GILROY
– A downtown beautification project has merchants along the
Sixth and Seventh street block of Monterey Street worried about the
negative impact the construction is having on their businesses.
GILROY – A downtown beautification project has merchants along the Sixth and Seventh street block of Monterey Street worried about the negative impact the construction is having on their businesses.
Street crews are preparing for underground utility work along the east side of Monterey Street between Sixth and Seventh streets as part of Phase II of the Monterey Streetscape Improvement Project which began the first week of May. The sidewalk and parking spots have been removed to replace water and sewer lines and install storm drains.
ECONO Furniture, located on the corner of Sixth and Monterey streets, has lost 75 to 80 percent of its business since construction began, Owner Dan Taraghi said, and as a result he has laid off two full time employees.
“I’m on the verge of going bankrupt,” he said.
The business, which has operated in Gilroy since 1999, can no longer display large sale items along the street to attract passing drivers. ECONO Furniture continues to paint neon advertisements in the window facing Monterey Street and held a Father’s Day parking lot sale that was fairly successful. Despite these efforts, business is suffering, Taraghi said.
“When people see construction, they just move on,” said Matthew Modjtabavi, one of the store’s salesmen.
Construction is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. but varies daily. Businesses in the affected area include ECONO Furniture, Banning Upholstery, Predator’s Archery and Frank’s Barber Shop. Due to the underground utility work, storefront parking has been eliminated. ECONO Furniture and Frank’s Barber Shop lost more than a dozen parking spots along Monterey Street.
“No matter how much you advertise, some people will leave, and some people will try and figure out how to (park),” Modjtabavi said.
When ECONO Furniture approached Gilroy Traffic Engineer and City Project Manager Kristi Abrams, she ordered signs to direct drivers to the lot behind the store. They are due to arrive within a few weeks.
Other stores are also losing significant amounts of business.
“This is summer, and it’s usually busy,” Frank’s Barber Shop Owner Norma Heredia said. Her business is located at 7300 Monterey St.
On the first day of construction, her six scheduled appointments didn’t show up because they thought the shop was closed during construction, she said.
The only parking available is across the street and in a lot near Seventh Street. Merchants complain that half of the lot is usually taken up by the construction crew.
ECONO Furniture also brought these concerns to the city.
“(The owner) asked the city for some sort of compensation, tax reduction, paying half the rent, advertising, something, but they refused,” Modjtabavi said.
The company considered taking legal action against the city but said it would prove too expensive.
While Abrams understands ECONO Furniture’s frustration, she explained that the city is not liable for businesses’ loss of revenue.
“The city’s obligation is to work with them as much as possible,” Abrams said. “There is no obligation to provide funds. We have tried to work with them and it is directly a result of their concerns that we are doing additional notifications.”
Further, Abrams said it is illegal for the city – as a public entity – to compensate private businesses.
Abrams emphasizes the city is doing everything it can to work with the businesses. The city also added signs along the road stating that local merchants are still open for business during construction. Each week members of the city’s engineering division walk the street to speak with patrons, and the city plans to air a presentation on Gilroy’s Channel 17 to further inform the public about the Monterey Streetscape Improvement Project.
The project is in its second phase with the Seventh and Eighth street block on Monterey complete. The second phase is scheduled to take about three to five more months to complete, Abrams said.
“It’s a phenomenal project that will bring the energy downtown that is necessary to revitalize those businesses,” Abrams said. “When we began the project (in between Seventh and Eighth streets) there were just a handful of businesses. Now almost every building is occupied. It has really brought the business back to the area.”
Modjtabavi understands the project is supposed to improve the landscape, but he doesn’t think the parking situation will improve since the spots will be parallel instead of diagonal as before. They expect to be left with six spots – half as many as before.
Predator’s Archery Owner, Michael Pierce also has his doubt about the benefits of the project.
“For what I’ve lost (in revenue) it would be a long time before I see (the improvements) helping my business,” he said.
Others see the situation in a different way.
“I know it’s going to look nicer,” Heredia said. “It’s a small sacrifice.”
Some of the additions to the Sixth through Seventh street block include 12-foot travel lanes with left-turn lanes at intersections, 15-foot-wide decorative, textured sidewalks, 14-foot-wide landscaped median, decorative crosswalks and street trees.
