UPDATED 12 p.m. Tuesday to include a portion of the letter that was inadvertently omitted. Hays Post apologizes for the error.
This letter is intended to inform you about what has been transpiring with the adoption of the Vine Street/Highway 183 project. No City of Hays officials outside of John Braun, project manager, have contacted us since they first unveiled traffic "improvements" on Vine Street. Not one individual from the media has taken a moment to even hear or even listen to our position regarding what we think about these "improvements." We thought we would at least be given a chance and an opportunity to present our opinions on the proposed plan.
Within the Nov. 24 Hays Daily News article, Braun and the Hays city commissioners stressed that "We are not taking any buildings or businesses." Commissioner Shaun Musil stated, "Just a matter of a couple of hundred square feet in the comer of the lot...and folks have made comments suggesting we are taking large plots of land." The City of Hays is not taking large plots of property; it is just "a couple of hundred square feet of land." When the city modified the frontage road in the 1980s at the intersection of 32nd and Vine, what occurred was a decrease of our already inadequate parking. Taking another "few hundred square feet" will further decrease our parking. Every parking spot generates income for us. A couple of hundred square feet of our already tiny lot will have a huge impact on our business.
The city is "not taking any businesses," this is true. However, during the construction phase, it will hamper our already poorly accessible parking lot. As we are all well aware, construction can easily take much longer than what is predicted. This, of course, means decreased income and increased expenses for any businesses. We are afraid that we might be forced to close our doors because customers will opt to find a more accessible restaurant. This will result in lost revenue, and we will no longer be able to employ these people or serve our fellow citizens of Hays.
Our Pheasant Run Restaurant family has serious reservations about the upcoming city project. We are the smallest business, and the business that stands to lose the most during the proposed construction route. He cannot revise the current plans. We cannot afford the proceeds to even put up a very good fight. Everyone knows "you can’t fight city hall." Be aware, we are doing what we can, with what we have.
Despite the fact that we are being inadequately compensated for the land they are taking, the renumeration is very minimal and what is being taken is income-generating parking and accessibility. When all is said and done, we will lose one to two parking stalls. Although that does not sound like many, with a small business and poor accessibility, the survival of this business is in jeopardy. The City Commissioners are making decisions on the future of Hays, but no one's livelihood is impacted more than ours. The entry to the property will be less than what is currently available, which many customers struggle with now. There are no accommodations for easy parking or exiting to be added.
This "improvement" will be accomplished by using taxpayer's money. This funding of government assistance will be in the form of our own tax dollars. The configuration seems to have been designed by our City Council and state engineers with no public input. We have attended City Council meetings and any objections or suggestions made were seemingly ignored.
We can go into all the negative consequences related to roundabouts, but that is not going to change. However, when we look back at some of the City projects implemented by the Hays City Commission over the years, there is a common theme. The narrowing of streets, the implementation of bicycle lanes ( which are part of the traffic already, the beautification of Vine Street, and the renovation of Main Street all had major construction problems, delays, and unforeseen costs. For example, the beautification of Vine Street has left us with dead trees and sickly-looking fauna, rather than a beautiful main thoroughfare. The narrowing of streets has resulted in poor traffic flow, congestion, etc. Inevitably, the roundabouts will suffer the same fate, but in this instance, may result in irreparable damage and ultimately bring the closure of our business, not because of poor business choices, mismanagement, or even the changing trends, but because of the choice of five people — not the choice of a community.
As one of the oldest family-owned businesses in Hays, we implore that you please reconsider what you are going to be doing to the livelihoods of 14 of your fellow citizens and to a business that has proudly served our community for over 3 5 years.
—Sue, Scott and Randy Jordan, owners of Pheasant Run Restaurant