Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-08-21 Retail Committee Summary MinutesRETAIL COMMITTEE SUMMARY MINUTES Page 1 of 8 Regular Meeting August 21, 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: Kou (Chair), Burt, Lythcott-Haims Present Virtually: None Absent: None CALL TO ORDER Chair Lydia Kou called to order the Retail Committee regular meeting on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. Roll was called, and all were present. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no requests to speak. STAFF UPDATES 1. Downtown Business District Special Projects Advisor Ashwini Kantak provided updates in response to the discussion at the June 3 Council meeting in terms of the planned improvements downtown, stakeholder engagement, and parklets. She presented a list of improvement areas and projects downtown and the anticipated timeline, with near term being 1 year, mid term 2 to 3 years, and long term 4 years and beyond. She discussed the improvement areas related to cleaning and maintenance, policies and ordinances, and CIP projects. She reviewed the comprehensive stakeholder strategy for downtown and provided an update on the status of that, including the outreach. Regarding parklets, there are ongoing stakeholder engagement efforts. Preapplications have been received for 24 of the 25 existing parklets, with only 1 parklet deciding not to move forward. There are preapproved designs and a user guide available. The SUMMARY MINUTES Page 2 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 full enforcement will happen beginning November 1. The Ramona Street outdoor dining and parklets remain under the temporary program through March 2025. Public Comment: 1. Paul B. described his professional history in retail development and investment. He felt Palo Alto had underperformed over the last several years compared to neighboring cities. He suggested looking at steps to turn things around and encourage businesses to come to Downtown rather than micromanaging every issue. Council Member Burt agreed that the downtown area had gradually deteriorated in condition and attractiveness to retail over decades. He noted the Stanford Shopping Center was competition within Palo Alto to the downtown. He felt it was important to kickstart the near- and mid-term efforts. One of the current problems is a lot of vacancies while rents are the highest in the region. He discussed vacancy tax and noted he was disinclined to have that kick in quickly but thought it was something to consider for properties that have been vacant for years. Those revenues could be placed into the Improvement District, not the General Fund. He was interested in more specific timelines than "in two to three years," etc. He noted the conditions at Lot Q, a public and private parking lot, were appalling and the public is not parking there because of safety and filth, compounding the downtown parking issue. He noted pavement conditions, tree wells in bad shape, and tree replacements needed. In addition to the removal of redundant or dilapidated news racks, he suggested adding bike racks and/or additional seating to show some progress. He spoke about drug dealing in the vicinity of Lytton Plaza as a detriment to the community and businesses. He was glad to see the next wave of permit reforms on home improvements but had not heard anything about streamlining the retail permitting, which is real issue. He asked whether the public art was planned. Special Projects Advisor Kantak explained there is some planned public art, three murals and the utility boxes, and what is potential is a downtown garage and any public art projects related to the streetscape project. Council Member Burt believed the public loved murals. Related to parklets, he noted he had not seen anything that provides restaurants options related to heating. He spoke about electric heat pumps and radiant heaters as being efficient, not requiring an expensive panel upgrade, and having lower operating costs. He wanted a follow-up on the Nordic Innovation Center's offer to put in a parklet for public use. Assistant to the City Manager Steve Guagliardo explained Staff was in contact with the Nordic Innovation House to find a solution that would work, but they withdrew their proposal and determined not to proceed. Staff is prepared to work through the nuances should anyone else wish to find a public use parklet. Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston added that Staff is trying to have a stronger emphasis on the near-term issues. He was aware of the issues with Lot Q and has recently discussed those issues with Mike Wong, Assistant Director of Public Works. He also talked with Urban SUMMARY MINUTES Page 3 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 Forestry about tree grates and trees to be proactive on that. He noted that removing the abandoned and damaged news racks were listed as near term and consolidation mid term, which could be as much as three years from now; he clarified that the consolidation process may not be finished this year, but Staff was working toward that. Council Member Burt recommended that things that are already done or in progress should be listed to help with the perception problem. He spoke about the growing trend of shared rides, common carrier deliveries, and food delivery services all creating additional demand for short- term parking. He stated he had not seen a plan for how to contend with that growing demand and suggested using alleys for those purposes. He wanted to hear more about what can be done with special events in downtown. Council Member Lythcott-Haims felt it was frustrating not to have documents for this meeting and that this was emblematic of things dragging and being eclipsed by other cities in terms of downtown. She wanted to know why, if there was not enough staff resources or financial resources, and how to shorten the timelines. She stated that economic vitality drives the ability to do many other things and wanted concrete dates for the near term. She asked roughly what the operating budget for the economic development team was. