The state of Peterborough’s downtown core is once again at the forefront of the minds of both candidates and voters as the municipal election approaches.
On Tuesday night (July 7), Peterborough mayoral candidate Neil Morton hosted the fourth of five “working sessions” asking for feedback from residents on his key policy areas and goals for office.
Entitled “Together, We Will Revitalize Downtown,” Tuesday’s event took place at the Knights of Columbus Doyle Hall at 317 Hunter Street West, which is in Town Ward.
Morton is one of five people who have filed nomination papers so far to run for the office of mayor in the October municipal election in Peterborough, with the others being Michael Eamon, Jacob Méthot, incumbent Ashburnham Ward councillor Keith Riel, and Rebecca Schillemat. Incumbent mayor Jeff Leal has yet to declare whether he will be seeking re-election.
Vacant storefronts and lack of a major anchor store downtown
Attendees at Morton’s event included business owners, Town Ward residents, and individuals living in other wards within the city. Incumbent Town Ward councillor Joy Lachica and Town Ward councillor candidate Jenni Cathcart were also in attendance.
Morton laid the foundation for the group discussion speaking to issues such as community safety, economic development, and small businesses.
“I don’t want to sugarcoat things because I love this downtown, but the downtown is not acceptable to me at all,” Morton said in his opening comments.
“Community members deserve to have a reasonable expectation to be able to shop, reside, and enjoy downtown and feel safe.”
For some of the attendees, including Jan Fialkowski and Blair Armitage, the growing number of vacant storefronts in the downtown core is cause for concern. Fialkowski said that the city should incentivize businesses to open their stores downtown to fill vacant lots.
Shelby Leonard-Watt, owner of downtown stores Flavour Fashion, S.O.S, and Providence and a board member of Peterborough Downtown Business Area (DBIA), noted the lack of a major anchor store in the downtown core.
Long-time residents at the event remembered the heyday of Peterborough Square, which was anchored by Eaton’s when the mall first opened in 1975. Eaton’s subsequently downsized the store in the 1990s before closing its doors completely in 1998, a year before the company filed for bankruptcy. Since then, Peterborough Square has not had a retail anchor tenant.
In contrast, when Lansdowne Place Mall lost retail anchor Sears in 2018, the building was demolished to make way for a new mall expansion, with Sport Chek anchoring the expansion when it opened in late 2022.
Attendees at Tuesday night’s meeting discussed how the ward system in place to elect councillors can cause competition between wards for economic investments and whether re-imagining council with an at-large system could help support downtown initiatives.
“Maybe if the council could see the city as a whole, we would find more business moving downtown,” said Glenn, who returned to Peterborough after spending time away.
High rents, lack of parking, broken parking meters, and theft and vandalism
Business owners in attendance said that some of the challenges faced when opening a store downtown include high rental costs, a lack of parking and transit, and costs associated with vandalism and theft.
For example, La Mesita Mexican Restaurant recently had their window smashed costing them approximately $2,000 in damages.
One attendee said that the parking meters are outdated and are not reliable, leading to frustration when looking for parking downtown.
“Parking is not even hard to find, but when you go down there and that machine doesn’t work, it’s frustrating,” he said.
Lachica noted her approved motion at council earlier this year to prevent parking fines being given to people parked at non-functioning meters, an issue which she and fellow Town Ward councillor Alex Bierk raised in response to concerns from residents and business owners.
Safety concerns dissuade some from going downtown
For many attendees, downtown has become too unsafe and unwelcoming to warrant visiting or establishing businesses.
“We do not have a safe and a free downtown,” said one attendee.
“I don’t go downtown anymore,” said another.
A number of attendees said they had lived in Peterborough and in Town Ward for most or all of their lives, and that they have seen significant changes in the safety and perception of downtown, especially in the last 10 years. The impact of the pandemic was also discussed by business owners and residents alike.
For many, the most visible differences are increased homelessness and public substance use. One attendee spoke about the impact of the recently closed Consumption and Treatment Site (CTS) and others referenced the location of Trinity Community Centre and the Wolfe Street modular housing community.
“We’ve created an urban plan that has consolidated all of the social issues in a very tight, confined area,” said one attendee.
Comparisons were made to other municipalities both in Ontario and across Canada regarding perceived community safety and structural solutions.
Pam, who recently lived and studied in Fredericton, New Brunswick, said that it was the safest downtown she had experienced.
“To help the curb appeal, Fredericton doesn’t have its crisis centres close to downtown,” she pointed out.
Safety concerns exacerbated by lack of support for people who are homeless and stigma of homelessness
An attendee who said she lived nearby spoke about her experience living in downtown, noting high rent, limited housing opportunities, and numerous social issues.
“If I get evicted from that house, there is no lateral move in this city,” she said.
She added that her primary concern is the lack of support for people experiencing poverty and homelessness, saying that current police funding should be reallocated to ensure that mental health calls are handled by trained professionals.
Margie Sumadh, who has spoken often at city council about housing and homelessness, said that people’s fear of the downtown comes from a lack of interaction and engagement with the people who make up the community.
“They are people,” Sumadh said of people experiencing homelessness. “Cities are inhabited by real people.”
Further, she said that by walking around downtown and talking to people from all backgrounds, she has built community and relationships with many unhoused individuals and is not afraid of downtown.
“They know me because I talk to them, because I speak to them, because I share with them,” she said.
The Morton campaign is sharing the results of each policy session on its website at www.mortonformayor.ca/community_input, including the 34 ideas related to downtown revitalization that were generated at Tuesday night’s event.
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