Town hall meeting set to discuss downtown

Do you have a suggestion for improving downtown Commerce?

Are there too few parking places, are the trucks ripping through town getting on your nerves or do all those garbage containers on the sidewalk turn you off?

The Downtown Development Authority wants to hear your gripes and your suggestions as it tries to figure out what the public would like to see downtown.



It will host a “town hall meeting” Thursday night at 6:00 in the Commerce Room at the Commerce Civic Center so the public can have its say.

It’ll be a repeat of a similar meeting held three years ago, from which the DDA created a program of work based on public comments.

“Downtown restrooms and parking were the top priorities,” recalled Hasco Craver, executive director of the DDA.

The DDA will have the restrooms done by July 1.

It formed an ad hoc parking committee and has worked to improve parking lots. The lot behind the Commerce Civic Center was re-striped and patched, and the lot across from the civic center enlarged.

“People cited increased downtown living units,” Craver noted. “Since then downtown has added more than 4,000 square feet of upper floor space. People wanted more restaurants. We’ve seen two new restaurants opened, Common Road Bakery is coming back, Little Italy is doing well and Subway just obtained a building permit.”

The participants three years ago wanted more downtown activities; the DDA added the Fridays after 5 series. They asked for a farmer’s market — and the City to City Farmers Market shared with Jefferson started (this year Commerce will have its own market every Saturday starting in late spring).

After everyone has an opportunity to suggest projects, the group will vote to determine an order of priority.

“We will take the information (from the meeting), and split the goals into committee-specific areas,” Craver said. “We will take 10-15 priority items and work on them the next three years.”

Stonewall’s BBQ will cater a free meal to the participants.