April 26, 2022
San José City Council
City of San José
200 E. Santa Clara Street
San José CA 95113
Comments for Item 8.3 File 22-636 – The Future of San Pedro Square and Post Street Dear Mayor Liccardo, Vice Mayor Jones and Councilmembers:
We are writing in appreciation and support of Councilmember Peralez’s memorandum directing city staff to fully convert the existing Al Fresco closure of San Pedro Street to a permanent closure, and to begin a weekly closure of Post Street beginning in the summer. We also support design guidelines that provide direction in maintaining consistent aesthetic and operations frameworks for local business owners.
SPUR believes that vibrant and permanent slow streets and outdoor dining initiatives are critical to the continued vitality of small businesses and the neighborhoods they serve, as well as helping make San José more livable, equitable and sustainable. We thank Councilmember Peralez for taking this first step to transition from COVID-related emergency declarations that were a lifeline for local businesses during the uncertainties of the pandemic, into more permanent solutions that acknowledge the program’s successes in the economic recovery of the city as well as in the activation of public streets and spaces.
We recognize that the path forward to permanent solutions will require time and investment from multiple city departments, as well as the active engagement of local businesses, advocacy, and community groups. The co-creation of a vision and best practices for how the Al Fresco program can grow and expand in the future to benefit all communities throughout San José will set it up for long-term success.
In light of this long-term process, there are a few things that SPUR recommends to support and build on Councilmember Peralez’s memorandum:
● Active stakeholder engagement on the best path toward permanent closures and outdoor dining solutions for private and public spaces.
The current memorandum asks for the permanent closure of San Pedro Square, one of the most successful and popular street closures in San José, and the weekly closure of Post Street in Downtown. This is a key opportunity to engage with local businesses, community groups, and other stakeholders on existing issues with the current temporary program, and the best path forward to address concerns about building codes, fire safety, and traffic regulations.
● Al Fresco is a citywide program and stakeholder engagement must include all council districts.
While the focus of the original memorandum is on San Pedro and Post Streets, let us not forget that Al Fresco is a citywide program. Small businesses in all council districts took advantage of the program and continue to do so. Furthermore, this is not just about streets and sidewalks. To the delight of residents throughout San José, private parking lots across the city were also used for outdoor business operations and for a variety of activities. City departments and staff have the opportunity to build on the successes of San Pedro and Post Streets to inform next steps in the citywide program. ● Ongoing development of best practices and reasonable design guidelines to provide clarity for local business owners, and maintain consistent aesthetic and operations throughout the city.
The temporary nature of Al Fresco COVID-related declarations and extensions have led to the creation of impermanent structures and street activations due to uncertainties about the program’s future. The evaluation of local and regional practices must lead to reasonable design guidelines that provide clear direction on consistent operations for the city.
4/26/22, 4:10 PM Mail - Agendadesk - Outlook
https://outlook.office365.com/mail/[email protected]/inbox/id/AAQkADUxOWI4ZjE3LTRkNDEtNGUzMS04MjAwLTIzNzdiYTdkMjc5NAAQA… 1/1 04/26 CC Meeting Item 8.3 Support CM Peralez's Memo on Future of San Pedro Square & Post Street
Julia Howlett
Tue 4/26/2022 3:22 PM
To The Office of Mayor Sam Liccardo <TheOfficeofMayorSamLiccardo@ anjo eca gov>Di trict1 <di trict1@ anjo eca gov>Di trict2 <Di trict2@ anjo eca gov>Di trict3 <di trict3@ anjo eca gov>Di trict4 <Di trict4@ anjo eca gov>Di trict5 <Di trict5@ anjo eca gov>Di trict 6 <di trict6@ anjo eca gov>Di trict7 <Di trict7@ anjo eca gov>Di trict8 <di trict8@ anjo eca gov>Di trict9 <di trict9@ anjo eca gov>Di trict 10 <Di trict10@ anjo eca gov>Agendade k <Agendadesk@ anjo eca gov> [Some people who received this message don't often get email from Learn why this is important at http://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification.] [E ternal Email]
Dear Mayor and Councilmembers,
I am writing in support of Councilmember Peralez s proposal on the Future of San Pedro Square and Post Street. Since the COVID 19 pandemic began, the closure of these streets has proven to be a lifeline to our local businesses and enhanced the vibrancy of Downtown San José.
Closing these streets to vehicular traffic allows for more pedestrian activity and refocuses our public right of ways on people first. I ask that you approve Councilmember Peralez s proposal on permanently closing San Pedro Square and weekend closures for Post Street. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Julia Howlett
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