Los Gatos Weekly-Times Chamber lands on free parking By Jeff Kearns Downtown businesses got an early Christmas gift from the town this year. At an emergency meeting Nov. 23, councilmembers volunteered to pick up the tab for valet parking during the holiday rush. And it's going to be free to shoppers. Councilmembers passed an impromptu resolution allowing town manager Dave Knapp to spend up to $15,000 from a reserve account to hire a valet parking service. Councilmembers also approved a long-term lease of the bus depot lot at 141 S. Santa Cruz Ave., which town staff are betting could bring in as much as $2,000 per week. Knapp said at least one downtown property owner is intent on leasing the property. Cars will be parked on the bottom level of the Lot 4 parking structure, with drop-off points set up at either end of that garage. Knapp said he could probably get bids from at least two companies within a few days. The valet service is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m to 8 p.m., and will conclude on Dec. 24. "I'm so pleased to see the council and the business community working so closely together with a special meeting," Domus owner Margaret Smith said. "I think it will help all the merchants at Christmas and help the residents by giving them an opportunity to shop." Smith added that her customers have been complaining about endlessly circling downtown looking for a spot. Sheri Lewis, executive director of the Town of Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, was also excited to see the town pitch in to help solve the parking problems. "It's the best possible solution," she said. The bottom level of Lot 4 has about 150 spaces, but valet parkers could pack in as many as 200 cars. Chamber of Commerce officials hope that the extra 50 spaces freed up by valet parking will combine with their own parking program to keep downtown from turning into a traffic nightmare during the busiest shopping days. The Chamber is still pushing its Parking Partners Program, encouraging employees to park in underused public lots and in the neighborhoods to open up more spaces downtown. The Chamber is asking employees to park on Miles Avenue on the other side of Los Gatos Creek, the park-and-ride lot on Highway 9 and in the Edelen and Almond Grove areas. Although formal letters haven't gone out to businesses and residents yet, Lewis says it's already starting to pay off, and she's already seen an improvement at Lot 4. Employees are also being asked to place cards on their dashboards identifying them as employee parkers. The cards should have phone numbers, Lewis says, to identify participants in the program, to give residents a way to contact employees if there is an emergency and to implement the reward system, in which businesses donate items that will be given at random to employees parked in the target areas. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 2, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.