There’s been some discussion of a “first-floor retail” in town. There are some empty storefronts on Main Street. It might be harder to find tenants in the short run, but the theory is that allowing only stores on the ground floor would serve the long-term health of the shopping district. —Macklin Reid photo
A “first floor retail” rule — again being talked of as a way to strengthen the Main Street commercial district — trades off individual freedom in pursuit of group security.
Individual landlords would lose some freedom to rent empty storefronts to non-retail tenants. But they — along with neighboring properties and businesses — would benefit from being part of a commercial district with more stores to attract shoppers.
“What you need is a larger number and greater variety of retail shops to draw people to downtown,” said Ellen Burns of Books on the Common.
“I think it’s something that probably should have been done by Ridgefield a number of years ago, and for whatever reasons planning and zoning has not pursued it,” she said.
The Planning and Zoning Commission did have a long and serious look at the idea.
“We held a public information meeting in November 2007, in order to listen to retail merchants and property owners and then we continued the discussion in 2008,” said Town Planner Betty Brosius.
“But we never took any final action. We never went to public hearing on it,” she said.
“We didn’t go further — the landlords weren’t interested in having restrictions on who they could rent to.”
Planning and Zoning Commission Chairwoman Rebecca Mucchetti recalled serious discussion but mixed reviews.
“The input we got from the public was a mix of property owners and merchants,” she said. “Merchants seemed more interested in it than the property owners. It was mixed on the commission and we never drafted any language on it. We had more than one evening of discussion.”
The idea is being talked of again, prompted by the selectmen’s hiring of Saugatuck Commercial Real Estate to do a $12,000 study of the town’s retail base, and what might be done to strengthen it. The study will look at whether a nationally known brand name store would help, but will also consider other ideas.
“We may revisit first floor retail. It’s percolating,” First Selectman Rudy Marconi said recently. “It wouldn’t surprise me if you see a little more chatter about that. It came up during the retail discussion.
“I think there is still interest on the part of Economic Development Committee and on the part of a lot of merchants in town… I don’t know how the landlords feel.
“But if we’re going to improve the retail environment — not that it’s terrible in town, but there appears to be very little growth — we need to take a look at everything.”
As proprietor of a bookstore in a prime Main Street location, Burns likes the idea of more retail shops.
“So, we have certain things that are destinations, like Ridgefield Hardware, or The Toy Chest, or Books on the Common. But if you had a larger kind of critical mass of stores that sold things people need … people would be more inclined to park their car, and walk to shop,” she said.
“We have a beautiful downtown, much nicer than many towns around us. But its not being used to its fullest and best effect because of too many non-retail uses on the first floor.”
First floor retail rules work in other places, she said.
“New Canaan has had one for a pretty long time, and even during the worst of the recession New Canaan did not have a lot of empty storefronts. They have a nice mix of stores. There’s a lot of independent stores. They really have a lot of retail to bring people downtown there.”
First floor retail rule is worth a serious look, she said.
“I think the idea is not to have the upward pressure of some of the deep-pocketed offices driving up rents, as opposed to what a small retailer could afford to pay,” she said.
“Obviously, any restriction to first floor retail would have to be phased in. It would only be when a place became vacant. You’re not going to throw people out of their spaces…
“I think that’s more important than whether or not we have a chain store,” she said.
Rents driven up
Selectman Barbara Manners brought up the town’s past flirtation with first floor retail when the selectmen discussed hiring Saugatuck Commercial Real Estate for the retail study.
“If you can walk Main Street and see one little shop after another with different stuff for sale, I think you are more likely to stroll around,” Manners said.
“When the real estate offices and the banks etc. are occupying so many storefronts because they can afford the higher rents that new businesses cannot, it does not make for a vibrant shopping area,” she said.
“This was a proposal that was raised a few years ago … The end result was nothing because of antipathy to the idea that we could restrict property owners’ use of their property. However, that is what zoning is for — planning for a hopefully healthy community,” she said.
“New Canaan has that ordinance and it’s made their downtown a much more lively, interesting and engaged area,” Manners said.
Mixed reaction
Mucchetti, the P&Z chairman, said the idea was discussed at a meeting she had with some Chamber of Commerce people in 2013, and came up more recently at one of the meetings conducted by the consultants doing the retail study, and also at a meeting about the parking in town.
“There was not a consensus, but certainly enough opinions to provide for plenty of debate,” Mucchetti said.
Landlords worried about empty commercial space.
