MINUTES
Town of Blowing Rock
Board of Commissioners
Special Meeting-July 29, 2008
The
Town of Blowing Rock Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at
8:30 pm for a Special Meeting with HyettPalma Inc. to discuss the Blowing Rock
Retail Strategy. Present were Mayor J.B.
Lawrence, Commissioners Bobby Ball, Keith Tester, Albert Yount, Phillip
Pickett, and Tommy Klutz. Others in
attendance were Town Manager Scott Hildebran, Planning Director Kevin Rothrock,
and Assistant Town Clerk Erica Cline.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor
Lawrence called the meeting to order at 8:45 p.m.
New Business
Mayor
Lawrence welcomed Ms. Delores Palma and Mr. Doyle Hyett from HyettPalma Inc.
and thanked them for hosting the Public Hearing on the Blowing Rock Retail
Strategy. He asked the other
Commissioners for their comments on the Public Hearing held earlier that
evening.
Commissioner
Ball stated that she was disappointed with the hearing because most people were
asking for things that were already in the works. She said people are unaware of the hard work
and dedication the Council has put towards improving the town. She gave an example of the signage and
parking issues mentioned at the hearing, which the Council is already working
towards solving. Commissioner Ball stated
if Council did everything the speakers suggested their taxes would increase.
Commissioner
Klutz agreed with Commissioner Ball and stated there are 94 parking spaces
available along
Commissioner
Yount stated that he is concerned with the assembly of property that would
affect the historic look of the town. He
also stated he is not totally opposed to a parking deck.
Commissioner
Tester declared that the Council must address issues such as parking because
the town is changing and growing. People
and businesses are changing and if the town wants to attract high-end customers
Council must recognize and plan for these issues. If not, the town will be a low-end tourist
town.
Commissioner
Klutz stated that if the parking deck is built the tourists/customers will not
stay. They will be able to go to their
cars and leave at the end of the day.
Commissioner
Tester agreed that building the parking deck is a risk and that is why Council
is looking closely at the project. He
stated that if we want tourists during the day we must have parking. We don’t have large modern motels and it will
be cost prohibitive making the small motels in town accommodating due to land
values. The small motels will go away
and become retail.
Commissioner
Klutz stated that the majority in attendance at the meeting at
Commissioner
Tester stated that the town isn’t a “Mom and Pop” place anymore. The owners of the retail and restaurants want
the property for resale value.
Commissioner
Pickett stated he owns two motels in town.
Boone will build bigger motels because they can go up four stories in
height. He suggested that Blowing Rock
should do the same along the corridors and create more green space by building
higher and narrower. People now want
state of the art equipment and it gets expensive. He also said that satellite parking wouldn’t
work because people wouldn’t want to wait on a bus, and the town needs parking.
Commissioner
Tester said that to halt building in Blowing Rock is just a dream. We need to protect the strip of
Commissioner
Klutz suggested putting parking on the streets the town wants to develop.
Commissioner
Tester suggested putting parking where the growth is.
Commissioner
Yount asked Commissioner Pickett as a motel owner, does he feel the effects of
more hotels being built in Boone.
Commissioner Pickett responded that 23 years ago occupancy was higher
because people would stay for a month at a time. The traveling community has changed; people
can’t afford to stay as long now.
Commissioner
Tester stated that the TDA has been here for four years and spent $500,000 on
advertisements but the occupancy rates have not increased. We must increase the mid week stays in
town. The motels are in danger because
it isn’t economically feasible to upgrade.
The town needs more activities to do than just shop on
Mayor
Lawrence stated he appreciated the turnout and the town input at the hearing
earlier in the evening. He agreed with
Commissioner Tester that the Village is what people love.
All
commissioners agreed to focus on protecting Historic downtown Blowing Rock from
Commissioner
Ball suggested making the Village a true Historic District.
Planning
Director Kevin Rothrock mentioned that this discussion is similar to the efforts
in 2003 and 2005 to establish a Town Center District separate from the rest of the
Central Businesses with differing rules and standards.
Commissioner
Tester stated that he would rather have quality over quantity of visitors. Promotions may say they want the upscale
visitor but the town isn’t doing what it takes to get them here.
Commissioner
Ball stated that Council should look at other places rather than Sunset Drive
for more parking because people will not walk that far due to elevation.
Commissioner
Tester stated the shuttle and satellite parking would only work for events.
Commissioner
Ball stated if the shop owners wouldn’t park on
Commissioner
Tester stated the Police Department should start enforcing the two hour parking
limit because the tourists expect it.
Mr.
Hyett stated that the town is in a transition period, it’s just a matter of
what the town will do about it.
Ms.
Palma informed Council about the other meetings scheduled for the week with a
public presentation scheduled for September.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m.
MAYOR ______________________________
J.B. Lawrence
ATTEST ______________________________
Erica Cline, Assistant Town
Clerk