Attachment 4 - Public Comment received from the Chamber of Commerce on May 31 2022Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce
10 Station Way, Los Gatos, CA 95030
losgatoschamber.com, 408-354-9300
May 27, 2022
Dear Council Members,
Thank you to the Town Staff - Laurel Prevetti, Chief Field, Monica Renn and Christina Hill for meeting
with us a few weeks ago to discuss our concerns about the new rules and restrictions imposed on the
Summer 2022 Promenade events. As you all know, we are discouraged with the final decision requiring
us to sell alcoholic beverages in designated beer gardens. This plan completely defeats the purpose and
does not at all honor the spirit or the intent of the “Promenades”. We tried to stress this concern to
staff, but no one seems to be listening. On February 15, the Council voted unanimously to give the
Chamber an ARPA grant in the amount of $120,000 to produce a series of Promenades that best
reflected last year’s events.
Thanks also to the Council members for meeting with us individually to listen to our concerns and
special thanks to Mayor Rennie for putting this item on the June 7th agenda.
We feel strongly that Council needs to discuss this topic in a public forum so our merchants, restaurants
and residents can weigh in with their thoughts. We believe the proposed constraints the staff has
imposed will hinder the spirit, intent and success of the event. The intent, as you know, was to create a
safe, COVID- friendly environment in which residents and visitors of all ages, were encouraged to walk
up and down the street patronizing merchants and restaurants and socializing, thus boosting economic
vitality.
To be collaborative and good stewards of the values in our community, we are open to entertaining
alternative solutions that will appease the staff when it comes to managing the alcohol and beverage
service at these weekly events. For starters, ABC rules have tightened since last year, so we must make
adjustments to comply.
My staff and I were also concerned about alcohol overconsumption and underage drinking last summer.
After the second Promenade, we hired LGMS police officers to ensure that the events were safe for all.
As our debrief notes reflect, we had very few complaints.
We shared with the staff our ideas for additional safety protocols for this year’s events. The ideas
included but were not limited to the following:
•check individual IDs and issue wristbands (ABC)
•sell alcohol (sold streetside) via token or ticket (ABC)
•sell no more than two beverages at a time (ABC)
•post volunteers at each event egress and ingress (ABC)
•post signage on How to Promenade so everyone understands the expectations – social media,
website, and day-of on site
•get a DEH permit as necessary
•end street side alcohol sales at 8 p.m. – one hour before end of event
ATTACHMENT 4
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce
10 Station Way, Los Gatos, CA 95030
losgatoschamber.com, 408-354-9300
After much deliberation with the Chamber Board and staff, stakeholders and the local ABC officials, here
are the two options we hope the Council will consider and discuss on June 7.
1. The entire event is one enclosed beer garden as it was last year (Main Street-Bachman).
Chamber agrees to follow all ABC rules and additional guidelines (as stated above), but
attendees will be able to move about and promenade freely. We anticipate 5-6 dispensing
points. This option also allows for off N. Santa Cruz restaurants the chance to participate. It
also equals the playing field for all and does not give any one business an unfair advantage.
2. The Chamber does not get an ABC permit. Restaurants must follow the ABC rules in
accordance with their licenses. Chamber will post signage explaining that open containers
are not allowed on the public street. As untrained lay people, we are not capable of policing
infractions if there are any. For all intents and purposes, choosing this option would make
the Promenades alcohol-free events.
Of course, we think it is in the Council’s best interest to go for option 1. This option will require more
staff and administration for the Chamber, but we are willing to do it for the benefit of our businesses
and for the enjoyment of our guests. This option preserves the integrity and spirit of last year’s events.
If the staff insists, and the Council concurs with their recommendation that we silo the event into beer
gardens, we will not do them at all.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to discussing these options and answering any questions.
Catherine, LG Chamber staff, LG Chamber Board