Big and bold changes could be in store for downtown Pismo Beach, where city leaders launched a visioning effort for future development of the area that draws thousands of people from the Central Valley every summer.

Officials took the first step Tuesday toward creating a new vision for the downtown core during a joint meeting of the City Council, Planning Commission and Parking Advisory Committee.

“This is a moment we’ve all been talking about for a long time,” said Pismo Beach City Manager Jim Lewis, adding the effort to define guidelines for the future look of downtown isn’t a plan to tear apart the area and rebuild it.

Lewis was an integral player in the effort to revitalize downtown Atascadero during the time he served as that city’s assistant city manager. He told city leaders for the emerging plan to be a success, there must be buy-in from downtown property and business owners.

“At the end of the day, it’s the private sector that invests in their properties,” Lewis said, adding any future vision developed for downtown also would need to expand economic opportunity in the area to prove beneficial.

He encouraged city leaders and anyone else with a stake in the downtown core to walk the area and think about what they envision for the area.

“There’s nothing like walking the streets and finding something you might miss just sitting in this room,” Lewis said. “Ask yourselves, ‘What is my vision for downtown Pismo Beach?’’’

Over the next several months, Pismo plans to host small discussion groups with downtown property and business owners, larger-format public workshops and walking tours to gather information about what people want to see in the area.

The area has been identified, from east to west, as Highway 101 to the beach, including Pomeroy Street and Price Street to the Highway 101 on-ramp near Clam Island, and, north to south from Pismo Creek to the corner of Dolliver (Highway 1) and Price streets.

The city also will employ surveys to garner input from the public starting this fall. Mayor Shelly Higginbotham voiced concern that the timing could prevent many of Pismo Beach’s seasonal visitors from participating in the process.

She suggested running advertisements in Central Valley newspapers to solicit opinions from people who live in the Valley and come frequently to Pismo Beach as a vacation destination.

“I want input from the people who have sustained us for the last 50 years,” Higginbotham said. “(They are) a huge segment.”

Potential ideas suggested during Tuesday’s meeting included closing areas — a portion of Cypress Street possibly, the pier parking lot — and creating a pedestrian-type plaza, with outdoor seating, additional landscaping, wider sidewalks, water features, patio dining and new lighting.

A Ferris wheel at the beach, high-technology business park, a restaurant row along Price Street also came up during discussions.

Other ideas envisioned a new entrance to Pismo at the corner of Price and Dolliver (Highway 1) streets that could include a pedestrian-type plaza, and increased density along Dolliver, where residential lofts could be constructed above commercial space.

Lewis stressed the drawings shown during the meeting were only concepts and no one was advocating for buildings to be razed or businesses to be forced out of downtown.

“We are in no way suggesting the buildings or businesses go away,” Lewis said.

The council authorized hiring a consultant to help staff develop a plan for downtown.

A proposed specific plan for future development in downtown likely will come back to the council in the spring.

Ross Parcel is one of Alta’s youngest business owners.

At just 19, his business – Ross Parcel Landscapes – is blooming.

Ross’ interest in landscaping work started when he was just 13 when he began working during the summers with Wes and Brad Bunjes and their landscaping business. He learned a great deal from them. When he was 17, he began doing a few small projects on his own, hauling what little equipment he had at the time in a 6’x5′ trailer.

Through word of mouth, he was being called on for more and more projects and he realized he had something going. He graduated from Alta-Aurelia High School in 2012 and added to his equipment, including a truck, and this year he added a second truck and trailers, purchased with dollars received from completing projects.

Ross attends Kirkwood College, double majoring in the landscape construction and design courses. When he returns, he will be learning in greater detail about ligthing and irrigation. He has completed one year and will be done in May.

He enjoys living in Alta and intends to remain in Alta, in fact, he just purchased two lots in the Alta Municipal Utilities addition from the city/utilities to put up a hoop building to store his equipment and house an office. In his three-year plan is the addition of a greenhouse.

