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The city of Hollister brought business owners and community members together to discuss the permanence of parklets, downtown parking and business signage. The meeting was intended for the city to receive input from the community as it works to make changes to the parklet ordinance.
City Manager David Mirrione and Development Services Director Christine Hopper moderated the hour-and-a-half-long meeting on Oct. 17 held at the Veterans Memorial Building.
The meeting was requested by the City Council at its Aug. 7 meeting as a way of addressing concerns that had been expressed by the downtown merchants following a decision made by the San Juan Bautista City Council on April 18 to terminate its parklet program by Jan 1. 2024.
“The city council has not given staff any direction to disband the parklet program,” Mirrione said. “I want to just put that out there and be very direct about it.”
He went on to say that the city also wanted to address concerns about the Feb. 28, 2024, expiration of the COVID-19 Temporary Catering Authorization, which had allowed for alcohol sales in the parklets. He said that he had been in discussions with Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) and would be working with Hopper and her staff to find a permanent process that would allow for outdoor alcohol permits.
“I know that that’s probably a number one concern for some of you,” he said. “I wanted to address that because I know that for many of you in here, this is a key factor of your business and earning your livelihood.”
Toward the end of the meeting, however, San Benito County Supervisor Dom Zanger mentioned that an Oct. 10 amendment to the Business Pandemic Relief Act, Assembly Bill 1217, extended the temporary authorization for outdoor alcohol sales through July 1, 2026.
The discussion then turned to signage, with several business owners complaining about receiving notices of code violations, particularly for A-frame signs, and that code enforcement had, in some cases, not communicated effectively with them over violations.
Hopper clarified that there was a permit process for street signs like A-frames and distributed the appropriate form to the merchants to gain authorization. While Hopper said that the permit required a one-time payment of $200, several merchants pointed out that the form specified yearly payments. Hopper said she would look into the correct permit length.
There were also concerns from the merchants about restrictions on signage that limited their ability to identify their businesses.
Former county supervisor Peter Hernandez, the owner of Ohana Shave Ice, said that when the matter of signage was discussed with the Board of Supervisors, the idea had been to allow a certain level of customization so that each business would be able to apply its own branding.
“It was my understanding that the parklets would have signage on the front,” he said, “so that the customers can know what business is behind that parklet and increase its visibility.”
Kathina Szeto, the owner of San Benito Bene, brought up restrictions that would keep parklets from being decorated for Christmas. Mirrione said the problem with coming up with design standards in time for the holidays was just the process of getting approval.
“If I had it written today,” he said, “I wouldn’t be able to take it to the city council until our November 20th meeting. It needs a second reading, so call that into December. If it passes, then it takes 30 days to become an ordinance, and by that time, you’re in January.”
Mirrione said he was exploring ways that the current parklet ordinance could be “tweaked” to speed things up in time for the holidays.
Several merchants who do not have parklets also attended the meeting and brought up their own issues with the program. Max Gomez, owner of Only The Honorable Tattoos, said the parklets lined up on his side of the street have rendered his shop almost invisible to passing cars.
“People going down the street can see the restaurants and the bars,” he said. “But they can’t see me at all.”
Linda Lampe, the owner of Worth Saving Mercantile & Thrift Store, said that, for her shop, parking is a serious issue and that the city should consider reclaiming parklets that are not in use.
“There are 22 parklets, and most of them are great,” she said. “But each one takes up five parking places, which is 110 parking places worth of space. It’s costing us business. If you are not using your parklet, how do we get the spaces back?”
Hollister does have a free public parking garage near the corner of Fourth and San Benito streets. The structure has almost 200 parking spaces, with 24 of them to be reserved for the future tenants of the condominiums that are under construction next to the parking garage.
Mirrione said that he would be preparing a report for the City Council based on the comments of the participants and was hoping to have more conversations in the future to explore improvements in the parklet program.
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