This is a tricky issue. I think part of the problem is the limited type of shopping one can do on Main Steet today in 2008. Where do I go in Cornwall to buy a new digital camera? Or painting supplies? How about hardware items? Where do I go to buy a new New York Giants jersey? Or sneakers? Curtain rods?
I'm not trying to be picky, but in this day and age of your big dept. stores or internet shopping, it leaves very little for your traditional small towns to offer anything to shoppers. It seems like the only type of business that does well on Main Street are your eating/drinking establiments. Canterbury Inn has been here for decades. So has Prima Pizza. The two new deli's and Fiddlestix seems to do very well, and the Shamrock has been a tavern/restaurant in one form or another dating back to the 1940's.
I think the idea of cleaning up Main Street is good, but we also have to understand that may not mean that all the vacant store will be occupied because of it.

I am sadened to see the Mayor take such an isolationist position on business. The ONLY goal of the Greater Cornwall Chamber of Commerce is to IMPROVE the shopping experience of the area residents. Not to expand or add to it. The owners of the buildings and business are also residents and taxpayers and it does not seem as their voices are being heard or given any credence.

I agree with the Mayor - no more business in COH!!!

I understand the Mayors point about not wanting to attract big developers.
However, taking an historic dilapidated building and restoring it to it's original charm, as well as adding businesses that can benefit the community (such as yoga or holistic products), should be viewed as a positive addition to the Village. These businesses take up short term parking only, and I might add, benefit the other businesses ( such as the eateries) by drawing people down to the Village.

Wanting to make a community more attractive is not a bad thing. Being able to do this in a way that maintains the original charm and character of the building, is also not a bad thing.
Hiding your head in the sand and pretending that things will never change? Well....You tell me!

I am shocked that this is Joe's point of view. This is certainly not the reason I voted him into office. OF COURSE, no one wants large retailers or another jewelry store (god forbid!), but the fact that I can walk down my street and take yoga, buy a cup of good coffee, and hopefully in the future, work and purchase at a food co-op is a good thing! People keep carping about higher taxes, and business is one of the ways to reduce our tax burden (at least in my limited knowledge of such things). I don't know who Joe has been talking to, but I'm here to tell you he hasn't talked to me, or some others that voted him into office... and he better start taking a wider perusal.

Joe, please, use that noggin we know you have. The last thing the village needs is more landscaping at the municipal lot! What a waste of grant money and what a lack of imagination. Business development for the village does not mean we are going to invite Lightron to come back and start manufacturing. Think back 30 or 40 years ago when the village was thriving, and yes, people drove cars then. We had a pharmacy, drinking establishments, antique stores, insurance agencies, real estate brokerages, etc., etc. Business can mean goods or services, and the wonderful thing about a small village is that many of the residents can utilize those local services, and often can do so on foot. Do you really think everyone should just sleep in the village, but go elsewhere to shop, work, eat, visit Drs., get a message, take a yoga class, see their chiropractor, or their shrink? I am one of those properties, with a business, directly adjacent to the Yoga Mountain studio. I have never once felt a parking pinch, nor has my residential tenant, nor was it an issue to my newest tenant that will be subletting an office for his business. It seems that whether it is the town, or the village, nobody ever seems to get beyond parking as a reason businesses can't survive, or can't be attracted. Time to look beyond the lot.

If the 'DP' refered to in
a comment above is Trustee Rick Gioia (who is a DP by trade), how much more transparent and appropriate it would have been for a Village official to have identified himself openly on such a relevant issue before the community.

Lee Murphy

Hmmmm. I am a bit bewildered. In my own opinion, I think more businesses in the village would be hard pressed to find a space. In that respect I think Mayor Joe is correct; we don't need to build anything else. But it also depends on *what* kind of business it is that one would convert a building for. Another restaurant? No thanks. A book store? Ok by me. I was very happy to have Storm King Adventure Tours move in to my neighborhood. And I am anxiously awaiting the Tapas Bar at PortoSpain. Because, unlike some of my neighbors, when I move in next door to a restaurant I expect there to be food, and drink, and clientele. I do, however, think that the situation on Main Street could use some new life. Within the last half century that was where most of the trade had been, uptown. And, seriously, let's get off the parking. Parking is simply a minor issue -IF- you know how to drive and parallel park.(Which, I am sorry to say, most of the people here don't. How half of them even got licensed is beyond me.) The problemn is that it is not 50 years ago when we used to shop at Edgars or Ushmans or Glubes or Heys or have our shoes done at the cobblers and get our meat from Clarks and buy a gift at the Fling and then stop for a float at Hazards. We are competing with big box and internet and it ain't going away. On the other hand, Washingtonville has an auto parts/hardware store which I frequently visit, a furniture shop, a skate shop, a skateboard shop, a dress shop (that used to be on our Main st.) and as far as I can tell their parking isn't that much more expansive than ours. I do note that their schools are still in the middle of town, encouraging foot traffic, etc, but we beat that dead horse to bits a while ago...
Bottom line - a former trustee made it plain - if you want to be heard you must show up at board meetings and find out what the issues are and speak up (for 5 minutes, then shut up and sit down...)

I am also very surprised by the narrow vision of our leaders on this issue. There are many, many resources available to them through the Orange County Citizens Foundation, the Orange County Partnership and others for ideas. The buzz in community development includes making communities "walkable", meaning that residents should be able to walk to obtain goods and services, which therefore need to be available. Let's get out of the box.

Without new ideas and without change, any town will deteriorate. Nothing lives without change. There have been many suggestions, but no changes to Main Street since the High School left. We need to breathe new life into the shopping area - plants, benches, attractive street lights, more cross walks. Owners of the rundown building should be made to present an attractive facade. This is an important issue. The value of every homeowner's property depends on it, as do the successful businesses that continue on Main Street. Make the street attractive and business will follow.

I am not Rick Gioia (just to clear the record)

I'd like to thank DP for the clarification. It's reassuring to learn that a Village Trustee isn't hiding behind a web-name. Still, it would be good to know where all the Trustees staqnd on growth...of the smart type advocated by other commenters. For at least two of this group, next March isn't that far away.

I'm thinking William Randolph Hearst and the Spanish-American War. What do you think, Lee? You really must stop obsessing over web names, and try a little less paranoia.

Rick Gioia

I believe Joe is trying to say that we don't want to see the village as a destination with cars clogging our streets I'm guessing he would want businesses that cater towards the people that live in and the surrounding area. I'm positive he would love to see a local grocery a bakery, drug store and hardware. and less of the boutique shops that cater towards tourists.