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo explained there are two dedicated staff members for economic development, plus an intern over the summer. There is limited funding for additional support, and they rely on help throughout the organization. Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston mentioned that over several years Public Works has been at about a 20 percent vacancy rate, which has really been a problem in operations groups like Urban Forestry and the team out working on streets and maintaining garages. Acknowledging that, he also said there has been a lot of progress in the last year to a more normal vacancy rate around 10 percent and capacity is improving. He also acknowledged that Council added a half-time position in last year's budget specifically to deal with parklets and other downtown right-of-way issues. That person started several months ago and is fully engaged in those areas, which is a big help. City Manager Ed Shikada stated Staff can gear future reports around the timelines of things that are planned, happening, and already completed. There is a lot more happening real time that can be communicated more clearly. Council Member Lythcott-Haims suggested looking at the for-profit environment to see how fast turnaround is accomplished, in order to think about this differently. City Manager Shikada noted Staff will be coming back shortly with strategies for filling retail spaces. Staff would also like to bring back using this forum as a way to highlight the real experiences of businesses trying to expand in town through a set of case studies. Businesses will give examples of applications they have pending, and Staff will track them and use them as opportunities to accelerate and look at the systems that may be holding things back. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 4 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo noted Staff has had businesses reach out and were able to successfully navigate with them through City processes to get to a better outcome. Council Member Burt noted this has a relationship to the initiatives within the S/CAP framework. He felt it was easier than it was being envisioned. Council Member Lythcott-Haims felt it was perplexing as a matter of supply and demand that there are high vacancies but the rents are staying high. She was concerned about property owners' self-interests not being in line with the City's interests and liked the suggestion that any revenues from a vacancy tax should go directly into the Downtown Improvement District, which might create more excitement. She believed this concept had come to Council in the context of the streetscape and wanted to analyze and consider it. City Manager Shikada responded there would be a question of how to prioritize such a project and how to identify the resources needed and bring that forward. He wanted to discuss the issue with the City Attorney to determine what to recommend. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo felt that getting through the discussion of zoning and land use in September would help inform the next steps and the prioritization of future work as necessary. Chair Kou appreciated the continued conversation about the vacancy tax, which she had previously asked Staff to bring forward to explore. She wanted a timeline on that as there is an interest now. She asked about the zoning conversation coming to the committee in September. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo explained that Planning and Development services has led a conversation through the PTC through a consultant, and there is a series of recommendations and reforms proposed. PTC has offered their perspective, and the next stop is the Retail Committee before proceeding to City Council depending on the outcome of that conversation. Chair Kou hoped to see all the materials way before that meeting because the PTC conversation was quite involved. She stated that when she had agreed to the economic development staff member, she had a bigger idea of what that was, including strategically considering how to attract businesses. She questioned if it was reported correctly that the consultant was $3.5M. Council Member Burt explained that he spoke to Director of Planning and Development Services Jonathan Lait about that and the amount was a fraction of that overall amount. Chair Kou wanted to ensure that was corrected on the record. She again stressed the need to have the materials available to the Committee and the public ahead of the meeting so there is time to review. City Manager Shikada felt this was a good example of how the Retail Committee can help shape the work before it gets to Council. It will give an opportunity for the public and committee SUMMARY MINUTES Page 5 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 members to react and weigh in. In contrast to today, which