While there are two landscape businesses in the community, they don’t really compete. “There’s plenty of business,” he said. Both business complete projects in Alta and throughout a large area around Alta.

“It’s different work everyday and that’s what I like about it,” Ross said. “Many of the projects don’t take more than a week to complete and that’s what keeps it exciting. The ideas are endless. It’s fun to go to a job where the yard is all grass and create something and to see the customer happy with their changed yard.”

Clients have ideas in mind when they meet with him while many ask him to come up with a design. Though computer programs are available for drawing up plans, he prefers to draw them free hand which allows him to express more ideas. If a 3-D picture is requested, he uses the computer.

Being young, Ross often gets peculiar looks when clients meet him for the first time but once they see the quality work he does, they realize that his young age doesn’t matter.

At this time, Ross does not have any fulltime employees working for him but does have a few guys that help out when needed.

Friend Alex Stephan will be attending Kirkwood come this fall, also majoring in landscaping. Just as the Bunjes brothers served as mentors to him, he will pay it forward and share his knowledge with Alex next summer by offering him an internship.

To contact Ross call 712-2xx-xxxx. You can view some of his projects at the Ross Parcel Landscapes Facebook page.

By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer

Photo: Kimberly White, owner of Nature Scapes (photo/submitted)

Business name: Nature Scapes by Kim

Address: P.O. Box 113, South Grafton

Owner: Kimberly White

Contact Information: 508-868-2170, www.NatureScapesbyKim.com

 

What does your company specialize in?

“We specialize in creative, economical landscape solutions for residential customers. Every homeowner has their own vision for their property. As a landscape designer, I work with them to make that vision a reality,” said Kimberly White, owner and designer for Nature Scapes by Kim since 2000. She received her education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in addition to a five-year apprenticeship with an award-winning landscape designer. She is currently working on a degree in environmental science at Worcester State University.

“We build outdoor living areas, as well as spectacular front entrances, depending on what the homeowner needs. Sometimes it is rearranging a perennial garden and transplanting shrubs along with pruning, trimming, weeding, mulch application, edging. Other times it may require repair or installation of patios and walkways. No job is too big or too small.”

White’s work can be seen in the Grafton area and surrounding towns and in pictures on the website, www.NatureScapesbyKim.com.

 

How do you get started on a project?

“Usually a customer calls with an idea of what they want. I’ll meet with them to see if their ideas will work in the space available and fit within their budget. Sometimes we’ll scale down or do different areas at different times,” White said.

“I put together an estimate, and once we have agreed, my crew and I show up on a scheduled date and do the work through to completion. I like to show my customers the courtesy of getting the job done as quickly as possible once we start.

“I want people to be thrilled when they walk away from our experience. Not only with what we’ve done with the landscaping, but with my crew and myself.”

 

And you recommend and provide the needed plants?

“I’m a landscape designer, which means I have a lot of plant knowledge and I am particularly knowledgeable about perennials. I know what a particular plant likes—sun or shade, the type of soil, drainage, when it’s going to flower, what color. A well-planned garden includes conifers, evergreens, deciduous shrubs and trees, as well as perennials. The perennials are where the garden pops. A well-planned perennial garden will always have something flowering, something new going on. And I choose those for foliage as well as the flowers.”

 

Nature Scapes maintains gardens as well?

“We do perennial maintenance, taking care of the garden after it’s been planted. For regular customers, in the spring we do the spring cleanup, mulch, fertilize everything with organic fertilizers. Then in late July or August we prune everything, cut back where needed, do a lot of weeding. In the fall we put the garden to sleep, whatever the plants need to protect them from the harsh winters,” White said.

“We try to stay as organic as possible. I try not to use chemicals unless it’s absolutely necessary. And then, sparingly.”

 

What are popular projects?

“Replacing foundation plantings in front of the house and along the street. Often a builder puts all the money into the house and very little on the landscaping. They buy whatever’s on sale and plant it 12 inches from the foundation. Years later, there are problems. Sometimes we have to rip it out, sometimes we can move it, sometimes we can just prune it.

