Roswell business owners at odds with city and want more respect

Downtown Roswell business owners are voicing frustration with city hall over a long-awaited parking deck and their value as stakeholders in the community.

Mayor Kurt Wilson and city council are considering charging a fee for entrance to a long-awaited parking deck that will be located adjacent to Canton Street. 

Many business owners were initially happy about plans for the new parking deck that Wilson had promised, but they are now worried about the possible fee. The mayor and council will discuss the parking deck policy at a retreat event next week.

The city’s 2025 budget includes $2.2 million in revenue from parking fees, an increase from nearly $44,000, Councilwoman Sarah Beeson said, adding that she does not have clarity on how staff landed on that amount of increase.

The cost of building the parking deck will be funded through a bond referendum that was approved by voters in 2022.

Canton Street business owners say a lack of free parking already deters visitors who can find similar quality restaurants and shops in other nearby communities like Alpharetta and Woodstock where there is no cost to enter the downtown parking deck.

“Roswell used to have a monopoly on hip and cool outside of the Perimeter, said David Bailey, owner of the Naylor Hall event venue. “Those days are long gone. Many of the more competitive communities have free parking.”

Roswell has made it challenging for business owners like Bailey to speak out publicly. Business owners who are not city residents cannot participate in public comment at city council meetings. That policy was set by Wilson, who generally wants public comment reserved for voters.

An exception was made during a Monday meeting when public comment on the parking deck was limited to 2 minutes for business owners compared to the usual 5 minutes for residents. 

Bailey, who lives in Sandy Springs, was one of three business owners who spoke. He was escorted away from the podium by a police officer when he exceeded the 2-minute mark. 

“The whole thing just felt like disrespect for the business owners,” Bailey said. “We all put capital into [this city]. It’s not like we’re Starbucks or Cracker Barrel. This is our life savings. And we’re not just doing it as a profit motive. We feel like we’re making a contribution to the city.”

Dana Gurela owns Deep Roots Wine Market & Tasting Room, located off Canton Street, as well as a location in Woodstock. She told SaportaReport that she has a much easier time operating her business in Woodstock than in Roswell.

“I feel like our mayor [in Roswell] and several council members are restricting our growth, while I feel like Woodstock is thinking about it, and they are putting the infrastructure in place to allow this growth,” she said. 

Public comment, specifically on the parking deck, was an agenda item at Monday’s meeting and spurred by Councilman Allen Sells. 

In December, Sells, Beeson and staff met with 30 business owners at Ryan Pernice’s Table & Main restaurant to discuss concerns. 

The Monday meeting felt like a setback, Pernice said after Sells read a post-holiday poem that restaurant owners felt disparaged them.

Sells was elected to City Council in 2023. His poem was a parody of “A Visit from St. Nicholas” [“Twas the Night Before Christmas”] and appeared to poke fun at Sells being a new city council member — but it also named 8 business owners. 

His poem reads in part:

“As all the wee neighbors know by age 3, taxing our neighbors does not indeed make it free. On the matter of parking, Saint Kurt granted your wish. Dear owners of commerce, you are welcome to dish… For we want your wise counsel. We want it, we do, but dash up to the mic for your minutes are two.”

Thursday, Sells said that the poem was in good humor, and most of it was directed at himself, fellow council members, and the mayor. 

References to business owners were the councilman’s way of asking the mayor to allow them two minutes for public comment, he said. “If they’re offended, I have no idea why,” Sells said of business owners.

Pernice said that Canton Street area businesses want the city to take them more seriously.

“The business community showed up in earnest in December and on Monday to discuss a problem that’s been vexing us for decades and has a direct impact on our business livelihood,” Pernice said. “To have Councilman Sells begin with a poem that belittles our efforts is outrageous.”