Issues related to speeding, parking and street closures on Main Street were topics of discussion during the Jan. 6 Franklin Town Council meeting.
Cory McCall, owner of Outdoor 76, discussed how the weekly Saturday street closures had impacted his business because people can’t access his business or don’t know where to go for parking when the streets are closed.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2024, Iotla Street was closed each Saturday for the new Macon County Farmer’s Market and Phillips Street was closed for the Phillips Street Market and Artisan Alley.
McCall pointed out that DOT estimates the daily traffic count on Main Street at 5,500 cars with 1,400 on Iotla Street and 2,300 on Phillips Street.
“If we take into consideration what that looks like, for us, that’s 3,700 cars a day from a merchant’s perspective, that we’re losing access from parking, and then we’re losing exposure,” McCall said. “Considering 3,700 cars and Main Street’s at 5,500, that’s a huge number for what we’re considering to be a premium for rent and in the heart of downtown.”
According to McCall, Iotla Street offers 22 spots for parking with 10 spots on Phillips Street. “Our entire Main Street only has 60 spots. So, we’re taking a considerable amount of parking away when we close those streets. What we noticed as well from 2024 was a decline in sales on Saturday.”
McCall acknowledged that Hurricane Helene had a negative effect on sales in October, but even with taking that month out there was still a downward trend. He attributes the slide in sales to the weekly street closures but also expressed his support for the farmer’s market.
“Devon [Dupuis] has done a wonderful job with that. My kids have set up at the Rising Star booth for a number of weekends. I’ve attended personally a ton of weekends, but I’m also a business owner.”
McCall said Outdoor 76 could probably weather another year of decline in Saturday sales, but he has talked to other merchants who have expressed concern about what another year of decline would mean for their business.
“There are definitely some businesses who have concerns and definitely businesses who are doing OK,” said Morgan Stewart representing the Streets of Franklin merchants association. “Some are doing better, but they all see a need for some tweaks and are happy to work with Cory and the Macon County Farmer’s Market to make this better for everyone.”
McCall researched how surrounding counties operate their farmer’s markets and noted that Macon County was the only one that closed a street for the event.
“Considering the size of our Main Street, it’s very small. We don’t have a lot of access roads that are off to the side. So when we start closing access roads, Phillips Street and Iotla, it has a much greater impact on our downtown,” McCall said.
The parking lot behind Outdoor 76 is privately owned and has 112 spaces. McCall said when they moved into the building, owner J.C. Jacobs told him he would be surprised how many customers would come in through the back door.
“Fifty or 60% of our business walks in the back door,” McCall said. “That alone shows the value of that back parking lot. When that back parking lot is limited from an access standpoint, it directly impacts our business.”
Farmer’s market vendors were also parking in the lot. Farmer’s Market manager Devon Dupuis said in the future she would ask vendors to park behind the courthouse.
McCall said Saturday is most of the merchants’ busiest day with the bulk of their traffic between 12 and 4 p.m. each day.
Marie Roberts, owner of Trail Mix, said her busiest times are between 10 and 11 a.m. and again in the afternoon between 1 and 3. This year she saw her 1-3 p.m. sales dip and some weeks her Sunday sales were better than Saturday sales. Roberts is one of the few businesses open on Main Street on Sunday.
“I love the farmer’s market, they’re definitely something that we need, but I think that’s why I agree with Corey. I think there’s a solution that we can find where this will work out for both of us to thrive and do better.”
On days when there are street closures the barricades go up around 6 or 7 a.m. and sometimes do not come down until 4 p.m. On Saturdays when there is a Pickin’ on the Square, the barricades are up until 9 p.m.
“So we have to be careful in looking through the lens of bringing wonderful things like the farmer’s market downtown, but making sure that we are seeing any potential harm or ramification from that,” McCall said.
Proposed alternatives
McCall said they would like to see the farmer’s market stay downtown, and he wanted to help offer solutions.
“Me coming before you and bringing this up is not to bring up a problem and tell you the farmer’s market is not good. My grandfather was a third-generation dairy farmer. I grew up on a farm. My son absolutely loves to garden,” McCall said. “I am not here to critique anything that they are doing. I just think we need to change things just a little bit to make sure that we as merchants are not ignored through this process.”
His suggestions for two possible alternative locations for the farmer’s market were Town Square around the gazebo or the parking lot behind Town Hall.
Other ideas talked about included adjusting the Iotla Street closure to leave one lane open so people can access the lot behind Outdoor 76, or moving the market so it starts further back on Iotla Street. It was also suggested that the section of West Main Street from the Courthouse to Motor Company Grill might be an alternative since there are few businesses open on Saturday on that section and it would leave the side access streets open. One of the farmer’s market vendors also asked if it would be helpful if they adjusted the time of the market so the street is not closed so long during the day. It was also asked if the town had considered building a public parking facility.
Council member David Culpepper suggested that when closing Main Street the barricade be moved to the top of Town Hill and routing traffic through the parking lot at town hall.
“I think that could be done safely and that gets people to where they’re actually putting their nose up downtown into downtown during festival days, but it keeps pedestrians safe because there’s a barricade. There’s a viable detour that puts them in a parking lot.”
Vice Mayor Stacy Guffey asked that the business owners and the farmer’s market meet and work out a solution. Living downtown, Guffey said he has noticed a positive difference since the farmer’s market started.
“The number of people walking up and down the street, the activity, the energy, that has to be beneficial in some way and I would hope that we find a solution that works so that we’re not losing business on a Saturday, but we don’t lose that kind of momentum and activity,” Guffey said.
Dupuis said, “The Farmer’s Market wants to be a partner downtown, not an obstacle.”
Better signage & speeding
McCall said there needs to be better signage at the bottom of Town Hill when there are street closures. He said locals may know how to navigate around town to get to Main Street, but visitors do not.
“If anybody has been at the base of Town Hill and seen an out-of-state tag in front of you, typically there’s a long pause with brake lights, there’s a phone that comes up, and somebody’s trying to figure out where they’re going,” McCall said.
McCall said usually there is only one detour sign and some cones at the bottom of the hill. “At that point, they don’t know why they are being detoured. Is there an accident on Main Street? Is there a building on fire? Is there a special event? I think any additional communication that we can have with individuals as they’re traveling toward Town Hill would be good.”
He said more visible detour signage at the intersections would be helpful.
Dupuis said her group had already been discussing better signage to direct people to parking and shared drawings and maps of where the signs would be placed.
McCall also addressed the speeding on Main Street, saying that the bump outs had helped some but “it never fails that we see traffic that’s just going too fast.” He encouraged the council to consider other ways to get cars to slow down when traveling on Main Street.
Farmer’s Market
An update on the Farmer’s Market followed on the agenda with Devon Dupuis giving a report on the market’s first year. She said they had more than 40 vendors over 30 Saturdays and estimated attendance of 400 each Saturday. In addition to the $200,000 gross revenue generated at the market, a private donation allowed them to purchase $15,600 in unsold food to give to families in need.
Dupuis had planned to ask for the closure of Iotla Street each Saturday from 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. May-November, but a decision on that was tabled given the previous discussion about the street closure’s impact on Main Street businesses.
The next Franklin Town Council meeting will be Monday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in the board room on the lower level of Town Hall.