Borough Addresses SID Concerns, But Merchants Remain Skeptical

Matthew Hersh

Princeton Borough officials offered a Borough Hall tutorial for merchants Monday night in the on-going debate over whether to establish a mechanism that would assess businesses for the purpose of beautifying the Borough's downtown area.

And while several Borough officials, including some members of Council, have touted the benefits of establishing a Special Improvement District, merchants remain uneasy, saying that they are worried by potential assessed costs and that many of the services a SID encourages are already in place.

At the hearing attended by approximately 30 merchants, including representatives from Princeton University, and four members of Borough Council, Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said that SIDs, such as those employed in Westfield, Summit, and Red Bank, could improve a merchant's ability to market a store or product, improve signage to attract out-of-towners, assist with trash removal --- a major concern for merchants --- and provide aesthetic touches such as flower plantings.

Palmer Square already functions as a SID would, providing marketing, security, and signage for its tenants.

But the tenor of Monday's meeting was largely skeptical, with most merchants asking why a SID was essential, especially when other cities employing SIDs had primarily used it to dig themselves out of a financial hole. While a SID in the Borough would not have to be as stringent as those in some other municipalities, some thought that the Borough's downtown problems relating to trash and cleanliness could be addressed through better enforcement of existing municipal ordinances.

Merchants were also wary of costs related to a SID. For example, the Princeton Record Exchange on Tulane Street would pay about $707 a year, but One Palmer Square, which houses PNC Bank and several offices and businesses, would incur a yearly cost of $24,606. Hamilton Jewelers would be assessed at $6,789 annually.

David Newton, vice president of Palmer Square Management, said the increased bureaucracy created by a SID was not the way to handle the problems of downtown Princeton. "More government is not the answer."

Jan Weinberg of Weinberg Management agreed, pointing out that if merchants made better use of he services provided by the Borough Merchants for Princeton and the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce, a SID would be unnecessary. "The Chamber of Commerce can help: we can start there."

In April, when Mr. Bruschi appeared before merchants for a similar presentation, Kristin Appelget, president and CEO of the Chamber, worried that a SID association would usurp responsibilities currently handled by the Borough Merchants, such as holiday decorations. "I think in effect you would be destroying the Borough Merchants group, and I don't think that's necessarily a good thing."

Speaking from a marketing standpoint, however, Jack Morrison, owner of Blue Point Grill and Witherspoon Grill, said the town "could use a little cleaning," adding that a SID and its marketing tools could address problems linked to high residential turnover in Mercer County and the need to keep area businesses on the map.

Raoul Momo of TerraMomo, which manages Mediterra and Teresa Caffe, agreed, saying that the marketing of a SID could help combat the lure of malls.

Mike Skillman, owner of Morris Maple & Son, said that could work for some businesses, but not utility businesses like his, adding that people from around Mercer County were not going to drive into Princeton to buy paint.

Barry Weisfeld, owner of the Princeton Record Exchange, said there were "real reasons" why Westfield used a SID, citing a high level of store vacancies as one of them.

"I think this whole thing is blown out of proportion to be quite honest," he said, adding that "Princeton is the envy of property and real estate owners" and would not need help from a SID to fill vacancies.

Mr. Weisfeld did say, however, that one benefit of a SID could be a comprehensive jitney service to bring pedestrians from one point in town to another, but he went on to point to the University's jitney, P-Rides, as a system already in place that could simply be expanded.