was specifically structured as a verbal update of things in progress, Staff knows there is a great deal of material to share with the Committee in advance for an informed discussion. Chair Kou stressed that the contractor needs to know Palo Alto and its culture and provide recommendations on the changing environment so the community can understand why changes are needed. She wanted to make sure not to go too far out of line with Palo Alto to the point there is pushback. She was interested in what other cities are doing with parklet warmers and whether Palo Alto's sustainability push is impeding more retail coming in. She questioned other cities' retail prices for storefronts in comparison to Palo Alto. She felt there needed to be some policy and enforcement around shared rides and loading areas. She asked for an update on the work on Emerson Street and the timeline of the BID. Assistant Director of Public Works Holly Boyd described that the first phase of Emerson from Channing to Hamilton had the concrete work, paving, and striping finish in the last week of July. The contractor then moved to the second phase, Hamilton to Lytton. The concrete work has been done. The street was milled out yesterday, and they are going to crack seal today, pave tomorrow, and then come back and stripe next week. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo explained that consistent with Council direction, the BID assessment had been suspended through COVID up until now. The former nonprofit partner that was administrating the BID, the Palo Alto Downtown Business and Professionals Association, is all but defunct, so Staff is trying to identify who can step into the administration of the BID program. Chair Kou noted Council has been funding a lot of the events and activities toward revitalization and excitement questioned how to sustain that without involvement from the businesses. She noted that cleaning takes place on University but wondered about side streets. She asked if an owner would be contacted to clean up their storefront if there was an issue, especially for vacant locations. Director of Public Works Eggleston explained the cleaning program did not change based on whether the space is occupied. The sweeping of the street and pressure washing and other cleanup of the sidewalk is taking place on University and on the side streets to a certain point. Specifically on private property is cleanup the City would not be doing. City Manager Shikada explained the formal process for that is a code enforcement issue but not the quickest approach. He encouraged anyone let Staff know if those situations come to their attention so that Staff could attempt to contact the owners informally. Chair Kou asked about the University Avenue Streetscape Project and what the method is for including the businesses and property owners. Special Projects Advisor Kantak explained that there is a stakeholder working group for University Avenue, which is about 17 members representing various business interests: SUMMARY MINUTES Page 6 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 property owners, restaurants, retail, different business. Those working group meetings will be open to the public so people can comment on what was done previously. There will be engagement with the greater Downtown Palo Alto community through various city communication channels and through open town hall surveys at key milestones. There are several boards and commissions that are relevant for University Avenue. The first stakeholder working group will be talking about scope and costs so that when a preferred concept is brought back to Council, it will have been informed by input from the stakeholders. The first meeting is in early September. Council Member Burt felt that for special events, the model of partnering with a nonprofit wherever possible was ideal. In the context of Third Thursday, there has been discussion about the extent to which it is an economic development initiative versus a community-serving special event. He felt these events should be thought of as having two purposes. He also suggested that activating vacant spaces with popup art or different functions was a potential solution for that problem. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo noted Staff was in the process of starting conversations with San Francisco and San Jose about related programs to figure out what makes sense in the Palo Alto context. Council Member Burt felt part of the issue with vacant storefronts was that businesses and property owners often do not know they have an obligation under current codes to maintain the front of their businesses. He suggested a notification process for this issue. He also believed a deliberate ombudsman role for the retail or business perspective out of the Development Center rather than the Economic Development Office could be useful. City Manager Shikada acknowledged that was the role that Steve and Ashwini were playing with Planning and Development Services as well as other departments. No action was taken. 