Date:    December 4, 2007

Place:         Bradford Public Library           
Project:       City of Bradford Master Plan
Client:         City of Bradford
Time:          4:30 pm – 6:30 pm           
MCF No.:    44506002

Attendees:    
*Full List Coming*
Simon Tripp, Impact Economics
Roberta Sarraf , Zoning/Planning Consultant
Albert Filoni, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Ken Lee, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.
Amy Maceyko, MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.

Purpose:    To review drawings presented by MCF, economic retail analysis data, socio-economic data, and then break-up into groups for more detailed discussion and brainstorming.

Items Discussed:

1. Mr. Tripp began by reviewing the data he has gathered about retail conditions in the Bradford area.  The data comes from Claritas and it is separated into three categories.  The first category studies a 1-mile radius centered on downtown Bradford (the middle of Main Street).  The next two categories are centered on the same point but study a 5-mile radius area and a 20-mile radius area.

2. The data looks at population, income and the supply and demand in the retail sector.  The population in the region is decreasing, although not by a huge amount.  It is only concerning because the national population is slowly increasing.  Local incomes are increasing more slowly than the national average and income levels are comparatively lower, too.

3. The Retail GAP analysis shows which retail sectors are drawing money in from outside the study area (surplus) and in which sectors money is leaking out beyond the study area (gap or opportunity).

4. In the study of all retail sectors there is a $76 million surplus in the 1-mile radius, a $32 million surplus in the 5-mile radius and a $73 million gap in the 20-mile radius.  For reference, Wal-mart is included in the 5-mile radius and Olean, NY is included in the 20-mile radius.  The figures suggest that downtown Bradford and Foster Brook draw in shoppers from the region, but there is more opportunity to draw in shoppers from the 20-mile radius.

5. Once the data is broken down into categories, about half of the sectors are bringing money into the region and the other half are opportunities for attracting more shoppers.  Some examples of the opportunity sectors are clothing, electronics, books, hobbies, home improvement materials and food service.  Sectors where shoppers are already coming to Bradford include grocery, pharmacy, general merchandise and automobile-related purchases (cars, parts and service).  The fact that there are gaps to be filled is a good thing for economic development.

6. Next, Mr. Filoni spoke about some of the work that MCF has been doing.  The group is beginning to put things on paper to test them out and beginning to summarize some of the important points we have heard from many groups.  Basically everyone that the team has spoken to things that Main Street is important to the quality of life in Bradford.  Many people might debate what kind of condition it is in now, but it does look healthy to an outsider.  One concern that we have is that the quantity of asphalt and parking area in and around downtown could be affecting the overall perception of the city.  There isn't a lot of green in town and that is something the team would like to improve upon.

7. When it comes to Main Street, it seems that one of the goals should be to encourage more of the upper floors to be occupied.  This would add to the attractiveness of downtown and the increase the number of people in town.  For some uses it isn't necessary to provide an elevator to the upper floors, but it might make them more desirable.  MCF has begun to study which buildings might be able to share a service core that would provide fire stairs and an elevator to multiple buildings.  This would defray the installation and maintenance cost of an elevator to several owners.  It obviously requires different owners to work together, but it could benefit all.  As a beginning, the team has drawn some ideas for the area around Pine Street.  There are several buildings that might benefit from the service core idea, it is near the stream, it is in the historic district and it is near several popular businesses and major intersections.  These ideas will continue to be developed over the next few trips and the team will meet with some of the building owners.

8. Ms. Sarraf has been reviewing the zoning codes of the city and Foster Township.  In relationship to the goals of these two committees, she discussed the commercial business districts.  She pointed out that there aren't significant differences between the C1 (Main Street) and C2 (W. Washington Street) districts.  The setbacks in the C1 district especially don't match the urban character of downtown.  There are also questions about commercial districts in the township that seem to be primarily residences.

9. Mr. Filoni mentioned a concern that the team has heard about downtown and the zoning code.  Most of the lot sizes are 25' wide and 5' setbacks are required.  This means that if a building or home is demolished it is difficult to rebuild without having multiple lots available.  On one hand, there shouldn't be suburban ideas in an urban zoning district, but some provisions need to be made for fire safety.

10. The floor was open for discussion and there were a variety of comments about Main Street and the retail analysis.
    a.    The economic data suggests that it isn't s waste of effort to support and improve Main Street.
    b.    The economic gaps (opportunities) for Bradford are mostly found in sectors where people are willing to drive a little further to get exactly what they
           want.
    c.    Thought should be given to how to encourage existing downtown businesses to expand into sectors where there are opportunities.  There are
           definitely businesses with potential, but there are also some cases that older businesses have succession or stagnation problems that prevent  
           them from continuing to operate.
    d.    Mr. Tripp doesn't think that most of these opportunity numbers are big enough to attract big box stores and many of them are in the 20-mile radius
           already (Olean, NY).  He also mentioned that automotive parts aren't popularly purchased online, so that is part of the reason that multiple
           businesses of this type are doing well in Bradford.  Big box stores also like to be together, so it would be difficult to one or two here without others.
           There isn't a critical mass to attract them.
    e.    Mr. Filoni gave the example of a hardware store in his neighborhood in Pittsburgh.  The store is on an urban stretch of town, with little parking.  But
           the store carries a wide variety of home-related items (lamps, shelves, etc) as well as bringing in seasonal decorations and other daily needs.  By
           providing a wide variety of stock and being very visible, they seem to be thriving.
    f.    Mr. Golubock spoke about the breakout discussion he was involved in at the steering committee meeting earlier in the day.  The group basically
          ruled-out big box stores and thought that focusing on sporting goods, music and book retailers was important.  They also discussed a variety of
          eating establishments and different potential locations in the city and Foster Township.  They also discussed the fact that some people prefer to
          shop at smaller stores and that Americans will drive for particular items that they want.
    g.   It was mentioned that when positive things happen they need to be reinforced.  In the past, Main Street retailers weren't open during the annual car
          show and many people complain about this.  But the stores have been open for the past two years and there are still some complaints.

11. Mr. Filoni spoke about the importance of cleaning-up and instilling a positive attitude around town.  Small improvements and clearly identifying actions can have a big impact and prevent citizens from feeling overwhelmed by problems.  Maybe the clean up that occurred in the Elm Street Program area this year could be expanded next year.  Maybe a painting program could be established to collect paint donations and organize volunteers.  Some building owners may have the desire to improve their properties but not the resources or energy.  Mr. Filoni mentioned that we also asked the code officials to suggest how much more manpower they would need to keep up with code related property issues in the city so a real cost can be assigned to that problem.

12. The group then broke out into three smaller groups to discuss retail issues in Bradford.
    a.    The notes from the discussions are listed in a separate document.  Below are a few additional items overheard by the team during the discussions.
        1.    Try to get eating places that are good places to hang out
        2.    Try to connect existing business owners with UPB students in entrepreneurial or hospitality programs.  Students have tried reaching out to
               Bradford businesses in the past with little to no luck. Improved communication is needed.
        3.    Education and motivation of existing business owners is important.  Potential business owners coming to the area have been known to walk
               Main Street and talk with current business owners.
        4.    PR, Joint Marketing, Signage and Appearance are all important.  

With no further items for discussion, the meeting was adjourned. The foregoing constitutes the major items accepted by the attendees.  If there are any additions or corrections to these minutes, please notify the Architect.

Respectfully submitted,

MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc.

Amy P. Maceyko, AIA, LEED AP