“Often a few years after people have bought a house and finished what they want to do inside, they want to customize the outside. Landscaping also adds curb appeal when owners are putting their house on the market.”

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FREMONT Experiencing nature and the outdoors is the new focus of daytime activities July 27 at the Hayes Presidential Center’s GroveFest.

GroveFest takes its name from Spiegel Grove, the estate of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes. The Grove’s 25 acres are a state park that is open year-round dawn to dusk.

GroveFest’s new focus hopes to help visitors appreciate the natural wonders available in all parks. It also provides educational opportunities families can enjoy together.

Major sponsorship for GroveFest is provided by The Fremont Co. and Key Bank-the Walter E. Terhune Memorial Fund.

Daytime events that take place 11 a.m.-2 p.m are free. Among the interactive activities are bird banding, wagon rides, Bucket-Mouth Bass fishing game, make-it-take-it crafts, fly-tying, wildlife art, gardening programs’ kids’ art and flower arranging.

The Toledo Zoo will have a display focusing on Ohio animals and is bringing some of its residents, as is the Sandusky County Humane Society and StarGazer Farm Suri Alpacas. Stone Laboratory hosts a program on Ohio’s foxsnake and its work at Lake Erie. Back to the Wild will bring animals they are rehabilitating to return to their natural habitats.

Free programs are scheduled throughout the day.

Presenters and times are:

Noon landscaping tips and ideas, courtesy Pump Landscaping Garden Center.

12:30 p.m. wildlife program by Back to the Wild.

1 p.m. gardening program by Master Gardeners.

1:30 p.m. wildlife program by Back to the Wild.

Inspired by the Grove’s popularity with dog walkers, GroveFest introduces its “Pooch on the Porch Parade” at 11 a.m. on the verandah. (Registration is required; forms available at www.rbhayes.org).

This event is organized by the Humane Society of Sandusky County. Dogs must be vaccinated, well-behaved (able to tolerate other dogs and a crowd of people) and remain on leash while in Spiegel Grove. Owners are required to clean up after their pets.

Evening is set aside for the Hayes Presidential Center’s largest annual fundraiser, Bid at the Grove Auction. Celebrity auctioneer Jerry Anderson of WTOL-11 and Fox Toledo TV headlines this adults-only ticketed event that takes place 6-10 p.m. in a reception tent located in Lucy Hayes’ Rose Garden.

The auction theme is “A Red, White Blue Celebration!” Guests are invited to wear patriotic clothing and enjoy hors d’oeuvres that were favorites of U.S. presidents. Food, wine, beer, and other refreshments are available all evening as guests bid on auction items, participate in games, and join in raffles.

Call (419) 332-2081, ext. 226 for ticket information and reservations.

Beach town blueprint

By April Charlton/acharlton@timespressrecorder.com
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A view from atop the Pismo Beach Hotel of downtown Pismo Beach and the Pismo Pier. Pismo Beach is looking for ways to spruce up downtown, including turning part of Cypress Street into a pedestrian plaza, building a parking structure in the pier area, installing a Ferris wheel or adding public art. // Daniel Dreifuss/Staff

Big and bold changes could be in store for downtown Pismo Beach, where city leaders launched a visioning effort for future development of the area that draws thousands of people from the Central Valley every summer.

Officials took the first step Tuesday toward creating a new vision for the downtown core during a joint meeting of the City Council, Planning Commission and Parking Advisory Committee.

“This is a moment we’ve all been talking about for a long time,” said Pismo Beach City Manager Jim Lewis, adding the effort to define guidelines for the future look of downtown isn’t a plan to tear apart the area and rebuild it.

Lewis was an integral player in the effort to revitalize downtown Atascadero during the time he served as that city’s assistant city manager. He told city leaders for the emerging plan to be a success, there must be buy-in from downtown property and business owners.

