new state legislation authorizing municipalities the right to ban firearms from certain government buildings, properties and meetings; and a resolution on the naming of the Town Wastewater Treatment facility for recently retired 40-year employee Timmy W. Fristoe.

Also, see council candidate Bruce Rappaport’s work session prequel call for the council to abandon its plan for a second, unilateral Economic Development Authority, which was the topic of a post-meeting work session closed session and open session discussion. That work session will be covered in a second Royal Examiner story on Monday’s town council business.