By Clarence Cromwell
Some employees and owners of downtown businesses appear wary of the town's proposed parking improvement plan; some merchants fear it will alter Los Gatos' rustic atmosphere and frustrate downtown employees.
Town officials want to charge 35 cents per half hour for parking in town-owned lots downtown, the lots that form a parking corridor between Santa Cruz and University avenues. Drivers could park free for their first 30 minutes at a town lot.
The town proposed the fees to pay for a $4 million parking garage and buy $900,000 worth of computerized equipment that would collect drivers' fees.
Holly Ilse, owner of a small women's sporting goods store called Nuance, said parking fees might drive shoppers away.
"I just don't like it," Ilse said. "It makes the town less charming, I guess."
Ilse, who works six days a week in her shop, said people might feel rushed--and spend less money--if they have to pay by the half hour to park.
"I want to make it as easy as possible for my customers to get to my store," Ilse said.
In addition to the hassles posed for customers, businesses employing teens for minimum wage expect parking fees to affect their workers as well.
Los Gatos Theater Manager Rachel Timberman said downtown employees shouldn't have to pay for parking.
The theater, which has no parking lot, sells out all 400 of its seats for a 7 p.m. show on a Friday or Saturday night, Timberman said. Most of its customers park in downtown lots, unless they park illegally in the theater loading zone.
Theater employees have trouble finding a nearby parking space if they don't arrive at work early in the day on weekends. They try to park in the long-term underground lot downtown.
"We're the reason people come here to shop or eat dinner or whatever," Timberman said. "A lot of us can't afford to pay where we work."
Timberman explained that her employees work part-time for $4.25 per hour and the occasional chance to watch free movies. To those employees, the $50-a-month employee parking permit suggested by town officials might seem expensive.
Teri Hope, owner of the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Company, said she might buy the parking permits for her employees, depending on what the town decides to charge.
She added that the town should set aside an uncrowded area for downtown employees, saving the most convenient spaces for customers.
Currently, some employees of downtown businesses bend the rules a little if they can't find a legal, long-term parking space close to work, Hope has noticed. Some move their cars after the two-hour limit on curbside parking expires. More inventive scofflaws use squirt bottles of water to remove the meter maids' chalk marks on their tires, giving them an additional two hours. Paid parking would eliminate parking enforcement in town lots, but not along the curbs of downtown streets.
In the meantime, Hope attempts to do as much business as possible with the limited parking near her shop. She said the company could draw more customers if more parking were available.
The Coffee Roasting Company made up for the lack of parking by expanding its hours to early mornings and weeknight evenings, by offering mail-order products and by selling coffee beans via the Internet.
Other business owners expressed fear that parking fees will change the town's quaint atmosphere and irritate customers.
The Los Gatos Downtown Association won't take a position on the parking issue, according to executive director Barbra Drizin-Toren, "because we're trying to be cooperative with the Chamber of Commerce. We like to let them take up the political clout on issues like that."
The Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, according to Linda Asbury, staff liaison to the parent San Jose Metropolitan chamber, reports that the local chamber board considers downtown parking a vital business issue and will take a position after further study.
Parking commissioner and downtown business owner Kurt Lemons concluded that a parking plan involving a few hassles still beats the current shortage of spaces.
"Nobody is going to want pay parking," said Lemons, owner of Upstream Flyfishing on Santa Cruz Avenue. "The bottom line is we need more parking here in the town. I don't think we're going to be driving anyone to Valley Fair because of paid parking."
The first public hearing on the parking proposal is set for June 17 at 7:30 p.m. in the council chambers, 110 E. Main St. For a copy of the staff report, or to get on the mailing list for updates, call 354-6876.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, June 5, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved