Dear Chamber members,
At our recent Post Legislative wrap up, the issue of the downtown hotel and conference center was raised by Chamber members during the audience question-and-answer portion of the program. As this project has been the Chamber’s top civic infrastructure priority for over a decade, it’s certainly no surprise that the issue was on the minds of our members. To say it got a “little heated” is a bit of an understatement.
Three members of our Delegation (Sen. Mike Hough had joined us, but had to leave early due to a work commitment) that have concerns over public investment in private development projects were pressed to explain their opposition to such a critical project for Frederick’s future. Those members, Delegate’s Barrie Ciliberti, Dan Cox and Jesse Pippy, expressed their concerns based on their understanding of the project. Without trying to represent their respective viewpoints, it’s safe to say that they seemed to object to public tax dollars being used to support the Plamondon Company’s plans for a full-service hotel and conference center.
As many of you know, that’s actually NOT what public investment would be used for. The public investment in this project would be used to design and build onsite parking, likely two levels of underground parking to be built AND operated by the City of Frederick Parking Department, just like the other City-owned garages.
Our members were pressing to better understand why the Delegates were unwilling to reach out to Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to authorize the release of $5 million (already appropriated by the General Assembly in a prior year) for this parking structure to allow the project to proceed. Suffice it to say that they all had their reasons, even if those reasons weren’t clear to the whole audience.
At least one Delegate, Dan Cox (R, Dist 4), felt so strongly about his position that he has asked me to share his thoughts with all of you. As we’ve done with previous policy issues, we’re sharing his letter with you without any alteration.
We believe in the downtown hotel project as constituting the next critical improvement along Carroll Creek Linear Park. We believe this project will unleash the next phase of commercial development moving eastward towards Patrick Street. We believe in the jobs the project will create, and the idea of bringing in regional and national conferences to support our local employers and our downtown merchants.
Despite those firm beliefs, we also respect the opinions of our local elected leaders and want to share with you their thoughts and opinions.
Read Delegate Dan Cox’s Letter to the Chamber.
— Rick Weldon, President & CEO
Frederick Chamber Insights is a news outlet of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce. For more information about membership, programs and initiatives, please visit our website.