2. California Ave Business District Assistant to the City Manager Bruce Fukuji spoke about near-term improvements at California Avenue. Caltrans is starting repaving work in September going from north to south, probably getting to California Avenue around the end of September. The near-term improvements include retractable bollards and fiberglass planters. Integrating with Caltrans and the striping and paving will drive when the contracting work is done. He updated on the Car-Free Streets Plan and other community engagement. Visual preference work for branding was done with merchants and residents, with optimistic modernism coming in as the number one choice. The consultants are taking the comments from that to work on moving the concept forward. He presented a list of highest-ranked design elements from the survey that was done, with a lot of alignment between community members and merchants. He spoke about ways to frame the potential investment in terms of adapting versus reimaging the street. He showed some ideas for both types of elements. He highlighted some merchant feedback regarding outdoor dining SUMMARY MINUTES Page 7 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 and patio guidelines. The next outreach in August will focus on pedestrian and bike circulation and the social life of public spaces. He stated Staff would like to come back to Council and have a community open house with the alternatives to show the direction it is going and get feedback and develop that into the final plan. Council Member Lythcott-Haims noted the district sign on the near-term improvements schedule and asked if the in-house designers of the whimsical signs were planning to work on the district sign. Assistant to the City Manager Fukuji explained that Staff wanted to get feedback to provide to the designer to develop the sign program. Council Member Lythcott-Haims stated that thinking about big signage throughout the City, there was an opportunity to have the signage at California Avenue reflect other cool things around the City. She hoped there was coordination happening on that. She questioned what the categories holiday and night markets meant. City Manager Shikada explained that is not a function the City has in house. He believed there was an approach at California Avenue of having a consistent look at the gateways and in the district itself, with the distinction between what could be perceived as an artwork versus a program or aesthetic used throughout the district. Assistant to the City Manager Fukuji explained there could be markets around various holidays, such as Halloween or Christmas. A night market was like having a farmer's market or other urban retail popup activities at night. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo wanted to keep in mind tying these activations in as complementary offerings to the businesses on the street. The markets help bring people in, and the desire is to get them from visitors to the street to patrons of the businesses. Council Member Burt recommended the planters be distributed throughout the street and not just at intersections and for blocking traffic, as a near-term way of extending the canopy. He would like to see the concrete information on slide 5 physically on the street so that patrons and businesses can see timeline with more detail in it. He discussed the signs at the Children's Library, the Zoo and Museum, and the Art Center, which he belived were done by a staff member. He did not want to get bogged down in a process for signs that was not needed in the past. He mentioned that walking down the center of closed streets became the norm during COVID but meant pedestrians were not walking in front of the retailers. He wanted to promote those pedestrians seeing and hopefully patronizing those retailers. Similar to University Avenue, he discussed the issue with loading areas and businesses losing that space. He hoped to have alley spaces become available for those businesses who rely on loading areas. He noted California Avenue did not have the opportunity for permanent parklets. The temporary measure two years ago planned to take away tents and have a permanent solution. The tents were taken away for the winter, but there is still not a permanent solution. He felt something was needed to allow those businesses to maintain outdoor dining in the winter if they want to. SUMMARY MINUTES Page 8 of 8 Retail Committee Meeting Summary Minutes: 08/21/2024 Chair Kou reinforced the question of the plan for engaging and attracting new businesses, finding out the lease prices compared to other cities, determining costs for the warmers on the streets for the business. She recommended changing the signage that says "Shop, dine, live" to "Shop, Dine, Play." She noted that area of California Avenue is very historical and wanted to consider places with monuments or artwork related to that history. She described that a merchant had adjusted their hours to the height of business and suggested that for other merchants. She loved the planters but wanted to ensure they were taken care of. She mentioned considering that bicycles or other modes of transportation be walked through the area. She wanted more regulations around restaurants having outdoor seating. She also hoped the signs would reflect the identity of the district. There was further clarification that the whimsical signs had not been created by a staff member but the staff member had worked with the designer to create the signs. No action was taken. 3. Midtown Business District This was to be moved to the first item on the next meeting's agenda. Assistant to the City Manager Guagliardo stated work is underway at the site of the Middlefield fire. There is no progress in terms of reconvening the merchant group on a regular basis. There were no requests from the public to speak for items 2 and 3. No action was taken. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 11:06 A.M.