Springlike weather in Baltimore means Beth Hawks, owner of Fells Point retail shop Zelda Zen, can finally open her door to draw in more customers.

But there was hardly any business at her store on a recent weekday afternoon, despite the 60-degree temperature.

“Somebody just texted me, ‘Is there anybody around? I’ve not sold anything,’” Hawks said, looking down at her phone. She said she frequently hears similar complaints from other businesses nearby.

Following a number of recent business closures in popular spots such as Federal Hill and Fells Point, business owners keeping their doors open cite multiple challenges to staying afloat. Besides licensing and permitting issues, others say crime — or at least a perception that the city is crime-ridden — remains a concern. Some also say the city could improve logistical factors like parking.

Some say the city needs to do a better job building its brand and creating a culture of growth. Baltimore is “15 to 20 years behind” other cities with comparable demographics, like Charlotte, North Carolina, or Richmond, Virginia, regarding its infrastructure for supporting business growth and entrepreneurship, said Mark Anthony Thomas, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Baltimore Committee.

“The amount of investment flowing into these other markets greatly surpasses where Baltimore is, and we have the same opportunity, but we’re just not seeking or oriented around those things,” Thomas said. “And that can change.”

He suggested the City Council gather data on business development — like the number of businesses moving to and leaving the city — to determine the best path forward.

City Council President Zeke Cohen said the city’s declining crime trends mean the council now has space to focus more on economic development.

“We have to market ourselves a little more aggressively and say to folks, ‘Look, it is a great time to come patronize the city. It has gotten demonstrably safer,’” he said. “I just think there’s an energy and a creativity in Baltimore right now that I think we need to market a little bit better.”

One obstacle to Baltimore’s business development is a mindset issue, Thomas said. The city’s proximity to Washington, D.C., creates a “false assumption” that the federal government is a lifeline for growth, while, in reality, business leaders see Baltimore as a separate market that rises and falls on its own.

City tackles permitting reform

Edwin Lottie is a big fan of Baltimore’s culture and food scene, but he said the “government” makes it challenging to launch a new business.

“The fire department asks you for one thing. Then the health department calls, asking for the opposite thing,” he said.

Lottie’s restaurant, Dodah’s Kitchen, is in the Mid-Town Belvedere neighborhood. Out of all six Dodah’s Kitchen locations — including others in Delaware, Prince George’s County, Charles County and Washington, D.C. — he said he’s had the most difficulty with his Baltimore location.

“The government is very unorganized,” he said. “It’s so confusing.”

The city’s permitting system is so complicated that several businesses pay local resident Will Bauer — who goes by “Lou Catelli” and was unofficially dubbed years ago the “mayor of Hampden” — to take care of their permitting and licensing needs.

“If you become a cumbersome environment where people have to know someone or have to wait too long, it stifles growth,” Thomas said.

Councilmember Odette Ramos recently requested a hearing on permitting reform, which is scheduled for March. She said rehabbing vacant properties was the “main impetus” for reform, but businesses also face challenges.

When Natasha Brown-Wainwright was getting ready to open her B’More Made with Pride cafe in December 2021, she said she had to call her state senator, Baltimore City Democrat Cory McCray, after waiting for weeks to get her building permit delivered.

“We should have been open in, like, October,” she said. “I made one phone call. They came and brought [the building permit] the next day.”

Ramos said she’s also had to “intervene” in helping businesses open, including The Duchess restaurant in Hampden and Red Emma’s bookstore and cafe in Waverly.

A spokesperson for the Department of Housing and Community Development told The Baltimore Sun that the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays that may have impacted Brown-Wainwright’s experience in obtaining its use and occupancy permit.

Among the topics to be discussed at the upcoming City Council hearing is the DHCD’s new e-permitting system launched at the beginning of February, which Ramos said is intended to “streamline everything.”

Cohen also noted a “lack of capacity” in the fire marshal’s office. He added that the council wants “our systems to be efficient and effective for folks who come here or folks who grew up here and want to establish a business.”

The fire marshal’s office plans to expand its team “to increase efficiency and address growing demand,” John Marsh, the fire department’s communications director, said in an email. “We recognize the challenges Baltimore City businesses face and continue to be committed to streamlining our process while maintaining safety standards.”

Crime has improved, but still can be a deterrent

The city has seen dramatic improvements in crime in recent years, particularly homicides and non-fatal shootings. But for some business owners, crime is still a concern.

