Cedar Fair and Sandusky New Agreement(s)

https://sanduskyregister.com/news/349690/cedar-point-city-strike-10...kyEfR8n6lM

Very interesting read, and very reassuring for some that are worried about CF Corporate pulling out of Sandusky to head south.

Did I see correctly that a new causeway is part of the deal?

A new causeway, if they can ever actually build it, would be huge.

A lot of questionable things on Cedar Fair's part.

1)Doubling the head tax, which is just a tax on purchasers.

2)The causeway plan is questionable & yes, exactly what you need is having pedestrians. Can't see any problems with that given the increasing stupidity & bad actors visiting the park.

3)Parking tax is dubious, as they push more passes w/ parking included how much money is that really going to raise? Hotel guests on & off site get free parking. Pass holders have parking included. Day visitors are really going to love $25 parking w/ a 8% tax so it is now $27

4)Calling this a deal is kind of misnomer. Sandusky gets a ton of stuff paid for by the consumer, as CF/CP are just a point of sale tax collector. CP get naming rights that are worth almost nothing & land that they could have bought w/o all these concessions..ie... like keeping some corporate in an inconvenient area for travel & not where one would prefer to live, compared to Charlotte.

• Agreeing that Cedar Fair will maintain a corporate presence in Sandusky

is hardly the same as keeping CF HQ in Sandusky.
That could be as simple as maintaining the CarowFair Sign Shop in Sandusky.

Why is the rebuild of the causeway questionable? It's been needed for years.

Guessing the red tape with the Corps.

An entirely new causeway or expanding on the current one?

It's a proposed rebuild/expansion of the current one.

I assume it's going to be build a new causeway next to the existing one, then when that's finished and traffic can run on it. You go back and rebuild/connect the old to the new. Doubling the size. Even if they spend a year building the new one (and that would actually be super quick considering the location) if it's at least the same width as the old one then when the old get's connected it's double the size. And double the width is the minim I would think they would want.

In general it's a sorely needed upgrade considering how bad it get's during the season.

Morté615 said:

And double the width is the minim I would think they would want.

That's what she said:)

Morté615 said:

I assume it's going to be build a new causeway next to the existing one, then when that's finished and traffic can run on it. You go back and rebuild/connect the old to the new. Doubling the size. Even if they spend a year building the new one (and that would actually be super quick considering the location) if it's at least the same width as the old one then when the old get's connected it's double the size. And double the width is the minim I would think they would want.

In general it's a sorely needed upgrade considering how bad it get's during the season.

It will definitely be an improvement. However, no matter how much you widen the causeway, the rest of Cedar Point Drive will need widened as well or you will run into an awful bottleneck situation. It will create traffic jams and potential accidents once you’re off of the causeway from cars trying to merge back down to 2 lanes. The flow of traffic has always been an issue, and I am excited to see how it will be fixed.

Well sure, but widening road on the mainland is relatively trivial compared to the cost to widen the causeway, so no reason to think it's not in plan.

I wonder what head tax revenue will look like going forward compared to recent history, with the existence of the Gold Pass.

CED23 said:

4)Calling this a deal is kind of misnomer. Sandusky gets a ton of stuff paid for by CF/CP & they get in return naming rights that are worth almost nothing & land that they could have bought w/o all these concessions..ie... like keeping some corporate in an inconvenient area for travel & not where one would prefer to live, compared to Charlotte.

What is the city actually getting out of this deal? A new rec center, "funds to further advance economic development," and "various programming at the Sandusky State Theatre." Everything else in this deal is a win for Cedar Fair:

• A new causeway, with the welcome addition of pedestrian access, improving access to the park. Hard to overstate the value of this for the park.
• A water taxi, improving access to the park.
• A boost to city services, which helps the park, too.

The park benefits from significant infrastructure and service improvements, the city gets a rec center, some ambiguous amount of money for some ambiguous stuff, and the non-binding agreement that there will be at least one Black Shirt Higher Up in Sandusky.

This very much seems like a win-win to me.

^ I think if you read his number 2 point closely, he's equating having pedestrians visit the park with an increase in "bad actors" and causing problems, which is completely asinine. If I'm reading it correctly, he would just prefer anyone who visits Cedar Point drive their own car, and use no other form of transport. Weird logistical analysis.

I am struggling with the walkway. How many people are going to use that? From the intersection of 1st street to the toll booths it measures 1.5 miles. Are people really going to walk that far?

I don't think he is saying the pedestrians are the bad actors. Rather I believe he is saying that some moron in a car is going to do something stupid and run over a walker.

Maybe I read that wrong but I took that to mean there's already an increase in "bad actors" (in his opinion anyway) and that pedestrians on the causeway are at risk of being hit by one, or something.

ETA: Shades beat me to it and it appears he read it the same.

I guess. But using that logic, isn't that a possibility literally anywhere that a sidewalk is constructed? Or already exists? Whatever, no big deal, just seemed a bit weird to me that someone would feel like a walkway or other methods of access to a park would be a negative thing.

Shades said:

I am struggling with the walkway. How many people are going to use that? From the intersection of 1st street to the toll booths it measures 1.5 miles. Are people really going to walk that far?

It's roughly 3 miles from Express and roughly 5 miles from Sports Force Park to the southern Boardwalk entrance, so I'd agree that it's quite a walk. However, in theory people could ride their bike, or the park could provide wheeled transport like they do on the boardwalk via tricycles with passenger seats. Electrify them and it's even easier.

Of course, it's a better theory than it is practical. But I think in general whenever there is reconstruction of existing roads, pedestrian access should be added regardless.

I agree that the walkway is a good idea and want to further clarify that I was just trying to interpret CED23's position. I don't agree with it though. I say bring on the walkway. I won't personally use it but why not have it?

^Exactly what I was thinking. Expand the rickshaw service and upcharge it.