March 17, 2009
Dear Mayor Foy and Members of the Town Council,
INTRODUCTION
I was hired recently by Market Street Association at Southern Village to help increase the vibrancy of our business district. One of my primary responsibilities in my new job is to plan and promote a variety of events that will attract the public to our retail district. My hiring is an expansion of and a renewed commitment to a program of outdoor events that pre-dates my tenure.
My ultimate goals in my new position are to help the Southern Village merchants succeed, to expand participation in events, and to enhance the reputations of Southern Village and the Town of Chapel Hill.
I am writing now to propose that the Town of Chapel Hill become an official co-sponsor of our outdoor events program, and specifically the annual performance in Southern Village of the N.C. Symphony.
BACKGROUND
Chapel Hill is a very special and unique town, and Southern Village is a very unique and special community within Chapel Hill. The Southern Village concept was designed to provide the ambience of an established, older neighborhood, which in the words of our developer D.R. Bryan, was designed for people, not for cars. The neighborhood includes over 1,100 residences—single family homes, town homes, condos and apartments, and is home to over 3,000 people. Market Street in Southern Village incorporates retail businesses, offices and residential lofts surrounding our immaculately maintained Village Green, which features an expansive, covered stone stage.
Southern Village is also home to a Chapel Hill Police Department sub-station, a public elementary school, a church and a day care facility. A public middle school is adjacent to Southern Village. Most importantly, Southern Village is served by Chapel Hill Transit, with free buses connecting our community to downtown Chapel Hill, the University and other areas of Town. We are home to a 450 space Park & Ride lot.
EXISTING PROGRAMS
We devote considerable financial and human resources to physically maintaining our retail district and Village Green, including frequent upgrades to the facilities, landscaping expenses, utilities, insurance, security, repairs, general maintenance and more. Everybody benefits from our capital and maintenance expenditures. The public benefits by having an attractive gathering and play space, and from having convenient and attractive businesses that are within walking or very short driving distance from their homes. The businesses benefit by having an appealing, upscale environment in which to conduct their commerce. The shopping center owners benefit by having demand for space and therefore full occupancy of our retail and office spaces. The Town of Chapel Hill benefits from the sales tax revenues from our retailers, and intangibly, from having an attractive and unique neighborhood within its boundaries.
We also spend a considerable amount to provide an attractive and diverse program of events for public enjoyment. Expenses include administration of the program, appearance fees paid to the various bands, and advertising and publicity. Our program of events benefits the public by offering them affordable (often free), fun, family-oriented activities. The retailers benefit from the human traffic and the resulting business that our events generate. Local bands benefit by being able to make a few dollars from performing.
As the administrator of the program, I’m approached on an almost daily basis by bands who want to perform in Southern Village and by non-profits who want to hold their fund raising events on our Village Green. We offer our green for free or for a nominal charge to non-profit organizations (always free to Chapel Hill Police Department).
The list of events that are already in place or are in the planning stages follows:
My challenge is to envision and implement even more and new types of events.
BENEFITS OF OUR CONCEPT
Our program is already in existence, and we devote many resources to it, in terms of extensive financial support for ongoing maintenance of an attractive Village Green with its expansive, covered stone stage. The benefits derived from the expenditure of these resources are both tangible and intangible. Tangibly speaking, more events lead to more foot traffic into Southern Village which leads to increased business for our shops, restaurants and service businesses. We believe in locally-owned, mom-and-pop businesses and want to see them stay alive. As their landlords, we continue to have a fully leased and vibrant business district. From an intangible standpoint, a vibrant business district is aesthetically pleasing and is what our residents want. The Homeowners Association in Southern Village contribute to Market Street in Southern Village to help support the programs that we offer.
Our ultimate goal is to provide a broad spectrum of entertainment and events for all Town residents, expanding our attendance to a more diverse audience. Now that SCP has opened, this goal is more feasible than ever, aided by the free Chapel Hill Transit bus service.