“At the end of the day, it’s the private sector that invests in their properties,” Lewis said, adding any future vision developed for downtown also would need to expand economic opportunity in the area to prove beneficial.

He encouraged city leaders and anyone else with a stake in the downtown core to walk the area and think about what they envision for the area.

“There’s nothing like walking the streets and finding something you might miss just sitting in this room,” Lewis said. “Ask yourselves, ‘What is my vision for downtown Pismo Beach?’’’

Over the next several months, Pismo plans to host small discussion groups with downtown property and business owners, larger-format public workshops and walking tours to gather information about what people want to see in the area.

The area has been identified, from east to west, as Highway 101 to the beach, including Pomeroy Avenue and Price Street to the Highway 101 on-ramp near Clam Island, and, north to south from Pismo Creek to the corner of Dolliver (Highway 1) and Price streets.

The city also will employ surveys to garner input from the public starting this fall. Mayor Shelly Higginbotham voiced concern that the timing could prevent many of Pismo Beach’s seasonal visitors from participating in the process.

She suggested running advertisements in Central Valley newspapers to solicit opinions from people who live in the Valley and come frequently to Pismo Beach as a vacation destination.

“I want input from the people who have sustained us for the last 50 years,” Higginbotham said. “(They are) a huge segment.”

Potential ideas suggested during Tuesday’s meeting included closing areas — a portion of Cypress Street possibly, the pier parking lot — and creating a pedestrian-type plaza, with outdoor seating, additional landscaping, wider sidewalks, water features, patio dining and new lighting.

A Ferris wheel at the beach, high-technology business park, a restaurant row along Price Street also came up during discussions.

Other ideas envisioned a new entrance to Pismo at the corner of Price and Dolliver (Highway 1) streets that could include a pedestrian-type plaza, and increased density along Dolliver, where residential lofts could be constructed above commercial space.

Lewis stressed the drawings shown during the meeting were only concepts and no one was advocating for buildings to be razed or businesses to be forced out of downtown.

“We are in no way suggesting the buildings or businesses go away,” Lewis said.

The council authorized hiring a consultant to help staff develop a plan for downtown.

A proposed specific plan for future development in downtown likely will come back to the council in the spring.

Ideas for Pismo Beach

Ferris wheel at the beach

Pedestrian-type plaza

Restaurant row along Price Street

Patio dining

High-technology business park

Residential lofts constructed above commercial space

Posted Friday July 19, 2013

• 
  Grand Forks resident Mary Lou Liddy discusses the sentimental value and history behind different plants
• 
  Grand Forks resident Mary Lou Liddy’s garden
• 
  Grand Forks resident Mary Lou Liddy waters her garden
• 
  Grand Forks resident Karen Ford finishes watering her garden

Karen Ford and Mary Lou Liddy each have nurtured gardens that put their personalities on display.

Every family antique placed among Liddy’s sea of green plants and blossoming flowers recalls a childhood memory or a friend long gone.

Ford can point to any bird bath, fountain or landscaped terrace and recall a Mother’s Day her two sons and husband surprised her with a new addition to her garden.

Their personalities and the work they each have put into their gardens will be on display, along with four other private gardens, for all to see Saturday and Sunday as part of the Grand Forks Horticulture Society’s 2013 Garden Tour.

Anne Smith, a spokeswoman for the society, said the event is a way to introduce horticulture to the community.

“Spectators get a great opportunity to travel around the area and view beautiful gardens,” she said. “It is also a great way for other gardens to take the ideas they see and carry them over into their gardens.”

Three gardens from Grand Forks, including Liddy’s and Ford’s, and three gardens from East Grand Forks will featured in this year’s event.

Unique oases

Smith said the Garden Tour sets out to recognize the individuality found in each garden.

“No two gardens are the same,” Smith said. “We want people to see these gardens and be inspired to take certain aspects and make them their own.”

In addition to the antiques, Liddy’s backyard garden is lined with an uncommon assortment of plants.

