Attachment 3From: MyHanh Pham [mailto:thaomy999@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2018 5:16 PM
To: Monica Renn
Subject: Hanna Bistro : 133 North Santa Cruz Avenue
Dear Monica,
As a business owner in downtown Los Gatos, I am writing to
request and encourage your assistance in bringing immediate
change to town municipal code Sec. 29.10.150. (b) (the“Statute”).
The Statute provides a linkage between available parking spaces
and restaurant (or business) seating capacities. While the statute
attempts to address the important goal of traffic management for
the downtown corridor, it has two significant shortcomings that are
causing harm:
First, in linking business occupancy to parking the outdated Statute
fails to account for the changing transportation patterns in our
community. Today, a large volume of people either walk
downtown to the Central Business District C -2 Commercial Zone
from nearby residences, or they use ride sharing services as a
means of transportation for nights out. Tying seating occupancy
solely to parking fails to account for or accommodate the needs of
all of these patrons who arrive by other means.
Second, the statute, as it is written, does not provide an efficient or
reasonable method whereby business owners can petition for
exemption or variance from the Statute’s application. This lack of
alternate remedy leaves us as a community without means to
adapt to variations in circumstances, or evolving community
patterns, and risks creating an unfair anti-competitive
environment.
These flaws in the Statute have directly impacted my business and
are illustrated in my experience:
Five years ago I took over an abandoned, derelict space and
transformed it into a popular dining establishment. The
community enthusiastically embraced us and today, we have a
many regular, returning patrons who live nearby; often walking
over to have a bite.
At opening, our seating capacity was restricted by the Statute and a
twenty-year-old conditional use permit (“CUP”) previously issued
to a long-gone high-turnover restaurant. Pursuant to the CUP and
Statute, I was allowed to seat only 11 guests.
The building housing my restaurant contains two other restaurants
of equivalent size. They have greater parking space allocation but
otherwise comparable footprints. All of us pay rent based on
square footage. All of us operate similarly. But whereas I am
limited to 11 seats, my competitors CUP’s permit 36 and 45 seats,
respectively because of their greater parking allocations. This puts
me at a substantial competitive disadvantage and threatens the
longer-term viability of my restaurant.
I am writing here to request your assistance and ask you to work
with the other Council Members to legislate an amendment to the
Statute that updates the parking/restaurant seating linkage to i.
better reflect our changing transportation patterns and/or ii.
modify the existing language to provide for an efficient, timely and
reasonable exception process so small businesses like mine can
compete on a fair and equal basis with other restaurants in the
same Commercial Zone.
Thank you for your consideration and assistance.
Warmly,
Hanna Pham
Owner/Executive Chef
Sent from my iPad
From: Alexander Hult <alexander_hult@hotmail.com>
Date: March 16, 2018 at 9:32:21 AM PDT
To: Monica Renn <mrenn@losgatosca.gov>
Subject: Re: Policy Committee Update
Thank you for the update! I think the council are pretty aware of what I think is best for our town
but I will bullet point the main points here.
Parking
-build parking garage
-3 zones to better utilize what we have
-encourage shared parking. Make it easy
Permit/CUP
-set easy guidelines and follow them
-deregulate
-seats to fire code(will not increase seats in restaurants but simplify enforcing
-same rules for everyone
-let staff handle decisions and let council focus on more bigger picture
Vibrancy
-pilot for Main Street to be one way street on weekends over the summer
-bulk encroachment permit for stores to display their products on the sidewalks
-restaurants bleed out on the sidewalk where possible.
-pilot park-lets. Oak & Rye and a few more (spelling?)
-campaign that Los Gatos is open for business and gearing up our historic downtown to battle
competition from m40. Fill up all the empty stores. Flowers. Events. Create a buzz
With remodel underway in Burlingame I’m not positive I can make the meeting but will try.
I will be happy to take any questions over email or phone.
Alex Hult
Flights Restaurants - Founder
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce - Past President