SALEM — The city's redevelopment authority grilled an owner of Witch City Mall on Wednesday night for an apparent lack of presence in the city, as residents called for problems at the downtown mall to be addressed.
Brett Marley, chief executive of mall owner Marley Properties, was quiet during the meeting and acted defensively at times. But several city officials thanked him for coming out to the meeting, never mind responding to concerns.
"I'm really glad to see you here, Mr. Marley," said Christine Madore, the city councilor representing the area the mall sits in. "As you can see from all the comments so far, this board is eager to work with you and wants to see you proceed. We want to be your partner and want to help you to make this mall an even better place to visit."
The Salem Redevelopment Authority's action on the mall goes back about two years and stems from the property's change from Museum Place Mall to Witch City Mall. City planning director Tom Daniel said the change took place without city approval, a necessity given the mall's place in Salem's urban renewal district.
SRA's involvement focused on decals on all of the mall's entry doors and windows. A building permit would be needed for changes to more significant signage, Daniel said, and permit applications were never submitted or approved for the various changes.
David Guarino, an SRA member acting as meeting chair, said the unapproved change had come up several times "since the decals were discovered."
"You received I don't know how many letters about the decals and trying to get the process going," Guarino said. "When you received them, what was your thought process... just to ignore them? ... Why has it taken you so long to show up and work with us on these?"
Responding, Marley said he felt "like I've been communicating with Tom's office."
"That's not accurate," Guarino clapped back.
Dean Rubin, another board member, said the change "has been a craw in this board for a long time, in that we've tried to reach you, contact you, try to get resolution on the issue."
"This has been in front of us over a year," Rubin said. "I'd like you to appreciate the process you have to follow. There are steps you have to go through and a number of resources in the city that spell that out for you."
Rubin then related to other businesses going by the books on name changes "watching this, saying, 'why did I have to do everything when this business is doing it on their own?'"
"I don't think you have any legal authority to a name change," Marley responded. "You only have authority to signage."
"Do you have a good feel for the process you have to use?" Rubin answered back.
"I have a good feel for it," Marley said. "I went through it before, when we changed the glass facade."
The board eventually gave the audience a chance to weigh in, at which point comments focused on mall conditions — a well-documented issue for many city residents. The mall has frequently generated complaints for conditions in its bathrooms, broken windows and more. A recent Salem News investigation disclosed years of complaints from city officials about the mall's bathrooms being closed illegally.
"Since we're opening the can of worms, I'm going to dig in," resident Gary "Gigi" Gill said. "The first thing is the bathrooms, the most disgusting bathrooms in town."
Gill highlighted how the city's business and tourism community has few options for tourists needing to use a restroom.
"We're sending them to the Visitor Center, or the mall, or to a Port-a-Potty," Gill said. "The first thing they'll say is, 'how disgusting is that bathroom?'"
Alyssa Conary, another Salem resident, highlighted glass over the Church Street entrance that has been broken and left unfixed for some time.
"I never even walk underneath that atrium, because it's so horrifying," Conary said. "Part of it isn't just cracked. It's missing."
In response, Marley said the company planned to fix the windows this coming spring.Â
"It has been replaced and rebroken," Marley said. "I think it's a structural issue in that area."
To that end, Madore said it has been multiple years since the windows were fixed.
"I asked (city solicitor) Beth Rennard to call you about the glass issue, and it's only today — two years later — that we're seeing some kind of response," Madore said. "We really want to help you succeed and make this mall improved."
Contact Salem reporter Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