Morning glories waiting to blossom are followed by old cacti, a patch of cucumbers, cabbage and other vegetables.

“Who wants a perfect garden?” Liddy said. “It may not all make sense, but I just like throwing things in the ground and seeing if it works out. I’d say it has.”

Ford said she takes a similar attitude towards her gardening, learning as she goes and trying new things each year.

“I didn’t even think anyone saw my garden, so I never thought in a thousand years it would be chosen for something like this,” she said. “This is just something I do, so for it to be picked is a huge surprise.”

Crammed into a small lot behind her house, Ford’s garden is full of plants and flowers arranged and decorated using ideas she got from Pinterest or fellow gardeners.

She seemed to follow a red, white and blue theme, as blue beer bottles hang from branches and red flowers add an extra flair to the jam-packed garden.

Standing out from the crowd is a tower of black-eyed Susans tucked away in the corner, a part of the garden Ford said she greatly admires.

Therapy

While the flowers planted and memories scattered across their respective gardens may differ, Liddy and Ford will both say they garden for one simple reason.

Gardening is therapy.

For Liddy, she began gardening more than 20 years ago to relieve the stress of her busy life providing home care for seniors throughout the region.

“I think sometimes when I come out here I don’t think about anything else,” she said.

Ford’s home was hit badly by the 1997 flood and water filled her newly renovated basement. After the water receded and the damage assessed, Ford needed to begin something new. So she turned to gardening.

“It was just a way for me to get away and begin something new,” Ford said. “I needed positive focus.”

If you go

The Grand Forks Horticulture Society’s Garden Tour and plant sale starts at the Myra Museum, 2405 Belmont Road, Grand Forks.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The Plant Doctor will be there 10 a.m. to noon Saturday.

Tickets are $10 and will be sold Saturday and Sunday at the museum, Tim Shea’s Nursery Landscaping, All Seasons Garden Center and Home of Economy, all in Grand Forks; Hardware Hanks in East Grand Forks; and Wagner’s Landscaping in Fisher, Minn.

Proceeds go towards enhancing area parks.

Info: Myra Museum, (701) 775-2216.

---

Call Ashlock at (701) 780-1137; (800) 477-6572, ext. 1137; or send email to aashlock@gfherald.com.

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gf and egf, news, updates, plantshome, garden, plants

Burlington’s newest landmark has rolled onto its perch near Alamance Crossing, where the New Leaf Society is proudly displaying a large piece of public art in its newly self-named roundabout.

At last year’s Willow Walk, the Alamance County Arts Council purchased and underwrote “Chasing the Wind,” a 9½-foot-tall bronze tricycle statue by Jeff Hackney, as part of its Public Art Initiative. The piece cost $10,150, of which New Leaf paid $7,000.

“Last week they finally got it installed,” said Cary Worthy, executive director of the arts council.

The roundabout was previously home to “Let’s Build it Together,” the egg-like sculpture by Michael Waller that’s since moved downtown. New Leaf Society has had new ideas for the site since last December, when Jim Davis of Sculpture in the Landscape scouted out the area.

Davis’ plan for the tricycle’s installation includes grading, landscaping and lighting, and a low rock wall to display lettering with “New Leaf Circle” – the name the Burlington City Council approved of renaming the roundabout in April.

Rett Davis, president of New Leaf Society, said Color Landscapes of Mebane installed the sculpture, and Living Landscapes of Graham has been contracted to maintain the circle.

“There’s Astroturf behind the tricycle that makes it looks like the path the tricyle follows,” he said. “So it’ll be green year ‘round.”

Davis said ornamental grasses and coleus, a broadleaf annual plant, will outline the path and Worthy said, “The plantings make it look like the tricycle’s going up a path and stopping on a hill.”

“And then there’ll be a bed of petunias put in front of the tricycle’s front wheel,” said Davis.

He said New Leaf Society has invested about $30,000 in the display, and in April the society told the council that rotating the flowers seasonally and the landscaping upkeep will cost about $2,500 annually.

