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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-04-17 Retail Committee Summary MinutesRETAIL COMMITTEE SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 Regular Meeting April 17, 2024 The Retail Committee of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in the Community Meeting Room and by virtual teleconference at 9:00 a.m. Present In Person: Lythcott-Haims, Kou Present Remotely: Absent: STAFF UPDATES 1. California Ave Business District a. Stakeholder engagement update b. Updates from 3/26 workshop on place identity, visual identity, and wayfinding/signage c. Updates on near-term improvement activities d. El Camino Real repaving impacts City Manager Ed Shikada announced Council Member Lythcott-Haims replaced Vice Mayor Lauing on the Retail Committee. Council Member Burt and Vice Mayor Lauing are on the new El Camino Ad Hoc Committee addressing bike lanes and the reconfiguration of El Camino. Council Member Kou wanted the public to be aware that the El Camino Ad Hoc Committee would also discuss the elimination of parking on El Camino. Project Manager Bruce Fukuji discussed the California Avenue Car-Free Street Project. He holds regular meetings with the Cal Ave Merchants Group. On March 26, there was a Cal Ave Merchants Workshop on place identity, signage, and wayfinding. The place identity discussion included value proposition differentiators, the help needed to make Cal Ave a destination, and being attractive and competitive with locations that have a Main Street environment. Consultants will package the findings from the workshop. The next in-person workshop to discuss vision, principals, design drivers, goals, circulation, and access is on April 30 at Gamelandia on Cal Ave. Completed improvements include replacement of the California Avenue sign on El Camino. Staff applied for an encroachment permit with Caltrans. Twelve “California Avenue Open for Business” signs will direct people driving north or south on El Camino to parking at Cambridge, Sherman, or Grant Street. In November and December last year, over 40 new signs were placed in the District to help drivers locate parking in response to Council’s request. There was a lot of SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 concern about the “Road Closed” sign on El Camino and California Avenue. Per statewide traffic guidance for signage, the sign was changed to “Road closed to vehicles. Open to pedestrians and bikes.” Near-term projects for California Avenue at El Camino Real include the following: Replace barrier covers. Replace most temporary barriers with planters. Add 5 sq. ft. planters maybe 32 inches high to create a safety barrier on Cal Ave to protect from traffic on El Camino. Have color-coded stamped concrete for the crosswalk from California Avenue along El Camino and extending back 15 or 20 feet. Cal Ave is closed for cars but a solution is needed to allow for easy access of emergency vehicles and for the 70 to 100 trucks serving the weekly farmers market. Options include having three bollards aligned about 5 feet apart and allow vehicles to go through the center bollard or the three bollards can be collapsible, removable, or retractable. The layout will accommodate future bike lines. Council previously directed staff to slow bike movement through California Avenue. A new, large (maybe 15 feet high) district sign in front of, on top, or adjacent to the existing concrete sign will help announce Cal Ave is open for business. Staff is considering a tagline for the sign, such as “visit, dine, shop.” Near-term projects for California Avenue at Ash Street include the following: Replace barrier covers. Remove most temporary barriers. Extend colored paving about 17 or 20 feet so you can walk down Cal Ave and not have to walk into and out of the intersection. Have two large planters and three bollards to distinguish and separate the vehicles and pedestrian areas. Near-term projects for California Avenue at Birch Street include the following: Replace barrier covers. Remove most temporary barriers. Extend colored paving. Add four planters of about 4 feet in diameter and bollards to manage traffic and protect pedestrians. In the interim, use temporary barriers until bollards are installed. Near-term projects will go through a contracting process. Staff put together bid documents for a vendor to do all the elements of this project. Staff will put the project out for bid in May and onboarding of the contractor will be in June. Staff showed a slide with the timeline for fabricating the sign, ordering planters and planting materials, and procuring bollards. Staff is working out the details for the installation of paving, which might take longer if contracted. Steve Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, stated the El Camino Real Paving and Parking Ad Hoc meets next week with staff. The ad hoc will work with staff to engage with businesses along El Camino to talk about the impacts of parking and finding solutions for the potential removal of parking along El Camino Real. Options may include short-term parking on side streets, exploration of employee parking in residential preferred parking permit areas, and potential loading zones. Toward the end of March, there was a significant amount of construction near Cal Ave on El Camino Real from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) but their work has since concluded. