{"id":772,"date":"2018-03-26T11:53:50","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T15:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/?p=772"},"modified":"2018-03-26T18:34:06","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T22:34:06","slug":"february-2018-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/?p=772","title":{"rendered":"February 2018 Minutes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>LDNA 2\/26\/18<\/p>\n<p>7 PM, LTC<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Present:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jack Moynihan<\/p>\n<p>Carolyn Alphen<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Greene<\/p>\n<p>Sam Litvin<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Meeting called to order at: 7:00.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opening greeting<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Approval of minutes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Approval of January minutes; Postpones until March meeting.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Treasurer\u2019s Report<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>$755.25 balance.\u00a0 Everyone is invited to make a voluntary $10 membership contribution.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Police Report<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Capt Crowley \u2013 Sector \u2018A\u2019 Commander.<\/p>\n<p>Discussion of cyclist accident on Dutton Street near Lord Overpass ramp.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Discuss improvements to markings and general roadway design.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Big increase in vandalism, including 8 smashed windows.<\/p>\n<p>3 of 6 aggravated assaults were domestic.<\/p>\n<p>Disorderly incidents: most involve bar closings<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Special Guest:\u00a0 Andrew Shapiro, City Economic Development Director<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Experience:\u00a0 4.5yrs in Salem, MA doing economic development.<\/p>\n<p>5.5% official vacancy rate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Craig H. pointed out that the vacancy rate seems much higher than 5.5%.<\/p>\n<p>New overlay zoning district in downtown requires special permit for class-A office use of storefronts.\u00a0 (To encourage retail.)<\/p>\n<p>Walgreens coming to downtown; other vacant storefronts are under discussion with possible tenants.<\/p>\n<p>Strategies for improvement:<\/p>\n<p>-Retail incubator in vacant storefront to allow small new retailers to get established.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Would also provide access to support services for new businesses.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Submitted grant proposal to MassDevelopment for JAM area to support community &amp; economic development dedicated to that area.<\/p>\n<p>See facebook and twitter at @DoBizInLowell to keep up to date.<\/p>\n<p>QUESTIONS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Why do political offices seem to be exempt from class-a special use permit?\n<ul>\n<li>Not sure; will ask.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>How does high school decision affect downtown planning.\n<ul>\n<li>It doesn\u2019t really affect the current activities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What to do with large store-front spaces?\n<ul>\n<li>A real challenge except for restaurants; one option is to sub-divide into smaller spaces<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>What would be good business to move in?\n<ul>\n<li>2<sup>nd<\/sup> hand shop<\/li>\n<li>Pet shop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>RICHARD HOWE:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Arts week 4\/27 \u2013 4\/28: A walking tour about monuments in downtown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>COUNCILOR CIRILLO:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Neighborhood sub-committee chair. First meeting will be at City Hall; future meetings will be in the neighborhoods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>PARKING:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>City is re-starting process of looking at parking rates.<\/li>\n<li>LDNA is interested in looking at the various restrictions and agreements between city and various condo associations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>EVENTS:<\/p>\n<p>DIY Lowell, LNHP and other groups will be holding an event on 6\/16:\u00a0 Interactive (travelling) production of a Midsummer-night\u2019s Dream.\u00a0 More info will be on DIY-Lowell site eventually.<\/p>\n<p>June 7<sup>th<\/sup> book event at Eastern Bank from 3:30 \u2013 6:00.\u00a0 See \u201cProject Learn\u201d website for more info.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Meeting Adjourns at 7:59.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LDNA 2\/26\/18 7 PM, LTC &nbsp; Present: Jack Moynihan Carolyn Alphen Stephen Greene Sam Litvin &nbsp; Meeting called to order at: 7:00. &nbsp; Opening greeting &nbsp; Approval of minutes Approval of January minutes; Postpones until March meeting. &nbsp; Treasurer\u2019s Report &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/?p=772\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-772","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=772"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":775,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772\/revisions\/775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ldna01852.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}