Third Street construction plans for local businesses poorly executed
Aug 10, 2009
Third Street construction plans for local businesses poorly executed
Dear Editor,
My girlfriend and I have patronized Poppy's twice in the last two weekends as we believe in supporting local businesses when possible. The fact that they are an excellent establishment and contribute to the ambiance of the downtown is a significant draw for us as well.
As a landscape contractor, I understand the inconvenience that large construction projects can cause. We frequently remove the driveways and front walkways to our clients' homes during the course of a project, but we never leave them without adequate and safe access to their domiciles, particularly during non-working hours. Likewise for our commercial customers. Which is why I can't understand the apparent disinterest on the city's part to keep an established business viable during the construction of the Third Street Promenade.
I realize the city placed a sign on the sidewalk at the old liquor store entrance. On our most recent trip, as we approached from the south, this south facing sign, which by the way is no more than 36 inches tall, was obscured by a parked car. There was another banner sign on the roof facade of the city owned, old liquor store that was partially obscured, as a corner had folded over, presumably because of the wind, and only the letters PEN were visible from the street. I will go out on a limb here and assume (perhaps wistfully) that that sign says POPPYS IS OPEN, because the liquor store does not appear to be. So, since the blue sign is almost invisible from the southbound lanes across the median and easily hidden by a parked vehicle, this sign might as well be in the back of somebody's garage for all the good it does. Couldn't this blue sign be attached to a pole? It looked like quite a bit of money was spent on the curbs and paving for the new parking lot. Wasn't there any left for one single 10-foot length of galvanized pole and a bag of concrete? Or some rope to secure the banner on the roof?
The week before, none of the signs were visible and we actually walked through construction debris to get to their front door, with my girlfriend slipping in the gravel and almost twisting an ankle. Couldn't someone put a sign on the liquor store that says Poppy's is open and the entrance is around the back?
I think that at the least, the RDA or perhaps the city, should put the blue sign or a reasonably legible facsimile on a pole as well as one in the median for the benefit of those potential patrons approaching from the north know that Poppy's is indeed open and that there is a temporary entrance in the rear. Furthermore, it should be no big deal to make a portable sidewalk in sections, including a rail, that could be placed from the corner of the liquor store parking lot to the Times and Poppy's doors. The installation and removal of which could literally be done in minutes to accommodate the construction process. No need for structural engineering, we are simply talking about a little plywood, some two by fours and some nails. I'm surprised that our staff, as bright as they are billed to be, have overlooked these seemingly obvious, common sense solutions. I don't understand the disconnect between store front renovation subsidies (i.e., Fuzia) with public money and the haphazard signage provided to the business on the much heralded Promenade. If this is any indication of how the rest of the downtown revitalization goes, I shudder to think of the pain and destruction that awaits the other downtown merchants when revitalization casts its shadow over their establishments.
Perhaps the city should put themselves in the place of the proprietors, who have probably risked all their savings to invest in their business. I think they deserve much better from the city than the construction equivalent of barbed wire barriers. It is small businesses that will determine the success of the downtown. However, it appears that this city's policy is to pay people and businesses handsomely to leave the downtown rather than do the little things that will keep them there.
It is one thing to talk about revitalizing the downtown core as a concept and another to actually do it on the sidewalk as it were. It's not that all of the city's plans are necessarily bad, it's just that for some reason, they seem to be poorly executed. It seems to me that the city would want the existing businesses on Third Street to survive and prosper so that there will be something to actually do, or a reason to actually go to the Promenade. Unless of course there is an ulterior motive, like getting rid of an existing tenant, perhaps. Which, of course, would then make it look like an extremely well-executed plan and I would withdraw any negative inferences I may have previously made regarding staff's competence.
Frank Manocchio, Morgan Hill
Support Poppys, other downtown merchants during construction
Dear Editor,
I just want you all to know that it took me a very long time to find Poppy's. The sign is so small it was difficult to see from the street. Please help all of the downtown merchants survive the construction. We are very fortunate to have a fresh fishery in Morgan Hill and if they do not make it in Morgan Hill we lose a lot ... city revenue and more. They are good friends of the city and love it here.
Please get them a bigger sign or re-locate the one that is there.
Thanks, from a concerned citizen.
Joyce Peterson, Morgan Hill
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