A letter to my closest constituents;
5/26/17
morning all,
its amazing how things work out sometimes.
when life gives you lemons….make lemonade,
and don’t be surprised if you end up changing the course of history along the way.
last night was the largest and most intense L&P oversight meeting yet. there were several new representatives for the artisans making public comment, as well as a special visit by a city councilman to offer his insight (longer terms, larger space, streamlined oversight, etc.) on the current state of the quickly amending TVL city ordinance draft 2017.
I don’t have time to get into all the specifics as the meeting went well past 2 hours. I will be following up with more detail in a Revival update. But here are the main points.
The draft will be definitely going to the floor of the city council on tuesday evening, but at this time, its anyones guess as to whether or not there will be a vote, or more debate. I can tell you right now, that there may be some fireworks between the author of the draft (Jared Eigerman) and the license and permit oversight committee (Devlin, Earls, Vogel). The l&P oversight is in full support of the artisan designation, as well as amendments regarding renewal, terms, compliance, and others. There may have been up to six amendments entered by the committee, with the most significant one offered by the co-author of the draft, Joe Devlin, who supports the increase to two artisan designation to offset the two current food TVL. If this happens, there will be four Inn St licenses available next year. These amendments are , at this time, being proposed without the approval of Jared Eigerman, who may challenge the amendments during debate on the floor.
There is even an opportunity for more artisan designation TVL available for Inn St, and other parts of the city down the road.
Needless to say, that just over the course of the last couple weeks, we are looking at not only the core foundation for an Inn St market, but perhaps a foundation for a city artisans market somewhere in newburyport relatively soon.
And it started right here. You all should be very proud of yourselves. You changed something, something that will soon become part of Newburyport’s bylaws…forever.
I hope that whatever scars were created through this process will heal over time. I am sorry if I have contributed to these wounds, I know I’m not the easiest person to work with. But even though this process may have seemed to happen quickly,..you all know that it has taken years…..and a toll. And all good things that are created to change things,…. have to be earned. And that process is not always easy.
But remember, that someday…..a young artisan will be down on Inn Street, and he will want to know how his right and privilege to be there was created preserved. And this quest to fulfill one’s promise to a creative soul,…will eventually lead to you, and what we have done here,..together.
History is in the making, and with this TVL artisan designation, we are truly creating an Artisans Revival…and don’t ever forget it.
I will be setting up in my new location on Inn St this weekend. Another interesting part about all this is, due to having to be forced out of my old spot due to rebricking for new bistro patio seating, I have presented a similar proposal to the L&P for a ‘site adoption’ at my new location and will be meeting with the parks and recreation committee (with blessings of the L&P) for permission to implement a garden tree bed while re-bricking the area around the tree and cart.
Another development that really blew me away last night was the realization that there has been another license available this year all along. if someone has told you that there was no license available, they outright lied to you.
An artisan showed up last night in full support of the artisan designation TVL because he had just applied for a license and was beaten out by a hotdog vendor from NH!!!! do you believe it??? Talk about over the top absurdity. Even the L&P oversight committee was quite upset over this. But how they could have let this happen is beyond me. The very least they could have and should have done was let those that have made their voice known and requested license the opportunity to apply and be juried along with the two others this past week. I wish i could speak for everybody, but, if you feel you have been done wrong by this process, you have an opportunity to speak.
And none the more then next tuesday evening to the newburyport city council. we will be meeting once again in a side session at 6:45 with the L&P committee. At this time they will be filling us in on any amendments and procedure they will be implementing on the floor during the council meeting that begins at 7:30. ANYONE wishing to speak will be granted two minutes and you must sign up.
All of this while the city’s top politicians meets with the chamber of commerce to host the North Shore Creative economy Association on Wednesday Night, May 31st….the night after the city council vote on artisan designation for TVl.
hmmm,…very very interesting and certainly will be creating a fascinating backdrop for some blogging.
good luck this weekend. looks like mother nature will be giving us a gift. no rain.
stay tuned for more soonest….
John Brown
Spirit of Newburyport
Gallery Blog 