HomeMy WebLinkAboutZoning Update - Meyer 03/05/2018
Purrington, Teresa
From:Eric Meyer <frenchbicycles@gmail.com>
Sent:Monday,
To:Advisory Bodies
Cc:Davidson, Doug; rob@rossi-ent.com; Nick Tompkins; Ermina Karim; Johnson, Derek
Subject:Planning Commission, Zoning code update, downtown commercial zoning rethink
Hello commissioners
As regards your zoning code update.
What if we required retail only along the "edges" of each block along the ground floor… and allowed office based uses
(i.e. web based companies) to take up the interiors of each block on the ground floor?
Several things are occurring in our society that lead me to want to re-think our downtown commercial zoning code
language… to keep our downtown vibrant with new retail start ups while simultaneously encouraging new web
businesses to relocate into our downtown core.
1) Retail is becoming more experiential. People are buying less stuff and instead focusing on the now… an
experience. Older traditional retailers are being replaced by experiences, aka restaurants, bars, coffee shops, gyms,
yoga, etc.
2) Mail order is also making inroads into traditional retail… stealing away some percentage of business from brick and
mortar.
3) Average retail store sizes are are becoming smaller.
Simultaneous to this we see expansion of web retail, web development, and web based services in general. Major web
businesses are essentially taking over some portion of the space that retail used to represent.
There is only so much space downtown… and only so much "retail" that can make it. Our zoning code currently doesn't
allow office type uses in our downtown on the ground floor. We need to rethink this. Only allowing the office uses on
the interior of each block would keep the pedestrian sidewalk experience vibrant… while not requiring the "retailer" to
lease such large square footages. importantly… the the interior should also still be available for larger retailers.. a dual
zone.
The retailers could mainly occupy the sidewalk edge.. and in maybe 40 feet from the sidewalk. but behind them… we
could optionally allow more office type functions in newly created spaces.
Companies like Amazon, Apple, Microsoft etc… all have to have huge campuses in areas like San Jose or Seattle… and
cannot offer their employees the downtown experience that many of them desire. These employees don't want to work
out by the airport… they want to walk to lunch, to the coffee shop etc. This only happens in a downtown… not in a
business park. So they build satellite offices to keep the best and brightest happy and keep them… rather than lose
them to startups in better small town locations. These corporate satellite offices are in boulder, lawrence kansas, Austin
Texas etc… places with fun downtowns. WE NEED TO ENCOURAGE THEM HERE!
This is why Amazon is here. They wouldn't be in San Luis if they had to be out by the airport… because their employees
have plenty of options for working in business parks like that in San Jose etc. We got Amazon here because we got them
downtown… period.
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Currently we only have so many places downtown where this type of business can operate. This is kind of a fail IMHO.
I understand that we prevent this from happening on our ground floors downtown because it sucks the life out of the
pedestrian experience… so that is why I suggest we reconsider this so as to only keep the retail on the edges… and allow
all those new jobs to form within the core of each block… and on the second floor etc. This will simultaneously allow
retail to have the smaller spaces it requires… to stay alive.
The third floor and up… should still be housing.
In general… the information age has employees staring at screens. Whether you are selling insurance, selling real estate,
designing buildings, or writing code… you are doing the exact same thing really… sitting in a chair staring at a
screen. According to most data… people working in this manner don't need a window to a view… they would rather be
able to quickly get out to the city on their break than be able to stare out the window to a view but be in a business
park. So interior spaces are ok in the information age for people in cubicles.
Consider the concept that within our downtown commercial… we allow office uses in the interior of each block… to
encourage smarter web companies to create satellite offices here. The jobs associated with programming etc for these
companies are all 6 figure jobs… typically 160 and up. In order to replace the losses of the jobs from Diablo… we need to
encourage high paying jobs downtown… so as to attract these larger internet based companies.
I believe zoning thoughts such as this would reinvigorate the downtown and allow even more retail… because each
individual retail space could be smaller. This would actually encourage more smaller boutique shops and support the
incubation of new concepts in retail.
Cost per square foot will keep out the "phone banking" companies… like Mind Body… who's salaries are 40-60k
average. The cost per square foot to house jobs for 150-200k per year programmers and designers can support a retail
square footage price point.
These folks also will want to live and shop and eat within close proximity to their jobs…. they will support the shops
around them.
Thanks
Eric Meyer
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Eric Meyer
frenchbicycles@gmail.com
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