Commercial growth is continuing in the Medford Village area, but the Medford Economic Development Committee believes there is still work to be done.
Mike Pagnotta, the committee chairman for Medford’s EDC, reported that businesses are continuing to fill the vacancies downtown.
Pagnotta reported that vacancy rates have gone down throughout the township, which is a positive from previous years.
Revival of the Main Street area has been on the forefront of the EDC for quite some time. Pagnotta said various new services have moved or will be moving into the area shortly. Some of the new companies that have moved onto South Main Street include Sheer Envy Boutique and True Story Photography.
“We’ve definitely seen the vacancy rates going down,” Pagnotta said. “We’re trying to increase rateables. We want to fill these vacancies.”
Pagnotta also said the township has the “pleasant problem” of finding 1,000 square feet of retail space for an interested business, though he did not discuss further details.
Pagnotta did credit some of the downtown revival to the new sign ordinance, which was passed in the spring. He reported that many businesses are happy the regulations have been relaxed, allowing for enhanced and more creative signage by many companies.
“In Medford, we had incredible setbacks where it was hard to get signage to do anything,” he said.
The sign ordinance was cited by Pagnotta as a challenge where township officials did their best to balance the charm and character of the township with enhancing Medford’s commercial sector.
“(Township officials) all want to preserve and protect Medford, but at the same time, create a better commercial environment,” Pagnotta said.
Medford is getting interest in the purchase of one of the township’s liquor licenses. The township originally put out a liquor license to bid for $600,000 during the summer. That price was dropped to $500,000 later to attract more interest.
Township Manager Chris Schultz said the township has received interest in that license, but believes the Council should discuss whether to drop the minimum bid on it further.
“I don’t know what the market is willing to pay,” Schultz said.
Schultz hinted that Council would likely discuss the liquor license at the next meeting on Nov. 12.
Another project the township has been working on is at a bit of a standstill. Medford’s hopes of putting wifi in the downtown area are still in the works, but not totally ready to progress yet.
Pagnotta said the township needs to get more businesses interested in sponsoring the wifi to offset the cost.
“We’re exploring all sorts of different ways to get wifi downtown,” he said. “We just don’t have the density where a sponsored wifi would work.”
In hopes of attracting more local customers to their businesses, Medford is part of a new county program called Shop Burlington County First. The program is a new initiative to get residents to spend their money in Burlington County businesses.
The Medford Business Association is one of the partners that is teaming with the county EDC. Pagnotta hopes the county’s message will help Medford residents look more at buying products and services from businesses in the township.
