GILROY
– If you want to have some say about the future of Gilroy’s
downtown, mark down these dates – April 1, 2 and 3 – or hold your
peace.
GILROY – If you want to have some say about the future of Gilroy’s downtown, mark down these dates – April 1, 2 and 3 – or hold your peace.
The City of Gilroy has announced its plans for a three-day community workshop to give all residents and business interests an opportunity to tell planners what improvements should come to Gilroy’s lagging downtown. The session will be held at the Strand Theater, 7588 Monterey St.
In addition to its media announcement, the city will run reminders of the sessions on Channel 17 and it will publish flyers that grocery stores and downtown businesses can post on their front windows. The city may also mail flyers to residents within their water bills.
“We’re trying to blanket the community and get all the stakeholders involved,” said Planning Division Manager Bill Faus. “Every conceivable issue involving the downtown we want brought to the table.”
Results from the three-day session will be analyzed in a report by the city’s downtown consultant RRM Design Group.
The report will be presented to a special task force set up months ago to draft a Specific Plan for the downtown.
The Downtown Specific Plan will be the planning document that guides future land use decisions by City Council and other city officials. It will be aimed at revitalizing a Monterey Street that has seen better days. The Specific Plan could include such things as streetscape improvement goals and zoning rules that determine what kinds of businesses and residences can set up downtown.
Some say the city’s emphasis on big box retail development and the growth of other non-Monterey Street commercial development has sucked the life out of downtown. Others say the historic downtown simply needs help transitioning into a safe, walkable entertainment district with restaurants, coffee shops and specialty retail stores.
The workshops are part of a four-month survey RRM Design Group will conduct to gauge the community’s hopes and expectations for downtown. RRM Design Group will be paid $15,000 for this work. The firm also has landed an $80,000 contract from the city for consulting on the Specific Plan.
“(The April meetings) are part of a visioning process for downtown that will get things rolling for the next step,” Faus said. “This is a way to begin the Specific Plan process without delay.”
