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Save Our Heritage |
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Protecting the Birthplace of the American Revolution, the cradle of the Environmental Movement, and the Home of the American Literary Renaissance |
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Concord Adopts Formula Business Bylaw April 10, 2019
The Town Meeting of Concord adopted a formula business bylaw for the Town Center, which is designed to maintain the unique character of the center and encourage diversity of small independent retail businesses. The new bylaw is essentially the same bylaw that was previously adopted by the Town for the West Concord village. It provides a cap of 12 standardized or "formulaic" retail establishments in the Town Center. Since that cap has not yet been met, the bylaw has no immediate impact but should prevent a signficiant replacement of small independent shops with standardized businesses. Save Our Heritage worked in concert with other Town organizations to increase public awareness of this issue. Citizens at the Town Meeting expressed support for the new bylaw, citing the importance of the current character of the Center, and the decline of the unique attractiveness of locations such as Harvard Square where formula businesses have replaced independent businesses over time. Some citizens at the meeting expressed concern that this bylaw would not be enough to maintain the character of Concord Center, and that additional effort would be needed, including improving parking, making the Center more tourist-friendly, and reducing/simplifying regulatory burden for small retail businesses. Save Our Heritage recognizes these challenges and looks forward to increasing public awareness of these issues and facilitating a forum for ideas and engagement. |
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