Forum outlines difficulties businesses will face during 10-month
construction project
Gilroy – Officials briefed dozens of anxious downtown building owners and business people Tuesday on the “growing pains” they face as Gilroy’s historic core lurches into the future.
The two seminars represent the second round in a series of downtown forums organized by Mayor Al Pinheiro. In addition to the mayor, various city officials detailed upcoming renovations along Monterey Street and outlying areas, policies intended to sustain development interest in the downtown, and the city’s plans to help businesses survive an era of jackhammers and construction cranes.
An aggressive marketing campaign that includes a new Web site (www.downtowngilroy.com) tops the list of strategies. Businesses hope the campaign will help lure customers to Monterey Street next year during a 10-month construction period between Fourth and Sixth streets.
In the long-term, officials hope to revive a Business Improvement District to support downtown services. The BID, as it is known, would require downtown businesses to tax themselves to support long-term programs benefiting the area.
Pinheiro has placed downtown renewal at the top of his agenda and has made a point of bringing the city’s plans to the people, hoping to win converts among skeptical business owners.
Officials explained the city’s plans to extend improvements planned for Monterey Street, including new sidewalks and lighting, to side streets and to Railroad Street in coming years.
“I hope you’re getting excited with all this information,” Pinheiro said to attendees lining the conference room at the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce. “I want you to take a walk in your own mind through downtown two years from now,” he asked. “You’re going to see a downtown safer for people to walk in, to put tables out in front of restaurants, a place that really is the heart of the community.”
The mayor’s enthusiasm has infected many residents, including downtown stakeholders, but many remain cautious about the changes ahead.
Steve Ashford, owner of a downtown building where he operates an antique business, is fighting a battle on two fronts. In addition to a 10-month road closure in front of his store, Ashford is one of several dozen building owners facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in renovations to bring his building up to earthquake-safety codes.
“Not all of us are rich,” Ashford told Pinheiro. “Some of us are just trying to survive.”
He expressed frustration at the $400,000-plus in upgrades called for by a city-approved engineer, saying the figure far exceeded his own engineer’s estimate.
“You can’t tell us you need our help, and then send us to the sharks,” Ashford said.
Pinheiro acknowledged Ashford’s concerns and asked him not to get discouraged – the city plans to devote another session to help resolve issues of owners of unreinforced masonry buildings.
Pinheiro did not sugarcoat the challenges ahead, saying that “nothing ever gets done if you don’t go through some pains.”
But he encouraged business owners to get involved in the revitalization process.
“We can’t make this work,” he said, “unless you buy into it.”