CHALLENGES
Economy: The largest challenge facing us is the extremely difficult economy and the negative effects of the economic downturn on our retailers. Our concept of a mixed use community with residences, businesses, a church and school depends on the viability of our business district. We want to help our mom-and-pop businesses stay in business, and we see exciting programming as a way to attract foot traffic into the village. We want to increase our programming, and also be able to do a more complete job of advertising and publicizing it.
Inclusiveness: We attract a considerable, often capacity audience from the Southern Village community. We would like to attract a broader audience, to include the entire population of Chapel Hill, including the University community. We want more people in our Town to know about Southern Village and about our events. The new Southern Community Park (SCP) offers us the opportunity to have more people visit our area and do business in Southern Village.
Tie in with new SCP: The new park is a jewel in the crown that is the Town of Chapel Hill. Obviously, the Town wants people to become aware of this wonderful facility and begin to utilize it. We are seeking ways to improve attract traffic into our business district. It seems evident that collaboration between the Town and Southern Village is a mutually beneficial way for both of these goals to be met. This could be accomplished in part by signage within the Park and at the Park exit.
Budget: Our ability to fund a consistent stream of high quality, varied programming and to be able to advertise our programming to the public is constrained only by our budget. Additional financial support would enable us to secure more programs and be able to advertise our programs more extensively in the local media.
Directions/Signage: We think that the exit onto Market Street from SCP could be confusing to the public. Furthermore, we’re seeking ways to improve attract traffic into Southern Village from the new Park. Both of these issues could be addressed in part by signage within the Park and at the Park exit.
SPONSORSHIP REQUEST:
We are requesting that the Town of Chapel Hill become an official sponsor of our annual events programming. We are requesting sponsorship from the Town to encompass support in three areas; financial, publicity and signage.
Financial: Financial assistance would enable us to offer more programming to the public than we do at present and would enable us to advertise our programs in the local media. Specifically, we would like financial support for the annual performance in Southern Village by the N.C. Symphony. This is a very special event that is FREE to the public, and we would like more members of the public to be aware of and take advantage of this magical evening. The cost of bringing the Symphony to Southern Village is over $15,000, including their fee of $12,000, and additional expenses to support their performance of well over $3,000. We are requesting $3,000 from the Town to help defray these expenses, which cover equipment rental and parking expenses.
Publicity: Publicity assistance from the Town would heighten awareness of our specific programming and of Southern Village in general. We welcome any type of publicity that the Town can provide. Specifically, we are requesting that our program of events be included in the following:
Signage: We are requesting that the Town provide the following signage, which we believe would be beneficial to the public:
BENEFITS OF TOWN SPONSORSHIP
The benefits of Town co-sponsorship are wide reaching, and are both tangible and intangible. Intangibly speaking, a vibrant program of events in Southern Village helps enhance the Town’s reputation as a destination, attracting visitors from inside and outside of Town, and reducing the outflow of Town residents seeking entertainment and dining options elsewhere. Tangibly speaking, the more visitors we have (and the fewer that we lose to South Point, etc), the more money is spent in our Town, the more tax revenue that the Town receives. Our retailers benefit from additional business from the increase in visitors to Southern Village. Our Town residents benefit from becoming aware of and having access to interesting events. The new Southern Community Park benefits from having the synergy that its location adjacent to Southern Village
provides.
CONCLUSION
The success of the programs at Southern Village contributes positively in every way to the Town of Chapel Hill. Collaboration between Market Street at Southern Village and the Town of Chapel Hill will be mutually beneficial. I look forward to hearing your comments and questions about this petition, and ultimately your favorable decision to become an official sponsor of the Southern Village program of events.
Respectfully submitted,
Beverly L. Carr
Marketing & Events Coordinator
Market Street at Southern Village
400 Market Street, Suite 200
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Office: 919.969.7301 x231
Mobile: 919.619.3387