PEABODY — As snowbanks continue to cover the sidewalks and roads of Main Street, Sarah Narcus, owner of Olio and founder of the Local Business Coalition, believes the city has not done enough in regards to snow removal.
“There is still a significant amount of snow and there’s no place to put it,” Narcus said. “Unlike other cities, there’s no snow removal here in Peabody.”
Narcus said the snow from last month’s historic blizzard caused a major problem for parking for patrons and business owners in the city. She was frustrated that snow plows did not plow to the street curbs as they usually do during snow emergencies — helping to provide parking spaces.
“There isn’t enough parking space in the city,” Narcus said. “I understand that there are a lot of cleanups, but if you’re going to plow to the curb either do (it) or don’t.”
Narcus started the Local Business Coalition in May 2021, to provide a forum for Main Street business owners to express their concerns and needs from the City Council and other officials. For some of the other coalition members, their worries are falling on deaf ears.
Jeff Marquis, the co-owner and head brewer at Granite Coast Brewing Company which is located at 77 Main St. Unit B, said he was disappointed in the lack of response from city officials, and that the blizzard had created difficulties for his business.
“Plowing was done during the storm to maintain safety in the travel lanes,” he said. “Once the snow subsided, there was no emphasis on cleanup or removal of the snow from the parking areas or the plowing drifts scattered around the downtown area.”
Marquis, who owns food trucks for his brewery, said he had to do extra shoveling to create two safe spots for their trucks, which took 10-12 hours.
Marquis said there was no sufficient parking-ban plan created by city officials and that there should be a better response system.
“Put a plan in place to deal with negative-experience reports promptly, with a preference based around certain areas of significance — the Downtown Revitalization being one of these areas,” Marquis said. “In my mind the fix is easy; however, nothing is as easy as it seems.”
He said he would submit a letter to be read at the City Council’s next meeting on Thursday, Feb. 10.
Wendy Lattof, the owner of Create & Escape painting studio at 71 Main St., shared similar concerns about the lack of action from city officials. She said the Local Business Coalition had been trying to reach out to City Hall about snow removal and emergencies throughout 2021.
“We had been talking to the city for about a year regarding snow removal,” said Lattof. “Sidewalks are still big hazards. We had to clean up our half and we did, but the city has not.”
Latoff said she had sent a letter to Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. and Ward 2 Councilor Peter McGinn on Feb. 4 about the issues caused by the snowbanks. McGinn wrote back an hour later saying the Department of Public Services (DPS) did not have a snow-removal plan and tenants are responsible for removing snow and ice off of their property.
In a comment to the Item, McGinn reiterated that business owners do have a responsibility to remove snow from their sidewalks, but said he hopes the expected warmer weather this week will melt the snow.
“Hopefully it will help,” McGinn said. “As far as sidewalks go, they are a responsibility for the business owners.”
