ROSWELL, Ga. — The Roswell City Council approved a framework for the seven-member temporary taskforce that will advise on a proposal for a pedestrian promenade on Canton Street.
At a special-called meeting June 21, the council weighed the qualifications for those serving on the panel, their responsibilities and a timeline for recommendations.
The proposal to close Canton Street to cars, making it a pedestrian “promenade” on summer weekends, has drawn fire from some residents and business owners. The street closure would extend from Ga. 9 to East Alley.
The city introduced the plan on Facebook in May, and it has since drawn opposition from some who cite concerns over parking, revenue impacts and public intoxication.
City officials, residents and business owners agreed at a May 19 City Council workshop to form two separate Canton Street task forces to study the proposal: The city task force will aim to provide formal recommendations on the proposal to the mayor and council. A separate, shop owners’ task force hopes to come up with its own plan for Canton Street, but business owners emphasize their task force may determine it impractical or unwise to close the street at all.
Instead, at the workshop business owners John Michael Brunetti of Rock ‘N’ Taco and Jenna Aronowitz of 1920 Tavern said the focus will be on “activating” the area.
The pair initially set a three-week timeline to come back to City Council with a plan. Aronowitz said she and Brunetti met multiple times to gather info about “activating” the area without closing Canton Street. According to Aronowitz, the mayor sat down with Brunetti for a private meeting where the business owner presented the shop owners’ ideas.
“He did tell the mayor the ideas, he did show (Wilson) exactly what we discussed,” Aronowitz said. “The mayor said it was a great idea and he loved everything about it, and then he just trashed it.”
The local business owner said she does not feel “optimistic” about the creation of a city task force because she does not feel the mayor listened to her and Brunetti’s suggestions.
Brunetti said he does not have an official comment on the situation because he does not want to create divide among customers with different opinions.
At the June 21 meeting, city officials proposed a framework for the city’s task force that would include several local business owners on and near Canton Street. The task force will recommend measures to the mayor and City Council but will not be able to set policy or “seek additional alternatives.”
The seven-member task force will consist of four business owners on or within 1,000 feet of Canton Street, two residents living within one-half mile of Canton Street, and one resident selected at-large from within the city.
After the drafted framework was presented, Councilwoman Sarah Beeson asked for the task force to have an open application process.
The council decided for an online application process running from June 22 to July 2 for eligible residents. Councilmembers will review applications and select members by July 10. The mayor and each councilmember will nominate one task force member. The chair of the task force will be elected by the appointed members, Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson said.
Once appointed, the task force will have 45 days to provide a final recommendation to the mayor and council. The task force will disband after 90 days.
Roswell resident Susan Tyser, a vocal opponent of the proposal, urged the council to look beyond Canton Street for a pedestrian promenade.
“There’s other areas in Roswell that a promenade may be better suited to,” Tyser said.
She also raised concerns with the framework for the task force.
“The document you gave us indicates that you want it to be successful, you’re pushing it to be successful,” Tyser said. “The reason you have a task force is to look at the possibility of something, and where there is a possibility there’s also possibility it won’t happen.”
In the task force framework, one of the stated goals is to “mitigate negative impacts” of the potential Canton Street closure. Tyser said that document does not indicate any problems that must be overcome.
Councilwoman Christine Hall referenced one of the first public meetings held on the topic in which residents shared concerns and potential negative impacts of the closure. Those concerns, focused largely on parking, revenue and public intoxication were written on a large notepad.
Hall said she wants to “make sure those (concerns) are incorporated in the taskforce because that’s what they’re being brought forward to do.”
The framework for the task force states the members will discuss items on their agendas approved by the city administrator and the chief operating officer. Discussions will occur during public meetings, which will include 15 minutes of public comment at the end.
While the original timeline stated task force members would have to provide a recommendation to the city within 30 days, pushback from councilmembers and residents said the timeframe was “not adequate.” The council adjusted the plan to 45 days.
Some residents said there is urgency around the Canton Street closure, though.
Laine Bristow, owner of Bristow Hair Company on Canton Street, said the community needs to be more informed about any action taken around Canton Street, because many residents are unclear about whether the plan will proceed at all.
“Whether or not this decision is made to do this now or to do this later, it would be good if we let our community know that the decision has been made, because what I’m hearing in my salon is that the businesses have killed this deal,” Bristow said.
Many of her clients, she said, favor the proposal, if its “properly planned and executed.”
Roswell Mayor Kurt Wilson said the goal of the task force is to be “open ended,” while solving the problems surrounding Canton Street.
“We’re saying, big picture, can you solve for the Canton Street promenade on a trial basis?” Wilson asked. “That’s really the equation.”
