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Home My WebLink About7/20/2021 Item 7a, StackhouseDelgado, Adriana From: Steph Stackhouse < Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2021 2:41 PM To: E-mail Council Website; Johnson, Lee; Schwartz, Luke Cc: reachus@downtownslo.com Subject: Feedback regarding Open SLO Program Good afternoon Members of City Council and SLO City Staff, I own the Center Studio & Boutique (formerly SLO Yoga Center), and I'm writing to share my feedback related to the Open SLO Program. We are both a service -based business and a retail storefront in the core of Downtown SLO. First, I'd like the acknowledge the incredible amount of effort that's been made to help downtown businesses recover after an incredibly challenging past 18 months. Thinking about ways to encourage people to visit and enjoy our downtown is clearly a priority for the city. The Open SLO plan is an example of how quick and responsive our community can adapt and although it was in response to such a negative and impactful situation with COVID, it's now an opportunity for new beginnings and a new way for people to experience the downtown. The outdoor dining that's been set up is an added bonus to downtown. With our beautiful Central Coast climate, the ability to expand outdoor dining is a great addition to the downtown. But, starting from when the Open SLO plan was first introduced, my feedback has always been about equity of access and benefits for the different types of downtown businesses. The benefits of the outdoor dining plan provide restaurants with more capacity and so for restaurants that can absorb this extra capacity with kitchen production and staff, it's terrific. There's also clearly an added benefit to other downtown businesses when people come to dine. They might do some shopping before or after. They might go to the movies, get dessert, go to bars. But, there's also clearly trade-offs. Of course, parking being the most obvious. I've been on the Parking & Access Committee for Downtown SLO for the past four years and the perception that it's difficult to park downtown has been an issue forever. As a downtown business owner, I've spent a lot of time telling people that they can always find parking. They just need to leave themselves time to find a spot and be willing to walk a few blocks. However, we have customers that have just recently come back into the studio after more than a year and they have commented on the impact to accessing and parking downtown. For businesses' south of Chorro, the garages aren't as useful and so our customers want to find something within a 2-3 block radius. Of course, that will be solved once the Palm/Nipomo/Cultural District parking garage is finished but that's many years from now. The other impact are lanes being blocked by delivery trucks throughout the day. I've witnessed a few occasions where people have been blocked in parking spaces waiting for a truck to move. I've also seen all of Higuera being blocked with multiple delivery trucks lined up. While the experience of dining outside is pleasant, there has been a negative impact to parking and access to the downtown. Additionally, I don't believe much of our downtown can effectively support sidewalk dining without negatively impacting accessibility. While, I'm supportive of permanent parklets, the way in which this program is implemented is very important. Thoughtfully considering all of the details and how all types of businesses will be affected (positively and negatively), should be part of the implementation plan. In addition, communication and collaboration are key. I emphasize this point particularly because the recent rollout of the new parking pay stations, rate increases, and expanded enforcement hours which have been very problematic. The lack of communication, clear signage, delay of a mobile app, etc. has created friction for people visiting downtown. That should be something the city works hard to avoid but especially now at a time when businesses are struggling to recover from the pandemic. I would hate to see the same thing occur with implementing the Open SLO program. This should be something that demonstrates equitable benefits for all types of businesses or at the very least doesn't create disadvantages for some types of businesses. There are many more ways that people experience downtown than outdoor dining and those considerations are critical to this conversation. For our business, we have over 700 people visit our studio each week and pre-COVID that number was over 1,000. People often eat out, get coffee, and go shopping after taking a class. Retail, salons, and other personal care services bring a large number of people downtown and that will often lead to spending at restaurants, bars, and coffee shops. So, what are the ways in which the Open SLO plan can provide support and resourcing for someone coming downtown for shopping or self -care? It wouldn't be practical — like for dining —to bring these operations outside and into parklets. So, understanding that more parklets for outdoor dining will cause disruption, how can we balance the benefits to downtown while also considering the challenges? • Perhaps limiting the number of parklets per block. • Having guidelines around usage so unused parklets don't stay in place for months eliminating parking spaces for no reason. • Provide parking incentives/promotions/programs for customers coming downtown for shopping, self -care, professional services, etc. For example, maybe a quarterly Small Business Saturday that allows for a sidewalk sale for retailers. • Eliminating the curbside pick-up spaces that are still located throughout the downtown to open up more street parking. On this point, I've heard feedback that some of these spaces have been heavily utilized and so will remain permanently. How is "heavily utilized" defined? Will businesses in proximity to these spaces be able tc provide input? Additional considerations: • How will the downtown paving project planned for next year impact the Open SLO program? • Are there impacts to the cost for street cleaning or other downtown maintenance with parklets? If so, who will absorb those costs? • Given the impacts to parking and access to downtown, can we accelerate the construction of the Palm/Nipomo garage? Again, I believe the city did a good job of adapting quickly to get a program launched with the intention of helping downtown businesses survive. So, as this program moves forward into a more permanent part of our town, I would consistently ask what Open SLO means for people that are coming downtown other than to dine outside? And how does it benefit businesses other than restaurants? Thank you for reading and for considering my feedback. Please reach out with any questions or if I can provide any additional information. Kind regards, Steph Stackhouse Owner, The Center Studio + Boutique www.thecenterslo.com 805.903.2729 stephstackhouse@gmaiI.com