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By HOWARD WEISS-TISMAN, Reformer Staff
Brattleboro Reformer

Two years ago, the speed limit through The Square was reduced to 15 miles per hour.

On Tuesday, a group of downtown merchants presented the trustees with a petition of what they said were more than 1,100 signatures asking the board to raise the speed limit to 25 mph.

The trustees listened to residents testifying both for and against changing the speed limit, for about an hour. And while every trustee who was at the meeting supported the lower speed limit, they agreed to schedule another hearing to see what the sentiment was toward keeping or changing the speed limit.

"I am shocked by 1,100 signatures," said Village Trustee Luise Light. "We have to think about it. We can't just let this go."

The Trustees are going to put the issue on a future meeting agenda and try to publicize the discussion to see if there is a strong feeling one way or another.

Lamont Barnett, the owner of The Rock and Hammer, a downtown jewelry and gift store, said the lower speed limit creates an unfriendly business climate.

He said there are a number of challenges of running a successful, small business in Bellows Falls, and while the low speed limit might not be the only reason not to shop downtown, it is one more excuse for someone from out of town to stay away.

"If someone comes here and they get a ticket or a warning you have lost that customer forever," Barnett told the Trustees. "We can't afford that. I cringe every time I hear a story like that."

Some of the signatures that were gathered came from people who live outside of Bellows Falls, Barnett said. He wanted to show the trustees that the low speed limit does have an impact on business from people who live outside of town.

Barnett, a member of the Bellows Falls Downtown Development Alliance, a local business-owners' advocacy group, said that group endorsed a proposal to ask the Trustees to raise the speed limit to welcome more shoppers downtown.

Municipal Manager John Schempf said the village police department did not really give tickets out unless the drivers were going faster than 25 mph.

Interim Police Chief John Dunfee said his officers gave out only nine tickets and 41 warnings last year downtown, and 12 tickets in 2005.

But Barnett said there was still a perception that the police force set up the low speed limit as a speed trap. He said customers comment on it and he said with a number of stores closing in the downtown area, it was a small change that the board could do to try to encourage a little more business.

Schempf said the main reason behind the 15 mph speed limit was safety. Schempf said the angle parking in the downtown area was very dangerous, and the slower traffic makes it that much easier to pull out of a blind parking spot.

"Angle parking and 25 miles per hour don't mix," said Schempf.

Andrew Smith, a Bellows Falls resident, agreed.

Smith said that when he heard that the petition was circulating he walked around downtown a little to get a sense of traffic issues.

"There are places downtown where the cars are whizzing right by your elbows," Smith said. "I think we should keep it where it is."

Howard Weiss-Tisman can be reached at hwtisman@reformer.com or (802) 254-2311, ext. 279.