If efforts begun by one local businessman pay off, downtown Clarkston may soon see changes that bring more people into the city’s 80 or so businesses.
Rob Bondy, who owns Contemporary Computer Concepts on Main Street, met with members of the city council in March to discuss ideas for new signs, a business directory and a welcome wagon.
Bondy also arranged an upcoming meeting with Main Street Oakland County’a county sponsored economic development program that provides organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring assistance to traditional downtown areas in Oakland County.
‘I’m excited,? Bondy said, noting he, along with city council members Kristy Ottman and Peg Roth were scheduled for a meeting with representatives from the group April 5. ‘I think it’s a good move for the city and a good move for the businesses in town.?
Main Street Oakland County was established in 2000, and is patterned after the National Trust’s Main Street Center, which, according to information reported on the Oakland County website, was founded in 1980 and has been successfully utilized in over 2,000 downtowns in 40 states since 1980.
Currently, 12 communities are involved in the Main Street Oakland County program: Farmington, Ferndale, Highland, Holly, Oxford, Ortonville, Lake Orion, Keego Harbor, Pontiac, Rochester, Royal Oak and Walled Lake.
For Bondy, the momentum toward change began last June, when every business in the city received a letter stating that sandwich board signs were a violation of city ordinance and had to be removed from public right-of-ways.
Although the ordinance was adopted in 1999, it was essentially ignored until last year when the city began fielding a growing number of complaints.
?(The signs) were out during the day, out at night when the stores were closed, they fell on cars, business owners were actually fighting over where they could be located, they blocked the use of the sidewalk, and’last year they were even in the streets taking parking spaces,? wrote Councilman Cory Johnston in a March 13 letter to the editor.
‘While the city has a history of not enforcing many of our ordinances, how far did everyone think they could go before the city had no choice??
Bondy complied, but said walk-in business at his downtown Clarkston office decreased more than 60 percent after his sign came in.
In October, he accepted appointment to a vacant seat on the city’s planning commission and said he hoped to serve as a liaison between the city and local business owners.
‘When I moved my business into the city in 1996, there was no welcoming,? Bondy explained. ‘Any contact that was made was made by me in desire to get a sign and do everything by the book. The city didn’t really care’at least it didn’t seem to be on their radar of important things to worry about.?
Now that he’s a member of the Planning Commission, Bondy said he’s seeing things from a somewhat different perspective.
‘They’re not coming from an attitude of ‘we don’t care,?? he said. ‘They just weren’t aware of some of the issues’like signage’facing the business owners. But I’ve been bringing up different points and things are starting to happen.?
The Planning Commission has been working on the sign issue since Bondy came on board’last month the group looked at possible sign placement during a walk-through of the city.
But as Bondy began talking to members of the community and researching the sign issue, other ideas began to form as well.
‘This is everything Rob Bondy has done,? said Ottman in a March 24 update to the city council.
‘He needs 100 percent credit’he is going above and beyond in his effort to revitalize the business district.?
Ottman said she was surprised by the number and scope of businesses in town once Bondy collected information for a business directory.
‘We have everything from accounting and bookkeeping to yarn,? she said. ‘It’s amazing what we have and what people do locally.?
Ottman also discussed ideas for a downtown development authority, and business directory signs in city parking lots, and reported that fellow Councilwoman Peg Roth, who was absent from Monday’s meeting, has been collecting feedback through visits with downtown businesses.
‘We’ve had a few persnickety responses,? she said. ‘But most people have been very positive.?
Ottman said she thought many businesses would be willing to help with the cost of putting together a directory and welcome wagon’a basket delivered to new residents and businesses’potentially including a directory, samples and information from local businesses.
‘We have a ton of resources here that aren’t being utilized because people don’t know they’re there,? she said.
‘There’s a lot of really good positive momentum that’s starting to happen with this group.?