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, addressed Council Member Lythcott-Haims’s question about the vision for Cal Ave. Street Sense (economic development strategy consultant) reported Cal Ave had the unique opportunity to embrace neighborhood-serving retail and beyond. Project Manager Fukuji is working with Urban Field. Discussions with merchants will include talking about the big-picture vision and trying to identify something that works for the merchants along the Avenue, other business stakeholders, and the community. Project Manager Fukuji stated it was a nine-month process with the goal to arrive at a vision by the end of the summer. Conversation on the priorities, drivers, and principles for what Cal Ave can become will start at the next workshop on April 30. Some challenges with the vision are how to address the functioning of the street to accommodate farmers markets, events, and outdoor dining. The design team will create design options. To make economic sense, the cost ranges of improvements must be appropriate. There has to be a match of cost to benefit to vision to see what is feasible, achievable, and functional. Staff is aware some people were not happy with the decision to close the street. Some folks made it clear that if the City Council decided to close the street then the City should fund everything to make it a fabulous destination but if the City will not provide the funding then they should open the street. Staff believes that seeing progress on near-term projects will demonstrate the City’s commitment to Cal Ave. Council Member Lythcott-Haims spoke of California Avenue’s history. She thought Cal Ave should be a place for youth, energy, and commerce. She encouraged staff to think big and make the case for what we could do if we want to do it right. She thought the California Avenue Open for Business sign looked like a construction sign because it is orange. Project Manager Fukuji noted that once Council takes final action, the municipal code for signage allows blue signs instead of orange. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, stated there would be visually compelling signage on El Camino to encourage people to visit, shop, and dine on Cal Ave. Some vinyl barriers were frayed and tattered. New vinyl barrier covers will be used in the interim until planters are installed. The Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC) formed an ad hoc to evaluate zoning and other issues related to retail siting, the potential for a vacancy tax, and formula retail restrictions. The ad hoc and PTC will address those issues in a report for Council consideration later this year. This year, looking at popup options is one of the objectives under the Economic Recovery and Transition Priority. Santa Cruz’s popups program was successful. Vacancies were filled in Santa Cruz so they were unable to site popups this year. Popups require staff time, energy, and effort to administer and work with brokers. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 4 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 One objective is enhancing and furthering our relationships with brokers to help understand the hurdles they are seeing from their tenants and what process pieces the City can fix; however, the City is not resourced to engage individual properties and look for particular uses. Since December, the City has convened monthly California Avenue Merchants Association meetings. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, is in conversations with our vendor, A3 Visual, about the production timeline for the barrier covers but was hopeful to have them up within the next month. The design is almost finalized and then we can move forward with the production and installation. Council Member Kou noted tents in one of the drawings but the City no longer allows tents for parklets. Project Manager Fukuji stated the drawing was to show the placement of vendor tents during the farmers market. Council Member Kou wanted it to be clear it was only for the farmers market. Council Member Kou asked for an update on enforcement actions. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, replied that the outdoor dining along California Avenue was separate from the parklet program. Public Works Assistant Director Holly Boyd responded that staff had been going to California Avenue every two or three weeks for the last couple months. Staff sent a couple of noncompliance letters. As of two weeks ago, she believed everyone was in compliance. The last tent was removed at the end of March in response to the City’s compliance letter. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, remarked that staff was in the process of developing a communication plan for businesses impacted by the decision of bicycle lanes and whether to remove parking on El Camino. Palo Alto businesses are required to sign up for the City’s business registry. Staff will use the registry to identify businesses fronting El Camino and will look at maps to see where there may be other impacts. In more heavily impacted areas, he envisioned the communication plan to include site visits to make personal contact with businesses. In areas of lesser impact, communication may be via emails and phone calls. Council Member Kou pointed out that businesses have employees who park on El Camino and she wanted staff to ask businesses how many employees would be affected. City Manager Shikada stated that SFPUC completed their projects on California Avenue and the sewer work on El Camino Real. The City’s Public Works and Utilities teams were close to completing their projects. The sewer main replacement project is continuing on Page Mill but the work on El Camino was completed. There was discussion during Monday’s Council meeting about the Housing Element and the potential of more construction in and along California Avenue. Council Member Kou thought staff should address the topic of future construction with California Avenue merchants. Council Member Kou asked for an update on the 16 Tesla stations and if they could be distributed within the district versus placing all 16 in one parking lot. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant SUMMARY MINUTES Page 5 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 to the City Manager, replied that conversations were in process and they were looking at options. Tesla wanted to site Supercharger stations in Lot 8, the one closest to El Camino Real behind the optometrist and La Bodeguita, near Jacaranda Lane. When the City worked previously with Tesla to lease space for their Superchargers at the Bryant Street Garage, the agreement was structured to make it general parking and available to everyone with no restriction on the use of those spaces. Council Member Lythcott-Haims asked about working with youth groups to obtain their perspective. Project Manager Fukuji stated he was open to suggestions for including youth in the stakeholder outreach plan. Council Member Lythcott-Haims remarked there were at least four or five youth leadership groups that report to the Community Services Department. She is the liaison to the Palo Alto Youth Council and was happy to see if any of them were interested in attending a merchants’ meeting. