Wilmington business owners raise concern over panhandling downtown
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY-TV) – A Wilmington business owner is speaking out about an increase in panhandling and other struggles small business owners are facing downtown.
Tom Harris, the co-owner of Front Street Brewery raised these concerns after an alleged kidnapping took place downtown last month.
“I’m an advocate for common sense and solutions in government,” Harris said. “I stir the pot in a couple cities to get problems addressed.”
Back in January, Harris sent an email to the Wilmington Police Department in response to a press release regarding Daniel Summers, who’s charged with the kidnapping and assault of a 7-year-old in downtown.
“They made it sound as if the incident had occurred right there on the sidewalk in front of Front Street Brewery and it didn’t,” Harris said.
In response to Harris’s email, Becky Hawke, the city’s manager said going forward they will only share the block and street numbers after crime incidents. Harris said these incidents often misrepresent the realities of downtown.
“The problems that do occur typically occur very late at night approaching midnight or especially in the witching hour,” Harris said.
Other than crime, small businesses like Harris’s are up against a rise in homelessness, panhandling and cost of parking.
“They’ve jacked up the parking rates, they’ve increased them far outstripping the consumer price index increase,” Harris said.
Harris said maximized revenues at parking decks like the on Market Street near Front Street are making up for the losses at new parking decks on the edge of downtown such as the new Skyline Center.
Alongside rising parking rates, Harris said panhandling also turns away customers.
“We’re kind of in the crux of where the aggressive panhandling occurs and we’re in the crosshairs of the sleeping on sidewalks,” Harris said.
Kim Hufham, president and CEO of the New Hanover County Tourism Development Authority said while they can’t tackle pan-handling directly, they do combat it by being transparent with tourists.
“We do try to stay on top of this and where it is, also through our PR and communication efforts we want to make sure people hear the full story and that they know it is a safe area to come,” Hufham said.
