HomeMy WebLinkAbout091520 CEDOLINI, PETER
Marie Sunseri
From:PETER CEDOLINI <cedolini@me.com>
Sent:Tuesday, September 15, 2020 2:39 PM
To:Marie Sunseri
Subject:Letter for the meeting today...
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Town Council and Management:
I am writing to address two issues that are severely impacting downtown restaurants. I had previously discussed my major
concern in an email to the council and town management which was sent on July 30th. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a single
response or even a confirmation of receipt. As mentioned in that email, the reduced closure of Hartz Avenue is now proving
its drastic depression on the remaining restaurants to the north and south. I have had several conversations with the
other downtown restaurateurs and the result has been unanimous amongst my peers. The closure is providing an economic
and social distancing advantage to one block and is reducing our guest count substantially. Meanwhile, we have the exhaust
fumes from the backed up cars on Hartz Avenue due to the closure and traffic still passing by our guests. Many of our patrons
are not willing to use the additional space because of those issues.
In addition, when I spoke to Rodney Worth this morning, he said that the closure has eliminated 9 parking spaces proximate to
his restaurant. He said the closure is really taking its toll on his business. If I were a diner, I would also rather be in the area
that feels like a European square with multiple restaurants, a wine bar, and often live music. Sadly, we do not have that
option to the north or south. Pete’s Brass Rail said they are barely getting by, while the area of the closure is packed with
guests. This is not normal for any of our restaurants. We are all usually full, so when we see numbers of less than 50% of
normal business, it makes us all wonder where the guests are dining. I have spent several weekends (prior to air quality
issues) observing the closure area being busy, while the restaurants to the north and south are nearly empty. I now need to
speak up for myself and the other downtown owners. The unfair advantage of the closure is now affecting our livelihoods and
does not coincide with a cohesive downtown. We understand that closing the streets was not beneficial to retail, so we must
now consider whether the impact of the reduced closure is hurting the other restaurants. If you ask the other restaurateurs
on the street, we are fighting to survive given the past few weeks. This year has presented challenge after challenge and we
must all be on an equal playing field. As the Town listened to the retailers, I think it is now imperative to listen to the
restaurant owners. The street should be entirely open or closed as to not discriminate nor incentivize businesses in the zoning
district. At this point, I think the logical and fair decision to benefit all would be to completely reopen Hartz.
The second thing I would like to address is the urgency for action from the health department. I’m not sure which town
official is in contact with the health officer, but as of the press release yesterday, we are now aligned with the state tier
system. After reviewing all the pertinent information and metrics, it appears that our numbers meet the criteria to move to
the next tier. The state requires that we remain in that tier for at least three weeks before moving to the next one. That is
the case even if our numbers are good enough to move forward more quickly. If the health official doesn’t act expeditiously,
we will not advance quick enough to be indoors for winter. That would be an utter disaster and we would lose almost all our
restaurants. I implore the Town to contact the health official to ensure that we are moving through the process outlined by
the state, instead of waiting until everyone goes out of business.
Thank you for your time and I hope you will strongly consider the issues mentioned above.
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Best Regards,
Peter Cedolini
Owner
Mangia Mi
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