Originally Posted by Riviera
The Weirs has seen a gradual decline, for several reasons:
1. Many years ago, the attraction of Motorcycle "weekend" (rightly or wrongly), was debauchery. Nudity, smoke shows, signage, crowds, noise, and speed, all were part of the "attraction". Now, those "attractions" have been tempered by the authorities, and the "attraction" is muted. The younger crowd was/is less attracted to the muted nature of the event. It would be politically impossible to bring back the debauchery, so it will always be "muted" in the eyes of the early participants.
2. As MC weekend "attraction" declined, so did the visitor count. The people that ran motorcyle "weekend" tried to counter the decline by introducing a week-long event. The week-long event helped hospitality businesses initially, but further muted the primary attraction of crowds and debauchery. It simply spread out the crowds.
3. In the late 80's the Weirs saw a significant reduction in hotel/motel rooms, due to condo conversions. This created a decline in vacationers to the area, and pushed motorcycle week(end) visitors to the periphery of the "action". People want to stay where they play, and there just aren't many places to stay in the Weirs.
4. A huge factor in the decline of the Weirs has been the conversion of visitor attractions to motorcycle week "vendor lots". To be a successful vendor lot, you need to have a flat gravel space, and the closer to the "action", the better. You don't need to invest in buildings, structures, employees, property insurance, real estate tax on buildings, utilities, or most any other cost associated with a typical business venture. If you can make a few "sure thing" bucks once a year, renting out your gravel parking lot, why risk investing significant funds on a more risky venture? As "vendor lots" became the better business venture, the investment in real property came to a standstill. Heck, one of the prime pieces of real estate in the Weirs was the old Karl's restaurant ... it burned decades ago ... and remains a fully paved "vendor lot" to this day.
5. There are a couple/few dominant property owners in the Weirs, and those owners have not had the vision and/or risk tolerance to invest in property upgrades. One can't blame them, as the risk of being a visionary comes with a huge financial risk, particularly given that the business culture is so focused on motorcycle week.
6. As the primary visitor attractions to the Weirs declined over time, so did the visitor count, including conventional summer days, and motorcycle days. This is/was due to the decline in hotel/motel units, the decline in "attraction properties", the decline in MC week(end) "attractions", and the general decline in the physical condition of nearly all Weirs beach properties. It's become an eyesore, in the eye of most visitors.
Now what?
1. The City needs to come to grips with the fact that MC Week is no longer a significant attraction. They need to legislate significant fees, and/or zoning deterrents, that make it financially unattractive to own a gravel parking lot. In the near term, this will be painful, and controversial, especially as it relates to the primary property owners in the heart of the Weirs.
2. The City needs to create a zoning structure that limits the use of properties to the sort of long term uses that will attract visitors. Examples include hotel, short term rental, youth attractions, outdoor attractions, dining attractions, and shopping attractions. These are the only things that bring "feet on the street". They also need to create a stringent architectural ordinance, that requires high quality architecture, and high quality materials, as is required in Meredith. The City of Laconia would be well served to trade stringent parking requirements, setback requirements, height requirements, and density requirements, for architectural aesthetics. Some of the best developments in the world are intensely developed (including Meredith), yet they are some of the most attractive. People are drawn to things that are attractive.
3. The City needs to promote events that bring people. They need to think in terms of water event competitions, fairs, shows, and evening events. How about homemade boat races, water ski shows, a charity "floatilla", a "beach your boat night", an art show, a car show, a "funny pet show", or a few theme nights? Get creative and introduce fun. If Meredith is the upscale destination, make the Weirs the fun destination.
4. The City needs to consider financial incentives for early risk takers. Tax increment financing districts, zoning "bonuses", and grant money should all be on the table. They should even consider City investment if they find a developer willing to take some daunting initial financial risk. That said, no developer is going to take on substantive risk without some legislative changes that assure sound future development.
5. The City needs to make the beach itself more of an attraction. They should consider leasing some land to a restaurant/bar, and require a certain amount of entertainment down there. As it stands now, they are effectively giving away an asset that could attract more people, more revenue, and a create a better attraction. Can you think of a beach on the lake that would be better suited to such development?
6. Redo the docks. The docking system was built for boats that were 6' wide, and 18' long. That's not the boating market today. Reconstruct the docks such that modern boats fit. While they are at it, charge a fee for the docks, and allow overnight docking for an even larger fee. I don't care how big you make the fee, the place would be full with overnight visitors.
I've been here a long time. I grew up here. It pains me to see the lack of investment and creativity in the Weirs, and the general deterioration of an area that could be one of the nicest in the State. The biggest obstacle to making the Weirs successful is the status quo. If short term thinking prevails, the Weirs will stay "as is", and the Weirs property owners will continue to earn a modest, short term, return. If long term thinking were to prevail, everybody would benefit. That said, I'll concede that the long term financial beneficiaries of the existing property owners in the Weirs may well be the heirs of today's owners.
The Meredith redevelopment started about 30 years ago. Rusty McLear was a visionary, but I surmise he will tell you it was not a bed of roses at the outset. Further, the community rallied around his vision, and required that EVERY development be held to high architectural standards, even if it was an auto dealership, a grocery store, or a motorcycle dealership. It took a LONG time to make Meredith what it is today, and it will take a LONG time to fix the Weirs.
As it relates to the subject of this post .... No, adding a retail boat business to the Weirs is not going to help in the long run, even if they are a top notch retailer. The Weirs needs "feet on the street", and boat sales doesn't add enough feet.
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