Develop a Parkside Business Organization

The Borough of Parkside has a small business district along Edgemont Avenue that is a mix between successful businesses, businesses that do not seem to ever open or close and vacant storefronts. Many of the successful business owners complain that the current Borough council is unresponsive to their needs and concerns. Little is being done to fill those empty storefronts or help the existing businesses grow.

To attempt to develop innovative solutions to these issues, we would like to establish a Parkside Business Organization that would be a Borough Council committee chaired by a member of council and made up of business owners that would meet at least quarterly. Its mission would be to promote the businesses of the Borough of Parkside. One of the tasks that would be given to this committee is to create a list of all current businesses and all potential business locations. It would then conduct a survey of Borough residents and hold public meetings to evaluate the types of businesses that Parkside residents would use. With this information, potential entrepreneurs would be aware of existing market conditions that would help them start or expand business in Parkside.

Former Gas Station site

The Democratic Candidates for Parkside Borough Council are extremely concerned about the vacant gas station property on Edgemont Avenue. Obviously it is an eye sore and a potential business location that is vacant right in the middle of the our business district. We are also concerned about what may be going on under the ground. The current council submitted a grant proposal last year to take ownership of this property. We think it would be a major mistake for the Borough to take ownership of that ground. The potential costs for clean-up could put a choke hold in Borough finances for years and potentially bankrupt us.
We would also like to explore every potential method to speed up the development of this property. Ideas include regular meetings with the owner of this property, enforcement of codes on the building that is in disrepair and reaching out to other branches and levels of government for assistance.

Leveraging State and Federal Grants to help business development

One of the ideas we would like to evaluate is the purchase of new self contained high efficiency light fixtures that are powered by solar panels which charge a battery during the day and then run off the battery at night. These fixtures will also be grid connected so that on overcast days or winter days sufficient power will still be available. These are very similar to the solar systems that you see on road signs along I-476 (Blue Route) and other highways. We believe this type of proposal would be eligible for funding under the Federal Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act and Pennsylvania’s Act 1 alternative energy legislation whose program mangers will be seeking opportunities for investing in community level alternative energy projects like this one.
We would also like to leverage this and other grants to help business start up in Parkside. If a contract to install these lights would be enough business for a start-up company to set up shop along Edgemont Avenue and sign a two year lease, we would be very interested in their proposal. If this project worked out here in Parkside other communities may be interested in purchasing the same product from a business that would exist in our business district and increase our tax revenue.

Promoting Parkside’s Businesses

We would like to implement several ways of promoting the businesses of Parkside. The first idea is to do what many communities in the United States use. They hang a sign across the Main Road. We would like to establish this tradition here in Parkside above Edgemont Avenue. We could use this to post community events and also use it as a source of revenue as we advertise our local businesses to drivers traveling along Route 352. The Borough website will promote our local businesses. We will also actively work with our businesses to find ways to attract borough residents to Edgemont Avenue with the goal of increasing consumption of its goods and services from Borough residents.

Improving parking and the appearance of Edgemont Avenue

The Edgemont avenue corridor is Parkside’s ‘first impression’ and it is not an appealing destination for those traveling to other destinations along route 352/Edgemont Avenue. In addition to the vacant store fronts and the abandoned gas station, it is hard to tell if some of the existing business are operating or not, the sidewalks and curbs need some attention, pizza delivery vehicles park on the sidewalk, parking regulations are poorly identified and under enforced, store front signage is inconsistent and there seem to be no architectural standards and the signs identifying entrance into the Borough are in bad shape and there are no benches and only a couple public trash containers, and no recycling .
We would like to improve the Edgemont Avenue corridor with long and short term solutions. In the short term we would like to fix the curbs and side walks, install some benches, paint the curbs and parking lines on the street, and install new WELCOME TO PARKSIDE signs that demonstrate our pride in our community. We would like to work with business owners to develop some standardized ways of demonstrating if they are open or closed, their hours of operation and perhaps establish some hours each week when all business will be open at the same time. In the medium to long term we would like to help fill the vacant store fronts, take steps to promote our businesses to the residents of Parkside and the greater Delaware County community, and establish architectural and signage standards to promote consistency and an attractive appearance.

Process of Informing Borough Businesses if the Borough needs to purchase products or services

Any time the Borough of Parkside needs to purchase any goods or services, all proper legal process for informing the greater community of the needs should be put out to bid. A special communication to Parkside Businesses only should be made via email to any Parkside business that wishes to join this list. This is a method to support Parkside business by giving them special notification of the opportunity to compete equally with other business both in and out of Parkside. We would also like to give our businesses the opportunity to match lower bids so that as much money as possible can remain within our community.

Implementation of the Multi Municipality Comprehensive Plan

Coming Soon