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, pointed out that the merchant meetings were focused on business stakeholders in the district but it is appropriate for youth representatives to participate when conversations are integrated into larger stakeholder engagement. Public Comments: 1) Jessica Roth believed the City could do some things immediately instead of waiting until November to complete the proposed upgrades. She stated she sent a picture of some large planters with trees that she thought would be a wonderful immediate improvement. The Bank of the West building, the Fine Arts old movie theater, the Nut House, and the Hotel California building were vacant. She still sees white tents on California Avenue. She suggested the City work with Stanford to provide art on the street to draw people to the area. She hoped improvements were complete by the spring or summer when people are out. 2) Jeny Smith agreed with the previous speaker. She wanted to integrate nature and incorporate habitat into the planters to attract wildlife, pollinators, birds, and butterflies. She would love to see popups in vacant spaces such as a roller skating rink or a beer garden. She suggested public murals. 3) John Shenk with Thoits Bros. owns property in the Cal Ave neighborhood. He was in favor of opening the street to attract retailers to fill vacancies. He asked the City to help by updating the retail zoning code, provide wayfinding for garage parking, and have a simple permitting process. He was against a vacancy tax. 4) Roxy R. moved to Palo Alto 78 years ago and recalled California Avenue was a booming town. He was against closing the street because traffic is better for retail. He did not believe there was signage to the newly built City parking garage downtown. He suggested using color with plants and flowers at the entrance to California Avenue with a beautiful California Avenue sign. He commented on shopping centers that use panels with beautiful bright colors to cover vacant storefronts. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 6 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 5) Megan Kawkab owns The Patio on Emerson Street. She looked at locations to open a second bar and restaurant but thought Cal Ave looked like a ghost town with no future. She shopped on Cal Ave before COVID but half the retail she frequented has left and parking is difficult. Closed the street is killing businesses. Restaurants, retail, and neighbors were happy with opening University Avenue and parklets have worked well. 6) Leland Wiesner owns property on California Avenue. He agreed with Megan, Roxy, and John’s comments. Retailers would not be hostile if it was a good idea. He thought opening the street would eliminate vacancies. He was against a vacancy tax. He suggested the City immediately open the street and then do research. If problems and vacancies continued after opening the street, then the City could look for a solution. 7) Maico Campilongo is one of the owners of Terún on California Avenue. He was in favor of keeping California Avenue a pedestrian street because he saw an improvement in their business. He thought some businesses were struggling because they did not readapt their businesses after COVID. He had to shut down iTalico and rethink his website. Now, people may work in the office twice a week and are busy in meetings so they no longer go out for lunch as they did before COVID. He wanted California Avenue to be more attractive. Many people attend the farmers market and have lunch. He takes his kids to Stanford Shopping Center for events like Christmas pictures or to Redwood City where there are events during the year. 8) Zareen was in favor of keeping the street closed. She has three locations, California Avenue, Broadway Street in Redwood City, and Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale. Broadway and Murphy are closed streets and businesses were doing well. She noted her rent was highest on California Avenue, double what she pays in Redwood City. She believed Cal Ave property owners’ rent expectations were too high. Many property owners are not interested in a historic building such as Antonio’s Nut House where they cannot build up. She wanted to know if something could be done about the rats on the street. Council Member Kou expressed her concerns about the lack of analysis before closing the street. Regarding the comment about planters with trees, Council Member Kou did want to obstruct the view of California Avenue from El Camino. There will be wayfinding within the parking areas to businesses. While some businesses were doing well, Council Member Kou thought more businesses should be encouraged to come in, especially retail, so she wanted the community to not only think about themselves but also think about the bigger picture for a successful California Avenue. Businesses need to be ADA compliant to serve people with disabilities and elderly who need an easy way to get to those businesses. Council Member Kou thought it was important for business district associations to liven up the street. In other districts, Council Member Kou has seen window dressings on empty storefronts to show what could be at that location. Council Member Kou thought California Avenue needed anchor stores. A movie theater could be versatile as an entertainment venue. The Guild in Menlo Park was a movie theater but now it is a venue with live bands, movie screenings, and a bar. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 7 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 No action was taken. 