2014 Vol. 8 Issue 3 June - Laserfiche WebLink

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Gem Lake News Page 3 of 6 Development Study Survey Results (continued from page 2)  "Getting better."  "Not good."  "I am under the impression, perhaps incorrectly, that the city leadership has been inhospitable to business development."  "I think the perception is that Gem Lake is not business friendly." Only 50% of survey respondents said they shop in Gem Lake when possible, but 79% said they would shop locally if services were available relevant to needs. The majority (69%) of those responding felt the city should engage in planning for future land uses and types of businesses in the area. When asked what types of businesses or services would ideally be located in the business district, answers included coffee shops, convenience stores, restaurants, large scale or big box retailers such as Home Depot or Lowes, grocery stores such as Trader Joe's, hair salons, barber, apartments, senior housing and townhomes. When asked to sum it up and provide "added thoughts" on the problems facing Hoffman's Corner, the responses were revealing:  "Way too many auto sales and repair shops."  "Be business friendly."  "Clean up and landscape, consolidate property ownership"  "Do health inspections, enforce rules, get rid of blighted old buildings."  "Improve appearance of buildings."  "Tired of hearing about past history, let's move forward." In an effort to move forward, the final report from Gem Lake's business district study was presented on June 9 at the City Council Workshop.  "The stores need to be what is needed in the area."  "Very unattractive, make a more entry gateway appearance."  "Poor condition of buildings is a major problem."  "It's clearly unattractive and underutilized relative to its potential in a high traffic area." Traffic flow in the area was regarded as a blessing and a curse. On one hand, residents understand the potential business growth that could come from healthy traffic volumes. On the other hand, there were a variety of comments about lack of sensible traffic flow through the business district, no safe pedestrian or bike access, etc. One resident said the biggest problem facing the business district currently is "odd traffic patterns, no good access." Comments were not all bad and included the following:  "Too busy to make turns into businesses safely."  "Seems busy and seems to flow fairly well."  "Needs to be reorganized. Very bad traffic."  "Not easily accessible from all directions."  "Huge traffic volume should make Hoffman's Corner and attractive place for developers." When asked for their current perception of the climate for business in Gem Lake, 15% commented that it was a positive environment, but 50% said it was negative. Specific comments included the following:  "Gem Lake attracts crappy businesses."  "Good climate."