Mount Holly takes steps to create 'a destination shopping place'

There's a hint of a new vibe in downtown Mount Holly, but township officials still have some work to do to make the place bustle.

On Christmas Eve, the year-old Village Idiot Brewing Company attracted a line that wrapped around the block after it announced its limited release of a sour beer with cocoa named "Festivus Miracle" packaged in champagne bottles. It sold out.

A few months earlier, the Gallery Seventy Two opened the town's first wine-tasting room in a gallery that exhibits photographs and other artwork.

Visitors also are drawn now to High Street for the knitting/weaving studio, a cobbler's shop that caters to customers with foot problems, and various festivals, including the ice-carving event and chili cook-off held Saturday downtown.

"Downtown Mount Holly could certainly be a destination shopping place, but it's not there yet," said Steve Maxwell, the owner of the new, brightly painted Keltic Korners, an antique and crafts boutique that opened Thursday.

Tucked in between these storefronts are less shopper-friendly bail-bonds services, criminal-law offices, insurance companies, and then a drug-rehabilitation center in the heart of the two-block business district.

The town council is taking steps to change that. Non-retail establishments - which represent more than half of the Burlington County downtown - are no longer allowed to open in the two-block area between Rancocas Road and Washington Street under an ordinance passed last year. Existing ones may stay.

Now, there are about five vacant storefronts and they are available only to proprietors who serve food or drink or who sell goods.

Last month the council ramped up its revitalization effort when it awarded Skye Consulting a $24,000, two-year contract to study the town's potential and offer suggestions.

"I'm going to help them with their redevelopment efforts," Jim Kennedy, the consultant, said. "The town's assets are its arts district, the quaintness of the town, and the fact that it's the county's seat. What's missing is the residential base to support the business community."

Kennedy said new housing could help drive traffic to the downtown. "You want to develop walkability," he said.

Josh Brown, the town's director of economic and community development, said that he had shown off the downtown to interested business owners from the area in the hope of filling the empty stores. "Obviously we want to change the perception of the town and want quality businesses" to open, he said. He has given tours to people interested in opening a brewery, a cigar shop, and a dog-grooming business, among others. "

Destination restaurants, he said, will come when the redevelopment is put into place. "Right now we don't have the footprint to attract those types of businesses," he said.

Mount Holly, once an industrial community, hosts the county's seven-story courthouse and government complex. The law offices and bail-bond services come with that territory. One bail-bonds proprietor agreed that her type of business should open elsewhere in the town but said that available space was limited.

Some downtown store owners applaud the town council's decision to limit these establishments, while others see it as a restriction on free enterprise.

"It's un-American. You should be able to conduct whatever business you want," said Pete Daley, owner of the High Street Art & Frame shop. He said that if town officials wanted to help business, they should focus on addressing parking problems in the downtown.

Michael McHale, who has operated the Cobbler Shop for 40 years, also sees the ordinance as problematic. "They only want retail, but would you rather have a building occupied by someone, or have it empty?" he said.

Still, McHale is glad the town officials are making an effort. "They're heading in the right direction, but I wish some of them were in small business to see what it takes to run one," he said.

McHale said the annual events staged in the historic downtown help generate a buzz around the town, but more can be done. Besides the Fire and Ice Festival, there are art crawls, a summertime show with musical bands, a reenactment of a Revolutionary War skirmish, a witches ball at Halloween, and a car show.

Myra Rubin, owner of Woolbearers, a knitting and weaving studio, called the new ordinance "wonderful" and said the hiring of the consultant to take a fresh look at the town could help spark new business. "My customers come from all over and would love to spend the day here shopping or going out to eat," she said.

Rich Palmay, a co-owner of the Village Idiot artisanal brewery, said he opened in Mount Holly because he "saw opportunity" there and was impressed with the High Street Grille, a longtime restaurant that he said pioneered the sale of craft beer in the town.

When the eatery closed in October, Palmay said, he was somewhat concerned. But so far he says he has not been affected.

The building is up for sale, and Palmay said he trusts the town to woo another business to come in.

"The thing that drove us to Mount Holly is the willingness of the town leadership to have us here and to work with us, and to help us find a location" to open their first venture, said Palmay, a Medford resident. "We contacted the economic development coordinator, Josh Brown, who personally walked us around and showed us vacant buildings and opportunities."