“We’re trying to make it a landmark for Burlington, said Kelly May, co-chair of New Leaf’s technical advisory committee. “We hope people will reference that when they’re giving out directions.”

Davis said the plan was to have all the light installations, plantings and rock wall with lettering complete by Friday, but the display will most likely be finished Monday.

“That’s our hope,” he said. “I hope the community embraces it and likes it.”

The Ravalli County commissioners will hold a public meeting on Monday, July 29 to discuss and solicit potential Community Transportation Enhancement Projects (CTEP). 

Open to all, the session is at 1:30 p.m. in the third floor commissioners conference room, at 215 S. Fourth St.

Because CTEP uses federal surface transportation funds provided by the state of Montana for local transportation enhancement projects, the county commissioners are seeking feedback and ideas from groups and individuals in the community on proposed projects.

Projects will focus on many of the following:

• Pedestrian and bicycles facilities,

• Landscaping and scenic beautification

• Historic preservation

• Rehabilitation of historic transportation facilities

• Preserving historic transportation buildings

• Preservation of abandoned rail corridors

• Scenic or historic highway programs

• Transportation museums

• Acquisition of scenic or historic easements and sites

• Environmental mitigation and wildlife connectivity

• Archaeological planning and research

• Pedestrian and bicycle safety and education activities

• Control of outdoor advertising.

Ravalli County CTEP administrator Glenda Wiles said the commission has roughly $200,000 for proposed projects this year. She said that organizations and groups seeking funds for projects will have to pay 13.42 percent of the cost and the CTEP funds will cover the remaining cost.

“We hope to hear ideas for some good transportation projects from people around the area,” Wiles said.

Recent CTEP projects include the Stevensville Main Street streetscape, the Florence school bike and pedestrian pathways, the Darby Library sidewalks and landscaping, and the Eastside Highway sidewalks near Corvallis School District.

If you have any questions or concerns, contact Glenda Wiles at 375-6500 or attend the meeting on July 29.

Zeno Wicks can be contacted at 406-363-3300 or by email at zeno.wicks@ravallirepublic.com.

Bear Street merchants are trying to come up with a plan to boost the number of shoppers and diners to their shopping district in the face of higher than usual retail vacancy rates.

At least one businessman, Miles Kennedy, is pressing the Town of Banff to do a better job of directing traffic from Banff Avenue to Bear Street, perhaps through increased signs and retail directories.

The Towns done a fairly good job of dolling up Bear Street, but theres not much point dressing it up if people dont know it exists, said Kennedy, whose wife owns Four Dangerous Dolls.

Bear Street is the second major shopping district in Banff and yet it gets only 17 per cent of the foot traffic that Banff Avenue gets. Something needs to be done to get more people there.

Arctos Bird Management, owners of Bison Courtyard, are also keen to see foot traffic increased for Bear Street, indicating doubling average foot traffic in peak and shoulder seasons would be a good target.

Theyve offered $5,000 to a marketing pool based on $1,000 per occupied lot at Bison Courtyard, provided other businesses contribute the same amount for each occupied lot to create a seed fund for joint marketing.

Kennedy said he would like the Town of Banff to install retail directories in the downtown core, similar to the ones used at street corners in Ottawas Byward Market area, directing visitors to Bear Street.

Tourists visiting Banff might discover that there is more to the town than Banff Avenue if one of these was erected at each end of Banff Avenue, and even at each end of Bear Street, he said.

Something like this would be complimentary to the efforts that the Town is making to improve the Bear Street experience and, most importantly, it would inform them that Bear Street exists as an option for shopping and dining.

Several Bear Street merchants have closed up shop in recent times, and there are currently about six stores vacant on the street, and more in the two indoor malls.

Some of the closures in more recent times include District, Avalanche and Avanti. Mountain Magic Equipment recently closed its two Bear Street locations and relocated to the 200 block of Banff Avenue.

