In a week or two, the town will remove the two 90-minute parking signs on Villa Avenue behind the Soda Works Plaza and return it to unlimited timed parking. It will also increase the time limit on parking along E. Main Street between Pageant Way and College Avenue from one to two hours.

"There are no public street spaces with unlimited parking at this end of town," parking coordinator Carol Musser said as to why the town decided to remove the 90-minute signs.

In addition to the two approved changes, Sallie Robbins-Druian, owner of The French Cellar at 32 E. Main St., asked the town to change the 30-minute parking space in front her business to 15 minutes and to add another 15-minute space in front of Caffé Siena. Robbins-Druians represents the businesses in the Soda Works Plaza.

"Two out of three [requests] is great," she said.

The town did not grant Robbins-Druian's last request for 15-minute parking spaces, since that is inconsistent with the 30-minute green zones throughout the downtown, Musser said. However, she said, "we're going to continue looking at where we need to place these green zones."

Olive Zone—roughly bordered by Church and Jackson streets, Villa Avenue and Pageant Way—is the only one of the six colored zones identified for the downtown area that has gone into effect. Enforcement of the zones would mean that people whose time limit is up at a parking space cannot move their cars to another space within the same colored zone for the rest of that day.

The idea behind the parking management program is to encourage people who plan to spend a longer period of time downtown to park in one of the free lots so as to open up parking spaces directly in front of stores for customers making a quick stop in the area.

The implementation of the Olive Zone in December 2002 brought about additional restrictions for that area, including new permit parking along some streets. Merchants within the Olive Zone can purchase employee permits for their staff at a rate of $25 per month or $200 annually per permit. Employees working for the same business can share a permit if they work different shifts, Musser said.

Nevertheless, Tapestry owner Gary Messick said, "In this economic climate, it's difficult for businesses to finance that parking permit." Since many of the roughly 20 people he employs work part-time, they can't afford to pay for their own permits, and having the business owner pay for several permits is costly, Messick said.

"The employees end up parking [further] and walking or more often than not, they take up a parking space in the lot meant for customers," he said.

Robbins-Druian, who has spoken out against the colored zones since the parking management program was in its conceptual phase, made another plea for changes after the town council discussed postponing plans to implement the other colored zones last month.

"Now that the program is on hold, but in effect in the Olive Zone, those of us in Soda Works Plaza and on East Main ... do not wish nor do we think it fair to be the only section of the business community that must be under these impossible color zone rules," Robbins-Druian wrote in a letter to the town two days after the May 5 council meeting.

According to Musser, the town has received positive feedback from businesses having to adhere to the parking program. The Olive Zone must be enforced to balance the parking demands of the business community and those of Los Gatos High School, she said.

"It has met the needs of a lot of merchants here," Musser said. "The program has worked."