Officials continue to work on plans to sustain area when dust
settles
Gilroy – Jackhammers are pounding away, flatbed trucks are lugging in huge cement water mains and scaffolds are rising around a number of downtown buildings.
As ambitious efforts to breathe new life into the downtown proceed, Gilroy officials are working on plans to sustain the area after the dust has settled.
Last week, city officials unveiled plans for a two-pronged study: One analyzing the area’s economic potential as new businesses and homes crop up along the historic Monterey Street corridor; the other a study of parking management and future needs, the most frequently cited concern of downtown business owners.
“The economic and marketing analysis is going to help us define our niches,” said Gilroy Community Development Director Wendie Rooney. “What are the uses we should look to bring to the downtown area and how can we incentivize those?”
She predicted the analysis by Economic and Planning Systems, in Berkeley, would help the downtown avoid overlap with commercial shopping hubs east of U.S. Highway 101, while recommending businesses to complement major downtown projects such as the future arts and cultural center, planned for construction in the next four years at the corner of Monterey and Seventh streets.
City leaders credit an aggressive incentive program for spurring the downtown construction boom. Two years ago, officials decided to free developers from hundreds of thousands of dollars in up-front fees to generate interest in new construction or upgrades to dilapidated buildings. More than two dozen development proposals have streamed into City Hall in response. Rooney said the city could continue with many of the same incentives, such as waiving fees or loosening requirements on providing parking, but she predicted a narrower menu of incentives aimed at businesses deemed ideal for the area.
“We don’t want to give them away anymore,” Rooney said of the incentives. “You’re going to have to earn it.”
The city also has commissioned a parking management study to prepare for a growing number of vehicles as businesses and homes sprout up. The study is expected to include recommendations on whether to use parking meters or meter maids, places to create new parking lots, and plans to build a downtown parking structure.
Long-term parking shortages have been a constant concern among downtown business owners, many of whom are now struggling to survive a seven-month overhaul of streets and sidewalks along a two-block stretch of Monterey Street.
Steve Ashford owns Ashford’s Heirlooms in the heart of construction just north of Fifth Street. He fears that the parking study is too little and too late, pointing to the possibility of a major parking crunch as more than a half-dozen new and vacant storefronts look for tenants in the coming year.
“The whole thing with the parking should have been done over a year ago,” Ashford said. “They’re just now trying to figure out what to do with the parking. … They should have done this before the Streetscape ever started.”
Gilroy Chamber of Commerce director Susan Valenta had fewer concerns about a parking crunch near term, but she said the time has come for a detailed plan to avoid future problems.
She said the study by Hexagon Transportation Consultants, in Gilroy, should identify thresholds and feasible solutions, whether a plan to purchase a new lot or build a parking structure. In the meantime, Valenta views a bit of a parking squeeze as a sign of the downtown’s rebirth.
“Having trouble finding a parking space in downtown will actually be a good thing to a certain point,” she said. “We haven’t always had that luxury.”
The overhaul of Monterey Street and sidewalks between Sixth and Fourth streets is scheduled for completion by early November. The road is expected to re-open to traffic by August, though sidewalk construction will continue into the fall.
The economic and parking management studies are expected to undergo review by planning commissioners and city council members in October.
