Downtown business owners say there's lack of support from city administration
The owner of a downtown Youngstown restaurant is criticizing the city administration and said local leaders are not doing enough to improve downtown and support businesses.
Mark Canzonetta, owner of Casa Di Canzonetta in downtown Youngstown, is questioning the city and Mayor Tito Brown on what he said is a lack of support for downtown following COVID-19, the realty explosion and construction from road projects.
Canzonetta said that after learning about Mayor Tito Brown's talking points in the upcoming State of the City address, he believes the Mayor is prioritizing votes over the health of downtown.
"The Mayor's office has been pretty silent since the tragedy of the reality tower. We haven't had a lot of communication with them. We don't know what the game plan for this spring and summer is," he said, "There's a lot of buildings [downtown], but they're all empty. We need to do things to attract business. We need a grocery store or a mini-mart. We need more parking. We need a lot of things down here. We need tax breaks, incentives to attract business, to come back downtown."
The owners of Youngstown's V2 and the owner of Imbibe Martini Bar and Ryes Craft Beer & Whiskey bar said they share similar sentiments and that parking and communication are some of the biggest problems.
"We've put a lot of money and a lot of time and effort down there to make Youngstown better. We see lack of leadership trying to help support us and come in and say, 'Hey, what can we do for you?' or 'What ideas do you have?' that can help us out," Co-owner of V2, Vernon Cesta said, "They're not doing that."
Imbibe and Ryes owner, Jeff Kurz said, "We would like to see wayfinding signs so people know where they can park and when they can park there. Transportation downtown is a big deal," he added, "Another round of grants or funding would have really helped the downtown businesses with working capital to get through those dark periods that they had for them, three years of construction and then the explosion."
Mayor Tito Brown said he's trying to balance his priorities in a city that needs attention not just downtown, but in Youngstown neighborhoods, too.
"We hear the frustrations, but we're going to continue to work on trying to figure out a long-term plan that's sustainable, and we're going to continue to work with our downtown Advisory Committee," Brown said, "I hear it, but the city can't do it all."
Brown added, "We've talked about a long-term strategic plan to deal with the frustration our downtown business owners. The problem also is that those in the neighborhood say I'm investing too much money in downtown, so I've got to make that delicate balance. I've got parks, I've got housing that I need to make sure the neighbors are seeing the investment there. So it's a delicate balance."
Mayor Brown's second State of the City address takes place on Wednesday, April 9, at 5 p.m.
