DDA is threatening harm to many small businesses on the south side of the courthouse. 

In April of 2022,  small business owners on the South-side of the courthouse attended a meeting and were presented with plans to turn the small parking lots behind their businesses into entertainment & outdoor dining areas for . 

Much of the area in the plans for the “ Courtyard “ is privately owned by businesses, such as Baby Lane’s & WTGA Fun 101, both of these businesses have an absolute need to retain their private property in order to stay in business. 

The area behind WTGA is used for their broadcasting equipment. The area behind Baby Lane’s is used for employee parking & shipping. 
To close these areas or restrict access to them would be detrimental to two longstanding businesses in our town. 

The City officials ( Doug Head & Taylor Smith ) were also presented with a petition from Terry Davidson,  signed by the majority of business owners on the south side explaining that moving forward with the plan would harm their small businesses. 

These included;

Melissa Lane, Baby Lane’s

Dave Piper, FUN 101

Kathy Pucket, Circle J Shoe Repair

Natalie Arreola, Sabrosos 

Gerald Ellerbee, The detail shop

Terry Davidson, Davidson Electric. 

The city is seeking a grant from the state to fund this project which also includes installing grease traps for , owned by & , to bring the privately owned business up to current code.  also currently serves on the DDA board. 

These plans for dining areas would take away parking in downtown from all of the businesses and make it harder for everyone to visit & shop. 

The local DDA should be supporting all small businesses, not doing things to harm them, especially when so many business owners have spoke out against the plan. 

Please show your support for our locally owned downtown businesses & tell them they are more important than outdoor dining.