2. Downtown Business District a. Near-term improvements update b. Stakeholder engagement update c. Update on pre-approved parklet design Steve Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, will convene downtown stakeholders likely through a Zoom meeting with a focus on cleanliness and safety, as those were concerns he heard previously. He will update the Committee when he has further details. Project Manager Ashwini Kantak presented an update on University Avenue near-term improvements and parklets. Staff recommended continuing street sweeping through contractual services at the current service level of three times per week. The City needed to include in its enforcement strategy the sweeping of debris from parklets onto the streets. The current service level for pressure washing and steam cleaning is once per month for Downtown District sidewalks and twice per month at Lytton Plaza. Doubling the frequency would cost an additional $130,000 per year and required a contract amendment. People need to keep in mind that pressure washing cannot address staining that has happened over many years. Staff suggested continuing trash pickup at the current service level of six times per week with no pickup on Sundays. Staff could explore a pilot program through contractual services to provide pickup on Sundays in areas of heavy use but it would require additional funding. Staff has identified funding to replace 20 trash receptacles and expected to complete the replacement by July because of the long procurement lead-time. Temporary enhanced efforts for cleanliness downtown are underway with staff on overtime; however, this is a temporary measure. Staff will evaluate its effectiveness and propose additional staffing if needed long term. An inventory revealed one-third of the 214 news racks appeared abandoned and many were damaged. Staff wanted to begin the process outlined in the code, which required providing notice before removal. As part of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, an Existing Condition Assessment is being performed and will be presented to City Council on April 29. There are about 679 public bike parking spaces in the Downtown District. Staff may install bike racks upon request by businesses or community members if there is allowable space. Miscellaneous infrastructure improvements include repairs to sidewalks and streetlights. As per an agreement the City entered into many years ago, businesses that have installed custom sidewalks are responsible for its maintenance. Staff is looking to form a stakeholder working group and involve the community through various communication channels, surveys, and events to seek input on near-term improvements. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 8 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 Staff worked with the Architectural Review Board (ARB) on preapproved parklet designs so businesses can have a streamlined approval process and do not need to hire a designer or structural engineer. Staff went to the ARB in February. The ARB formed an ad hoc committee. Staff met with the ad hoc on March 19 and received feedback. Staff will go back to the ARB on May 2. On June 3, staff will bring to Council the proposed amendments to the adopted standards. The focus of parklet enforcement was on immediate safety concerns. After August 1, any parklets that have not submitted their application must be removed. Parklets have until November 1 to comply with the adopted standards. A stakeholder hybrid meeting is scheduled for April 24. Council Member Kou asked for an update on the Emerson Street repaving. Public Works Assistant Director Holly Boyd stated the contract was awarded last month. The contract was signed and the preconstruction meeting has taken place. Residents will receive a notice describing the paving project. The notice to Emerson Street businesses will probably go out next week. Over the next couple of weeks, staff will meet to discuss the phasing of sending out letters on the parklet permit program. Everyone who has a permit on Emerson will receive a 30- day notice to remove the parklet. Paving of four blocks on Emerson will occur in July and August. More details will be provided after staff discusses the schedule with the contractor. Staff addressed the Committee’s questions. Assistant Director of Public Works Mike Wong stated the street sweeper comes three days per week. The picture in the slide presentation was of City staff picking up leaves on University Avenue on a weekend after a storm because it is a busy crosswalk and people could slip. Project Manager Kantak stated that businesses who installed custom sidewalks had old agreements with the City. There could have been changes in business owners since the agreement, so it was difficult to manage repairs. For long-term improvements, staff will take into consideration if the City should continue to allow customization. Council Member Kou asked staff to include in their Existing Conditions Assessment report to Council on April 29 the application process for bike parking space and the amount of space needed for bike racks on sidewalks to make sure it does not lessen pedestrian use, especially for people who have disabilities. Public Comments: 1) John Shenk with Thoits Bros. commented on his requests for downtown cleanliness and safety over the past four years. There is a cesspool on University Avenue where water does not flow between parklets and planters. Most of the screens that are part of the temporary parklet design have been pulled up because they block the water but water and rats go into the parklets. Most of the planters are barren, although a few may have weeds. He noted the City was spending a lot of time on multiple studies and consultants. He asked for the City to spruce up what is already in place, get clean and safe. Prospective non-food retailers have asked him if somebody could put a parklet in SUMMARY MINUTES Page 9 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 front of their store and he answers he thinks so. Not having parking space in front of their store is a huge impediment to many retailers. He heard from his tenants and others who lost sales after the closure of University Avenue, including Cielo, an optometrist, and De Novo Jewelry. 2) Megan Kawkab owns The Patio at the end of Emerson Street on the corner of Lytton. She believed the City should fine people who have filth and debris around their parklets. She wanted Palo Alto to be beautiful. She would rather not have parklets because her customers would not want to sit in a small parklet without a roof or good infrastructure and neither would Evvia’s and Taverna’s customers. She expressed her concern with flooding when it rains and had videos of the sidewalk between The Patio and Evvia. She invested over $75,000 in her parklet but thought it may be time to go back to normal. 