Hawks, at Zelda Zen, said she’s particularly concerned about juvenile crime.

“The juveniles are out of control,” she said. “They’re walking around with balaclavas and hoodies and North Face coats on when it’s 60 degrees out.”

She said she offers to walk customers to their cars if they’re uncomfortable.

Cohen also noted “incredible reductions” in kids squeegeeing cars following the launch of Mayor Brandon Scott’s Squeegee Collaborative, assembled in 2022. The program launched after a squeegee worker shot and killed a driver who had confronted him with a baseball bat after crossing multiple lanes of traffic.

Hawks said she’s personally observed the Squeegee Collaborative’s positive impact and that its success needs to be better marketed.

“People are still so hesitant to come into the city because of the squeegee workers. We hear it all the time. And yeah, there’s a couple out here, but they’re not like they used to be,” she said.

Hawks added that there also needs to be better enforcement of dirt bikes.

“When people come into the city and see, you know, 50 to 100 dirt bikes screeching through Lombard Street, they’re scared,” she said.

Lottie, at Dodah’s Kitchen, said he has to put glass around his desserts to prevent theft, which he hasn’t had to do for his stores in other locations. People have also stolen employees’ tips.

“People were stealing the cakes. They were stealing the drinks,” he said. “That’s a lot of losses right there.”

But Scott Curlee, general manager at Duda’s Tavern in Fells Point, said crime isn’t as bad as it used to be, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Catelli said he sees concerns about crime as “more of an excuse than a reason” for choosing to close or not open a business.

City Councilmember Mark Conway, who chairs the city’s Public Safety committee, said the city could focus more on addressing blight.

“There’s a lot to be said for the ‘broken windows theory’: If an area looks clean, is taken care of, has painted windows, and you deal with the blight in a given area, it makes it a more business-friendly climate,” he said. “People are more likely to spend time there, to spend money there and otherwise.”

Kalilah Wright, founder of apparel company MESS in a Bottle, in Mount Vernon, said she’s not concerned about crime. “I feel very safe in my store,” she said. “I think that crime can be a deterrent, but I think the more that we continue to share with our customers the growth of our business, they’ll continue to support it.”

Attracting more businesses

Hawks, at Zelda Zen, said now is a better time than ever to market Baltimore as an attractive and affordable place to move, given the recent federal workforce cuts.

“The same row house that’s in Fells Point for $300,000 is in Alexandria for $1.3 million,” she said. “It’s time to turn the narrative around, that Baltimore is affordable, that we are here, we are open for business.”

“We’re struggling,” she said. “We need people to come into the city.”

Will Fagg, who runs TinyBrickOven Pizza in Federal Hill, noted “a lot of empty spaces” in the area.

“I personally feel like tourism to the city is really down from what it used to be before the pandemic,” he said.

Fagg said the city and businesses could improve their online marketing and that he would appreciate the development of a local food delivery service.

“I think we have a lot of very talented folks on our City Council, and, you know, people doing amazing work in this space,” Fagg said. “It just … seems like a lot of that energy is being directed towards those big developers and not necessarily towards the little guys.”

Some say the city’s property tax rate deters people from moving to Baltimore. Conway said the council “absolutely must address the issue. I think it does hold us back.”

Parking

Curlee, at Duda’s Tavern, established by his family in 1949, said he has to pay more than $200 per month to park in the nearby parking lot. He believes parking costs are deterring customers.

“I don’t think people want to pay just to come to Fells Point, just to park … when they can go to other places and park for free and then eat somewhere,” he said.

Curlee said it’s hard to get customers during major holidays like New Year’s Eve because the streets are blocked off.

“Halloween used to be one of the busiest days of the year for us,” he said. “Now, like in the last seven, eight years, we haven’t done much at all on Halloween.”

Conway acknowledged the pressures around parking in certain areas but added that the city must also work on “encouraging more people to move to the city.”

“If you have less people driving from the county and otherwise to these locations, and more people patronizing their local stores and pubs and and restaurants, parking is not so much of an issue,” he said.

This story has been updated: The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment for the story. Hours after publication, Scott announced a new “Bmore FAST” initiative to overhaul the city’s permitting and approval processes, including the creation of a new Director of Permitting and Development Services position within the mayor’s office.

“By streamlining our development processes and removing unnecessary barriers, we can help meet the demand for housing, support small business growth, and create jobs across all neighborhoods,” said Deputy Mayor Justin Williams, in a press release.

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com, 443-682-2356 or @conrad_brooke on X