New commercial district reverses blight

A clue to the unfolding transformation of Beekman Street in Saratoga Springs is a tiny barber shop with a sign in its window announcing that the 15-by-20-foot building is soon to become a coffee bar. Beekman Street, which decades ago boasted a mix of houses, apartments, and small businesses — and then lost most of the businesses and degenerated into a trouble spot on the city’s West Side — is starting to attract residents and investment again, thanks in part to a new “neighborhood commercial district” designation. The designation allows a three-block area to accommodate a wide variety of uses, which are overseen by the city through special-use permits and site plan reviews. “The concept is that in the more densely developed portions of the City some local neighborhood commercial should be allowed and encouraged,” declares a city document supporting the new district. An influx of artists, galleries, coffee bars, and other businesses has begun to reverse Beekman Street’s long decay. Amejo Amyot, a sculptor, says some artists are buying properties and others are renting live/work space, economically priced at $500 to $600 a month, changing the neighborhood’s atmosphere. “Old people who weren’t able to sell their houses are now getting a decent price,” she says. On Beekman Street, most development will rely on on-street parking, since the existing buildings fill most of the available land. The city has been waiving off-street parking requirements in the district as long as it can be shown that adequate parking exists on the street.