3) Roxy R. agreed with Megan. She urged staff to be very careful about redesigning parklets for University Avenue, Ramona Street, and Emerson Street. She would like a master redesign of University Avenue with widening of the sidewalks so you do not need the parklet. 4) Nancy Coupal thought we all should help to beautify, clean, and make our city attractive. University Avenue also had many vacancies. She urged Bruce to move fast to make things look good. Council Member Kou noted the last commenter addressed Bruce but Project Manager Kantak was in charge of downtown. Council Member Kou pointed out that outdoor dining provided expanded space for many restaurants but if they wanted to expand, they could look at some of the vacancies instead of taking up parking spaces with a parklet. No action was taken. 3. Midtown Business District a. Stakeholder Engagement Update Steve Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, stated the Midtown Merchants Group convened on a monthly basis last year. The successful installation of banners in the midtown area was in collaboration with the Midtown Merchants Group. The Midtown Merchants Group organized a scavenger hunt related to the holidays. Following the holidays, the Midtown Merchants Group did not convene regularly for meetings and participation waned. Staff met with a member of the Midtown Business District who was working on organizing merchants in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce. Staff was waiting to hear if the Midtown Merchants Group would convene in early May and hopefully monthly thereafter. Council Member Kou commented that the group had not decided on a name; however, they are forming an organization because merchants realize they have to get together to put on events or activities. Council Member Lythcott-Haims asked about the four or five businesses impacted by fire and if the recovery process was typical. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, replied it was SUMMARY MINUTES Page 10 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 atypical because we are now in Month 14. City staff remained engaged and in close collaboration and conversation with the property owner. The location of the dry cleaner needed hazardous material remediation. A geologist needed to address soil contamination. The City was encouraging the property owner to work promptly through his insurance company, contractors, and subcontractors so the City could review the plans. Through collaboration with our Planning and Development Services Department and Public Works Department, the City was prepared to engage in conversations and ready to move as swiftly as possible. Council Member Lythcott-Haims queried if there was unified City effort or interest in ensuring Midtown Merchants, University Avenue, and Cal Ave moved in the same direction on signage, wayfinding, and branding. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, explained that the City was focused on organizing and helping each district embrace its unique identity to each be successful and thrive independently of each other. The Downtown and Midtown pole banners were complementary branding. City Manager Ed Shikada pointed out the Uplift Local general branding was a common theme while allowing for individuality. Council Member Lythcott-Haims was interested in youth popup performances such as the ones sponsored on Ramona outside Coupa and outside Mike’s in Midtown. She was interested in spaces where the public could support local retail and youth voices. She asked who owned the property that was an overgrown field in Midtown behind Baskin Robbins near the poetry wall. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, replied it is private property. In the past, the community used it for a community garden and a Halloween pumpkin patch; however, the space deteriorated due to benign neglect and its location. The pumpkin patch was vandalized and the space is in disrepair. The merchant group discussed how to help activate this plot of land and brainstormed on what may be possible. The City’s role is to help brainstorm and identify resources. Council Member Kou commented that “shop, dine, play locally” could be applied to all three business districts but mostly to Midtown since it is a neighborhood business district, so she urged staff to continue pushing that effort forward. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, remarked that the City reaches out to local businesses to see if they are willing to offer promotions to encourage people to spend their money locally during the holidays. Council Member Lythcott-Haims recalled Charlie Weidanz at the Chamber indicated he was working on a citywide gift card. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, has not had conversations with Mr. Weidanz about it lately but it was an interesting idea. Other cities have done similar programs. The Street Sense report made a brief mention of it as a potential option to encourage people to spend locally but the City was not actively driving it or engaging on it. Council Member Kou asked if staff could get feedback on whether the phrase “Uplift Local” resonated with people. Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, noted there were different perspectives in the business community about Uplift Local. He agreed that seeking feedback on branding was an appropriate step as the City continues to explore economic development recovery and transition priorities. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 11 of 11 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 4/17/2024 Mr. Guagliardo, Assistant to the City Manager, reminded everyone that Retail Committee meetings are scheduled for the third Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, May 15 at 9 a.m. He introduced Ruth Carias to the Committee. Ms. Carias joined Economic Development as a generalist to help Mr. Guagliardo on a variety of topics and she will participate in future meetings as topics allow. No action was taken. Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 11:03 a.m.