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City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />March 19, 2024 <br />Page 6 of 14 <br />Rudy Donofrio, Louisville, stated Main Street should remain open and we should focus <br />on other ways to make the area more vibrant. The traffic and parking will get pushed to <br />La Farge. He urged a no vote and asked Council to do more research. <br />Debra Berkelhammer, Louisville, speaking on behalf of a business owner on the west <br />side of town who wishes to remain anonymous, stated the City has ignored the rest of <br />the business areas in town while focusing solely on downtown. Downtown restaurants <br />get an unfair advantage by using public spaces for extra dining space. The City should <br />spend money on the McCaslin corridor, not downtown. <br />Diana Barney, Louisville, stated everyone wants the downtown to thrive but there <br />should not be a tradeoff between the few blocks getting dining and the impacts on the <br />neighborhood. The City should focus on filling the empty buildings on Main Street. <br />Jean Morgan, Louisville, speaking for Barb Hesson, stated pushing the traffic to Lafarge <br />is a great impact on the residents living there. Speaking for herself she stated it is not <br />fair to reroute traffic and parking into the neighborhood, particularly when Front Street is <br />closed for the Farmer's Market and Street Faire. She urged a no vote. <br />Larry Crowley, Louisville, stated it is already difficult to access restaurants and shops if <br />you have mobility issues, closing the street makes it worse. This is not a benefit for <br />residents and he urged a no vote. <br />Stephanie Schlegater, business owner, stated she favors the closure and understands <br />everyone wants to help Main Street. She would like to see a thriving Main Street and <br />community. The DBA wants to bring people downtown and make it a thriving area. The <br />DBA also surveyed residents and has 550 signatures supporting the closure. <br />Eric Reed, Louisville, stated this is not a new idea and businesses just want to have a <br />vibrant Main Street. The DBA wants to activate this area and keep the City moving <br />forward. This proposal is for a temporary closure to help draw people to the businesses. <br />Rick Kron, president of the DBA, pooling time with Tom Horst, stated this conversation <br />started last year and in December the DBA sent a formal request for a temporary <br />closure to be considered. RTD has been unwilling to do anything other than go down <br />LaFarge, unfortunately we can't control that. He stated most of the downtown <br />businesses support this as way to make downtown more friendly to foot traffic. We want <br />to get the word out that downtown businesses need more traffic. He asked for a yes <br />vote. He asked everyone to help the downtown by visiting shops and restaurants and <br />spending their money in the local businesses. <br />Fred Berkelhammer, Louisville, stated neighbors were surprised this was coming and <br />should have had more notice this was being considered. He stated national studies <br />show that pedestrian malls are not successful. He urged a no vote. <br />