First Friday to be Tweaked, not Ended

They packed into Doylestown Borough council chambers Tuesday night to show their support for continuing First Friday, the monthly event that draws thousands of visitors to town.

More than 50 borough residents and business owners made their case for continuing the event during the standing-room only meeting. But it quickly became clear that even supporters agree that First Friday faces a couple issues that need solving - parking and teen behavior.

"I absolutely love (First Friday). It’s one of the reasons we moved here," said Bill Murphy, who moved into his West Ashland Street home two years ago. "Really, it’s a teenage problem, not a First Friday problem. But I can’t see eliminating something that is so positive for our community just because we have a teenager problem."

The Petition to End First Friday

Tuesday's discussion was prompted by the presentation of a petition asking for First Friday, in its present form, to be stopped and for the borough to withdraw police and other support.

The petition, which contains 75 signatures collected last August, was presented to the borough's Community and Governmental Affairs Committee Tuesday night. The agenda drew a large crowd to support the event.

"Part of what makes Doylestown such a great place to live is that we listen to one another, not just when we agree, but even when we disagree," said committee chair Marlene Pray. "People with a wide array of opinions are here and feel comfortable speaking. Everyone is here because they care about Doylestown."

The couple behind the petition, Gary and Nancy Frazier, spoke at length Tuesday about the negative consequences of the event that they endure each month - high traffic, speeding cars, congested parking, noise, overt police presence downtown, sidewalk-blocking foot traffic, and large groups of teens that move between the center of town and Burpee Park.

"Even in these economic times, what’s good for business is not always good for others," said Gary Frazier, who has lived on East Oakland for 19 years. "After years of accepting the status quo, we have no option but to speak up, and we started that last summer."

Norma Hill, who lives on East Oakland, said the monthly event makes parking on her street incredibly difficult.

"We do have a lot of serious parking issues in town, and First Friday just adds to it," she said.

Nancy Frazier said she was particularly bothered by people who suggested that if she doesn't like First Friday she should move away from the center of town.

"I love my town. I’ve lived here for a long time. It just breaks my heart to have to deal with it," Frazier said. "Now people are saying, just move. After I’ve been here, fixed up my house, planted a beautiful garden. You don’t like First Friday, just move. Well, we don’t want to move."

Speakers Suggest Solutions

For more than an hour and a half, speakers rose to add their voice to keeping First Friday but to work together as a community to solve some of the issues that affect residents.

"There’s gobs of kids, lots of busy people, and I hate it. I absolutely hate it," said Joel Metzger, who lives at State and Hamilton.

"But this is where I live and I love Doylestown. None of the issues that I've heard here can’t be worked on," said Metzger, pausing for a beat. "But as soon as someone defecates on my porch, I might change my mind."

Some of the business owners who spoke said First Friday was vital to their survival.

"Yes, I agree, it is an incredibly difficult evening," said Victoria Schade, who owns . "But on the flip side, it is a very profitable evening. In this economic climate, we need all the help we can get."

"First Friday isn’t a big deal for me, because I’m not on East State Street" where most of the crowd gathers, said Ellen Mager, of . "But to me, you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. You take the program and say what can we do to make it better."

"Sometimes First Friday pays the rent. I’m just being brutally honest," said Jeanell Morgan, who owns boutique. "I have more traffic from outside town coming in specifically for First Friday. It’s a huge success."

It wasn't always that way.

Longtime residents like Doreen Stratton remember a very different, very quiet downtown Doylestown.

"You could lay out in the middle of Main Street and a car would not run you over," Stratton said.

When First Friday started in Doylestown 2005, no one else was doing it except Philadelphia, recalled Chanin Milnazik, one of the founding organizers who wrote the volunteer group's marketing plan.

Over the years, the event did exactly what it was designed to do - draw outside visitors to Doylestown in the hopes that they will spend time and money that night and then come back, again and again, for more.

It worked.

"Granted, there are some issues - how could there not be? We got big. We got successful," said Milnazik.

First Friday 2012

First Friday as the borough knows it today actually is a smaller event than it has been in the past, borough manager John Davis said. At one point, outdoor entertainment was going on in three different places at once, only a block or two apart.

First Friday for 2012 will run from May through October, Davis said, citing information from the all-volunteer board that plans the event. Outdoor music will be played at the Fountain House lot at and it will end at 9:30 p.m. Youth events will be held on the Plaza West parking lot from 6 p.m to 9 p.m. in May, June, August and September.

Borough Council President Det Ansinn thanked the First Friday committee for responding to residents' concerns over the years.

"It’s been changed because of feedback from the community," Ansinn said, urging audience members to keep the suggestions coming.

At least one issue may have a possible solution.

Borough Council Member David Laustsen suggested that the Fraziers and their neighbors request a parking permit that would restrict parking on their street to residents only on the nights of First Friday.

"That would be a huge relief," Nancy Frazier responded.

Davis said he would ask borough police Chief Jim Donnelly to study the issue and report the findings to a public safety committee meeting.

Meanwhile, the larger issue of dealing with the teens - who gather in large groups and often block sidewalks, curse, and loudly discuss drugs and sex - remains unresolved.

The same committee plans to discuss ways to engage the youth of Doylestown at its next meeting on Thursday, May 3, at 7 p.m.

As for Burpee Park, Davis said the police and borough council also will return to tighter supervision of the area. The park is supposed to be closed at dusk, he said, and anyone in it after that time can be asked to leave. A police officer usually is stationed there on First Fridays but sometimes is called away on other emergencies, Davis said.

"Burpee Park’s a problem area beyond First Friday," Davis said, partly because the borough's efforts to clear troublemakers out of parks closer to the center of town pushed kids out to Burpee.

The council members thanked everyone in the audience for coming to the meeting and for treating each other with respect.

"Doylestown is unusual in that it has I think one of the most open government groups in the area," said Mayor Libby White. "You can bring your concerns to Borough Council, and I hope you do feel that you have been listened to."

"We need all the people with good ideas here to get together," said council member Noni West. "We just started a conversation; it really needs to be continued for a long time."