“They’re concern was: Don’t have us keep a space open if they have a tenant who wants to come in but it’s not retail,” she said. “How long do they have to wait for a retail tenant to come along?
“First floor retail is only a part of what the retail study is about, but it can certainly ask the question: Do we want to revisit it?” Mucchetti said.
“If the retail study recommended that the town relook at first floor retail in the village, I’d take it back to the commission,” Mucchetti said.
“I don’t want to bring it back unless there’s serious interest in moving forward.”
Situational
Steve Zemo, a landlord with holdings on Route 35’s B1 business zone as well as in the Central Business District, was dubious of first floor retail as a rule, but said he favored it as a business practice.
“I think first floor retail is a situational issue. Given not all B1 and CBD locations are the same, it might be best to leave it as is.,” he said.
“As a landlord I have avoided office use on the main level in all but one specific situation: and that was the case of an existing tenant wanting to expand.
“If the goal is a vibrant flow of shoppers from one building to the next, then first floor office is obviously problematic in achieving that end. It also may have a negative impact on parking turnover.
“Can we expect common sense and forfeiting short-term gain for long-term goals from the area landlords in their leasing strategies?”
Over-regulation
Jeweler Wayne Addessi is a retailer and also a landlord.
“I was supportive of it the first time around years ago,” he said. “…But today I would not be supportive of any effort to regulate first floor retail. Regulations generally are not a good thing in this economic environment for the CBD and merchants.”
He offered an example of what he views as the town’s over-regulation of merchants.
“…I wanted to hang a banner on my awning for a six-week promotion,” he said. “… We had to apply for a permit, pay some $200, race the application to the P&Z to get it on the docket in time for our promotion that was starting in a few days, and sit through several hours of the meeting that night at P&Z…
“Really. That was all necessary? All the time and energy on our part … Back and forth to the annex with paperwork, photos, 10 copies of the application etc. You get the picture…
“I realize the first floor discussion is one that may be a way to deny another real estate office or bank,” Addessi said, “but rather than spending time on this, the town should be promoting and encouraging a new conversation and action plan to support the CBD with positive action.”
First Selectman Marconi agreed the town should try a various ways to market itself.
“I can certainly understand wanting to preserve retail on the first floor, but there are many other things we need to do, which is the purpose of the retail survey,” he said.
“Those other things are the gathering of marketing data that will entice a company to come to Ridgefield and open up retail… Based on our demographic, based on average income, based on our marketing area well beyond the borders of Ridgefield — all of those need to be collected and placed into a marketing document.”
Two sides
Nancy O’Connell of the Catoonah Street yarn shop Nancy O sees benefits to the idea, but says she understands why landlords are skeptical.
“As a shop owner, I’d love to see more retail on first floors, definitely. I think the more variety we have as far as good retail shops, the more traffic we’ll build in town, and benefit us all.
“I’d like to see a good mix of shops, and I’d like to see less prime real estate taken up with offices — that’s my personal opinion…
“I certainly don’t think it would hurt to regulate the space right on Main Street to keep it an attractive place for people to come and visit and stroll,” she said.
“The better the mix of shopping we have the more visitors we’re going to get.
“I understand there’s two sides to the story, and if the landlords are not able to find the right tenant for their retail properties, and they can sign the lease with a Realtor or another office, I can understand why they would lean to getting the tenant that’s going to pay the rent.”
Anne Lathrop, owner of The Toy Chest, agreed.
“I have mixed feelings. As a retailer, I’d love to have all retail on the first floor. If I were a building owner…
“I’m not sure how many empty spaces there are in town right now,” she said.
“You’ve got to look at other issues — parking, and other reasons people don’t want to open. Rather than dictate to people…
“Any place that’s drawing people into town is better than empty spaces.”
Economic Development Commission Chairman Arnold Light said first floor retail seems worth discussing.
“We’re talking about it in conjunction with the group the town has hired, Saugatuck Commercial Real Estate. They’re doing a study to find how to change the retail environment in town,” Light said..
“There are some empty spaces,” he added.
“…The issue is, in order to bring people downtown, they want more variety and more destination type shops. This group has been hired to come up with a proposal hopefully on how to address that particular problem.”
Marconi said the town should look at the problems of retailers and landlords.
“How long do you require that landlords keep that space vacant? And therein lies the rub,” he said. “People often refer to New Canaan for parking, for retail. Perhaps it is a model to try on a trial basis.”
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