Business safety seminar coming to Mt. Airy

Mt. Airy’s Business Improvement District (BID) and the Business Association of Mt. Airy (BAM) will jointly host a business safety seminar on February 26, 9:30 a.m., at Upsala, 6430 Germantown Avenue.

The event is open to neighborhood businesses and commercial property owners.

“We had been talking about doing this for awhile,” said Elizabeth Moselle, BID board member and Director of the Business Association of Mt. Airy.  The attack on local business owner, Greg Williams of Walk A Crooked Mile Books prompted the two organizations to put the seminar together this month, she stated.

Representatives from the city’s Commerce Department will be on hand to discuss its SafeCam Program.  As an incentive to stimulate more businesses to install digital surveillance cameras, the program offers a 50 percent reimbursement of the costs, up to $3000, for an individual property.

The program is available on a first come, first served basis.

The 14th District Police Department’s new Crime Prevention Officer, Lesinette Ortiz, will also be present to talk about additional safety measures property owners and businesses can take.

Other business

BID has sent of letter requesting support from Councilwoman Cindy Bass in regards to Councilman Brian O’Neill’s zoning code amendments.

“The amendment would be harmful to our business district,” remarked BID President, Ken Weinstein.

Discussions between O’Neill and the city’s Planning Commission have been ongoing. Weinstein praised Bass for her aid in getting O’Neill to strike the amendment pertaining to market gardens.

BID’s Clean and Safe committee is planning to hold a forum in the spring for residents and property owners in response to recent parking congestion along the 6700 and 6800 blocks of Germantown Avenue. The forum will explore whether there is support for parking restrictions, such as a two-hour parking limit on those blocks.

The 6300 block of Germantown Avenue has finally had long-awaited pedestrian street lighting installed – on one side of the avenue.  BID will be installing its signature flower baskets on the lamp posts this spring.