I know the city has an ordinance that limits what can be put on
the sidewalk in front of their business.
“I know the city has an ordinance that limits what can be put on the sidewalk in front of their business. I know it’s not a rack full of clothes, a baby buggy, a tent that limit the walkways for pedestrians on Monterey Road. It looks like little Baja down there.”
Red Phone: Dear Cluttered Up, The city does indeed have ordinances of what can be displayed in front of a store downtown. Limited merchandising is allowed in the Downtown Historic District and the Downtown Expansion District but is banned outside those areas, said Code Enforcement Officer Scott Barron.
“Street merchandising is an integral part of doing business in the core downtown” and “all downtown merchants should be able to enjoy this privilege,” the city’s zoning ordinance says.
The ordinance does set standards for what is allowed. Merchandise must not “detract from the business operations of other merchants.”
There must be a four-foot clear path around the merchandise being offered on the sidewalk. Items must be five feet from the curb and no more than three feet from from the building façade.
In addition, the merchandise can’t be higher than five feet off the ground. It can only be displayed during normal business hours. The merchandise has to be brought in when raining and cannot be covered.
Anyone who believes that a business is in violation of these requirements and wishes to file a complaint can call code enforcement at 846-026,Barron said.
Chamber heading for the border
“Why does the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce feel they should go outside of Gilroy to hold their Man and Woman of the Year event on Saturday? This year, they are holding the event at San Juan Oaks in Hollister. They should hold the event locally to support the Gilroy merchants and businesses.
Red Phone: Dear Buy Local, The decision to cross the border and head into the forbidden territory of San Benito to San Juan Oaks Golf Club, which is also a Gilroy Chamber member, is more a logistics issue than an ideological one.
It was a simple matter of trying to find a centralized conference room that could accommodate the 300 people expected into a banquet area that was centralized, said Gilroy Chamber President and CEO Susan Valenta.
“We would love to be able to keep the event here if there was a facility conducive to a large group,” she said. “Other large groups have had the same problem. And it’s too bad. We always want for people to keep their dollars local.”
There has been some initial planning to expand entertainment venues by groups such as the Gilroy Elks, and Valenta said the Chamber would certainly take a look at a place like that in the future.
