By Sarah Campbell
scampbell@salisburypost.com
CLEVELAND ó A group of Cleveland residents gathered Sunday afternoon to brainstorm ideas for downtown revitalization projects.
The Town Board of Alderman has talked about revitalization efforts for the area in the past, those efforts fell flat due to lack of community interest.
ěThe zoning board has been juggling this thing seriously since 2003,î Roy Davies, chairman of the town planning board, said. ěThe problem is that we have four or five people from the town interested, there is just not enough support to make it happen.
ěI donít know how to motivate folks to follow up.î
Christine Brown, who owns property downtown, said Sunday that itís time to bring those ideas back to life.
She presented a three-phase plan, created using input from downtown business owners, during the planning session.
The first phase calls for a consistent infrastructure that includes upgrades to plumbing and standardized insulation.
The focus of the second phase would be the repairing the external facades including windows, roofing, facing of buildings, doors, street gutters and awnings.
ěIt would be wonderful to have awnings so that when itís raining or snowing people would have access to a dry spot,î she said.
Phase three would include the addition of things like signage, lighting, parking, benches and fountains.
Brown is currently looking into grants to fund the project, but in the meantime sheís trying to rally community support.
She said revitalization creates a sense community of pride and sustainability and improves the local tax base.
ěEveryone benefits when communities are revitalized,î Brown said.

After Brownís presentation other residents weighed in on what they would like to see.
ěOne suggestion I would have for improving the downtown area would be better traffic flow,î Arthur Brown, a downtown property owner, said. ěDuring shift change itís almost like dodge ball through Cleveland.î
Arthur Brown said heíd like to see the speed limit reduced from 35 miles per hour to 25, and for that portion of Main Street widened by about 3 feet.
He said the parking on the street can become a ěhairyî situation with passengers getting out of vehicles that are parallel parked and people passing through.
Davies said if the town wants to attract traffic from U.S. 70 there needs to be more parking.
ěIf people are caught by a sign and they divert to Cleveland and see there is no parking here they might make a loop and head right out,î he said.
Dwaine Phifer, vice chairman of the town planning board, said heíd like to consider making the downtown area a historic district.
Christine Brown said although there are a multitude of grants geared at rural communities having a historic status provide even more opportunities.
Architect John Palmer said many municipalities are going after the Small Town Main Street grants, which he described as ěeconomic develop through the slant of historic preservation.î
He said another plus of going after historic district status would be the tax credits associated with it.
ěItís an incentive to rebuild, repair and revitalized and all that can be big bucks coming back to the community as well as savings,î Palmer said.

The group will meet again at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 19 at the Town Hall.
Between now and then they will be reaching out to the community to find out what other residents want to see happen downtown.
ěI think there are some ways to go to the people and engage them,î Christine Brown said.
She is working to create a questionnaire that will be posted on the townís website and available at the Town Hall.
ěThis is something that is going to touch everybody,î Davies said. ěWe just need to get the energy rolling.î
Contact reporter Sarah Campbell at 704-797-7683.