Several dozen Church Street Marketplace merchants are asking state lawmakers to put more teeth in anti-loitering and other laws, saying that misbehavior is escalating and the existing rules aren’t enough of a deterrent.
Public drunkenness, drug use, and harassment have always been a feature of the marketplace, said Mark Bouchett, who co-owns the Homeport store on Church Street. But it seems to be getting worse, he said.
“It’s been kind of a perennial issue on the street for merchants, customers, and citizens,” Bouchett said. “There’s always been sort of vagrants hanging around, and harassment of people a little bit. It’s an issue everywhere. I would say it has heightened since Covid.”
Church Street Marketplace is a four-block long pedestrian district that is home to more than 100 stores, restaurants and other businesses. The district, created in 1981, is governed by a commission that estimates 1.5 million people visit the thoroughfare in a normal year.
With Covid-19 restrictions limiting visits to shops and restaurants, merchants are already struggling to keep their doors open, Bouchett said, and he thinks misbehavior is deterring customers.
“We have had complaints” from customers, he said, and some of his employees have told him they’re regularly harassed on their way to and from work.
“Behind my business, at the Church Street Marketplace garage, they’re feeding the homeless, which is perfectly fine, but it’s dragging everyone to this one spot,” he said. “And then from that point, after they have had their lunch, they kind of stay there and start drinking and you know, it’s the most-used garage by our customers.”
On Sept. 8, Bouchett sent a letter, signed by several dozen neighboring business owners, to Chittenden County lawmakers, asking them to strengthen the penalties against the type of behavior he thinks is bad for business.
Merchants call the police regularly, and a police presence does help, said Melissa Desautels, who owns the Whim and Dear Lucy stores on Church Street. But police are already short-staffed, said Desautels, who signed the letter. And the penalties aren’t strong enough.
“A lot of the time, things are out of their hands,” said Desautels, who has been a business owner on the street for 14 years. “They could give a citation to someone for their conduct, the person could go to court, and then they are kind of given a slap on the wrist and they are back on the street the following day.”
The letter to lawmakers says that store owners respect the right of all kinds of people to use the marketplace.
“However, we also believe that our staffs, which are composed largely of young women, have a right to walk to and from their jobs in safety and unharassed. We don’t think that citizens and visitors to our town, who often come with their children, ought to be subject to aggressive behavior or witness to people’s private bodily functions,” the letter says. It asks that a number of misdemeanor citations be elevated to criminal citations.
“We know this is how many other states handle these matters and they are much better deterrents to aggressive antisocial behaviors,” the letter says. “Allowing this to continue is bad for the residents, bad for the workforce, and ultimately harmful to even those engaged in such behavior.”
Vermont lawmakers are immersed in settling state business that has been turned on its head by the Covid-19 pandemic. With little time to go in the session, and issues like the state budget on the table, they aren’t likely to take up the matter of criminal citations anytime soon.
Misbehavior stands out more
Bouchett speculated that the problem might seem worse because, as a result of the pandemic, there are far fewer people on Church Street these days, so the misbehavior stands out more. Stores are limited to 50% occupancy, and restaurants have a 50% occupancy limit for indoor dining. According to data on the city’s website, foot traffic is down sharply from the same time last year.
Many events that normally attract tourists have been canceled. Like Desautels, Bouchett said a police presence seems to work. After smoking was banned on the marketplace a half-dozen years ago, he said, police patrols were stepped up.
“That actually worked, and it kind of seemed to go away,” he said of the behavior problems. “And then it came back with a vengeance as the stores closed down at the beginning of the Covid lockdown.”
The Howard Center for substance abuse and mental health helps as well, Desautels said.
“We have a direct line to the street outreach program, and they can de-escalate situations if it’s a mental health type of thing,” she said. “A lot of times they’ll know the people on the street that are causing the issues. But they do need police backup some of the time. It could be a violent situation where the caseworkers aren’t comfortable.”
Bouchett directed the merchants’ plea at lawmakers because he doesn’t think the city government can do more. “Our city is not especially concerned,” he said. “It’s not a high priority. They’re not crazy about the police right now, either, so we’ve sort of lost that avenue to sort of step up patrols.”
Kara Alnasrawi is executive director of the Church Street Marketplace, which oversees day-to-day operations such as licensing and marketing in the district. She said she didn’t have data about episodes of bad behavior.
The lack of foot traffic is making problematic behavior more obvious, she said. “Normally we’d be having Jazzfest, and the street would be packed. That lack of activity, I think, allows people to see and focus on that behavior.”