While some businesses blame main-floor vacancies on the lack of awareness of Bear Street, it has also been suggested there are other reasons for vacancies, including natural business attrition, market saturation and competition in certain business sectors, like outerwear and souvenir gift shops, as well as a shift in consumer shopping habits.

When youre only getting 17 per cent of the foot traffic, that means youre only getting 17 per cent of the available money being spent, said Kennedy.

Theres a rather large vacancy rate on Bear Street, which is, quite frankly, not good for the town and certainly not good for the landlords and merchants here.

In recent times, the Town of Banff has invested time and money to make Bear Street more inviting and attractive, including the seasonal installation of Christmas lights, special event banners on street light poles, flower barrels on the sidewalks, public artwork and improved landscaping.

In addition, council is considering making Bear Street a pedestrian-priority street known as a woonerf, which are widely popular in Europe and growing in popularity in North America.

Mayor Karen Sorensen said she believes council has worked hard in the past few years to support Bear Street retailers to make the street more vibrant and attractive to visitors.

We are well aware of the difference in foot traffic between Banff Avenue and Bear Street, but Banff Avenue has been there for 125 years and is one of the most photographed streets in Canada, she said.

With that in mind, weve done things within our municipal responsibility that we believe are intended to make Bear Street more attractive and draw more people to it.

The suggestion made by Kennedy for a directory similar to Ottawas Byward Market area has been sent to the Town of Banffs planning and development department.

Randall McKay, the Town of Banffs planning and development manager, said he believes urban design, landscape features, architecture and getting people out of their cars will make visitors want to spend more time in downtown Banff to discover all it has to offer.

He said the town-wide wayfinding master plan adopted an approach to direct pedestrians and motorists to specific districts, as opposed to individual businesses or streets, with the exception of national historic sites or key landmarks.

He said a series of large-scale information kiosks have also been placed in and around the downtown area to provide context maps, district delineation, community information and pedestrian directional signage.

A very deliberate decision was made as part of the wayfinding strategy to not clutter streetscape with an overabundance of signs, including business directories, given how small the downtown core is, not to mention our location in a national park and UNSECO world heritage site, he said.

A quick review of our existing tenancy mapping also suggests that in order to encompass the 100-plus off Banff Avenue businesses in the downtown, a very sizable directory sign would be required. Im just not convinced yet another sign would increase foot traffic to Bear Street.

McKay said the Ottawa Byward Market kiosk is large and has a three dimensional map, but it should be noted that it covers a 20 block area of downtown Ottawa.

This style of kiosk was not considered appropriate in the Banff context given the small size and scale of the downtown core, he said.

All of that said, there is an online version of the Ottawa Byward Market kiosk map and I dont want to rule out the possibility of developing a similar online-interactive downtown business directory map for Banff at some point in the future.

McKay said he believes there are also a series of other new projects that have been approved, are underway or in the planning stages that will undoubtedly help draw pedestrians to Bear Street.

They include talk of a woonerf style street, the creation of additional parking stalls in and around the periphery of the downtown district, the approval of a new retail-restaurant building on the site of the old Timbers restaurant, redevelopment and upgrading of the exterior of Cascade Plaza, and redevelopment of the Homestead Inn, which will include significant upgrades and improvement to the lane between Bear and Lynx streets.

In my opinion, all of the above noted developments will help draw more people to Bear Street and all of downtown, said McKay.

The Town of Banff is also encouraging Bear Street businesses to resurrect a merchants association of Bear/Wolf/Caribou streets as the best way to work with the Town of Banff and bring forward suggestions to improve Bear Street.

I encourage Mr. Kennedy and the Bear Street merchants to meet as a group to brainstorm ideas for the area, said Mayor Sorensen. We always welcome when the public gets involved to come up with solutions as a group.

We purchased a home with a pool that has a rock garden around it. We are having a huge problem with wild morning glories and nut grass coming up through the paper and rocks. We had double layers of commercial landscaping fabric put down. Morning glories and nut grass are