Old Town Merchants Form New Alliance

Several business owners from the Lilburn Old Town district on Main Street met this week with representatives from the Lilburn CID along with Mayor Diana Preston and Councilman Johnny Crist and formed a new alliance, which they are calling the Lilburn Old Town Merchants Association (LOTMA).

We’ve all been hearing about the wonderful progress the Lilburn CID is accomplishing and planning for the Highway 29 corridor, but as Hugh Wilkerson, owner of Antiques in Old Town, so eloquently stated, “So, what is the CID doing that will benefit the merchants in Old Town Lilburn?” 

CID Executive Director Gerald McDowell and Director David Adams then responded with an informative discussion about a program called the Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) for Lilburn’s Hwy. 29 area, which is dedicated to overseeing sustainable growth. They agreed to conduct a similar study for Old Town area and then combine it with the Hwy 29 LCI so that the request for funding can be submitted together as a larger community project.   

Once the 2010 census is finalized later this year, the CID is also considering creating an “Opportunity Zone” to provide incentives for more businesses to open around the area. The vision is to create a higher density area along Hwy. 29 that will spill over into Main Street and attract hundreds and maybe thousands of new visitors to the Old Town shopping area every week.  

Another concern for the business owners are the city’s signage restriction ordinances. Councilman Johnny Crist took the floor to describe the city’s current philosophy behind these types of restrictions emphasizing that, “the city would like to de-junk the look of the streets in Lilburn and have a coordinated effort to provide a continuity of signs with similar color schemes and appropriate scale.”    

During the heavy construction periods, however, they are fully expecting to see a larger volume of illegal and/or temporary signs along Lawrenceville Highway with business owners trying to find creative ways to draw customers into their stores.

The business owners all agreed that there would like to see a sign directing travelers along Hwy. 29 toward the Old Town shops in Lilburn as well as City Park. Another suggestion was to add a sign with the same information off of Killian Hill and Church Street.

Mayor Preston also emphasized that city ordinances can be modified or changed with a written proposal submitted to the City Council outlining the details and reasoning behind the request.  The process can take up to 90 days, but may be well worth the effort in the long run.

The LOTMA group has agreed to meet again in two weeks to review their priorities and we’ll all be on the lookout for exciting new things happening soon on Main Street.