Portsmouth rulers consider ban on chain stores!

[Dave Ridley]

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Breaking+the+chains%3a+Bad+idea+in+Portsmouth&articleId=0c2ceed2-1543-4517-af05-a2fad31a1912

Breaking the chains: Bad idea in Portsmouth


13 hours, 52 minutes ago

PORTSMOUTH IS home to the rarest of all small city treats: a beautiful, vibrant downtown. Some officials mistakenly think they can make it more beautiful and vibrant by banning chain stores.

Like Wal-Mart and SUVs, chain stores are a favorite whipping boy of snobs, elitists and local preservationists. Any sign of a Dunkin' Donuts, GAP, or Starbucks downtown, and the commissars of taste go bonkers.

But of course chain stores proliferate for one reason: people like them. And because people like them, they can draw much-needed traffic to other downtown businesses. Far from hurting downtowns, chain stores can help them.

Some people thought it just horrible that Gap and Starbucks opened stores in downtown Portsmouth. But nobody complains when the people who see the Starbucks and stop there for a coffee, or come to Gap for a trendy new top, also stop at a locally owned restaurant, jewelry store or knick-knack shop.

One option being considered is allowing chain stores, but banning their signs. But if tourists and passers-by can't find the stores that would draw them out of their cars, how can those stores help attract customers to neighboring businesses?

It would be a real loss of local character and flavor if every store in Portsmouth's downtown were a franchise of a national chain. But that would never happen. So what is the harm if a few chain stores open downtown? Nothing.

Unfortunately, some people have an impulse to impose their own tastes on others. And they often find their way onto local planning boards and councils. If they don't want to shop at chain stores, that's their right. But they should not infringe upon the rights of others by writing their own shopping tastes into local ordinances.

[Dave Ridley]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/12092006/nhnews-ph-por-chains.html

City mulls limits on chain stores

By Adam Leech
aleech@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH -- The Planning Board got its first look at a proposed ordinance that would limit the capabilities of chain stores to locate downtown, and reactions ranged from strong advocacy to vehement opposition.

The "formula business" ordinance was made to limit the ability of a chain store to locate within the city's historic district in its familiar form. Although chains could move in if the ordinance passes, the plan would limit the size of the space, prohibit drive-throughs and corporate logos and restrict trash removal and roadway blockages.

The City Council referred the proposal, created by Rick Taintor, the city's consultant on the zoning ordinance re-writes, to the Planning Board at its Monday meeting.

Taintor said board members will have to decide what kind of chains they want to regulate. Under the current wording, something like Moe's Italian Sandwiches would be restricted the same way as a McDonald's, because there are more than five similar stores.

Another discussion point will be the type of businesses the city wants to control, Taintor said. Currently, that includes restaurants, retail stores, banks, real estate offices, spas, hair and nail salons and hotels.

While most board members seemed open to the possibility, if not fully supportive of the ordinance, board member Donald Coker called it "the most bizarre proposal" he's ever seen and "anti-competitive."

"Tell me what harm Starbucks has done downtown; tell me what harm the Gap has done," he said. "This is one of the most exclusionary things I've ever seen, and I am adamantly opposed to it."

Coker said the Historic District Commission is the "aesthetic watchdog" and most of the contents of the ordinance are already regulated elsewhere. He took particular issue with the part of the ordinance prohibiting any logos from view on the street.

"What are we afraid of people doing? Are they going to have porn on the wall?" he asked.

Taintor said the draft is similar to one in Bristol, R.I., and added that Portland, Ogunquit and York, Maine, and Nantucket, Mass., all have similar ordinances. Bristol's is very strict, he said, but it still allow chains downtown -- but customers cannot identify them as chain stores until they walk inside.

"We're not stopping them from coming," said Vice Chairman Jerry Hejtmanek. "We're just saying, ?Make it look like Portsmouth.'"

Board member Ray Will supported the proposed ordinance, saying it would be a very useful tool.

"It provides a direct blow to those most likely to fight the aesthetic issue downtown," he said.

Board members also noted the HDC has no control over color, a major component of the ordinance.

[David]

I detest 'planning boards'.  They're no different than zoning boards.  Nasty people they are.  They leave a sour taste in my mouth. 

[Lloyd Danforth]

When in Portsmouth, I have breakfast at the 'Friendly Toast' and then get a coffee at Largebucks, before I hit the road.

[Russell Kanning]

Just say "no" to busybodies.

[Otosan]

If they ban Chain stores.....where will ya get your snow chains?



hehe

[Rosie the Riveter]

Friendly Toast is gone.

Are you serious? I love the Friendly Toast. Is it really gone?