CITY OF SAN MATEO
City Council Special Meeting
May 2, 2022
5:30 PM
City Hall Council Chamber
330 West 20 th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
COUNCIL MEMBERS
Rick Bonilla, Mayor
Diane Papan, Deputy Mayor
Joe Goethals
Amourence Lee
Eric Rodriguez
AGENDA
THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD PURSUANT TO THE GOVERNOR’S EXECUTIVE ORDERS WHICH SUSPEND CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS OF THE BROWN ACT.
THIS MEETING CAN BE ATTENDED IN PERSON OR REMOTE BY JOINING ZOOM – SEE CODES BELOW.
PUBLIC COMMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED BOTH IN PERSON AND REMOTELY.
SEE END OF AGENDA FOR OPTIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MEETING.
To join via Zoom – click here: Monday, May 2, 2022 Zoom Meeting To join via telephone: (408) 638-0968
Webinar ID: 844 8348 9839 Passcode: 648638
CALL TO ORDER
Roll Call
STUDY SESSION
The public will have an opportunity to comment during the consideration of these items.
1. B Street Pedestrian Mall – Special Community Events
Provide feedback on a special community event series this fall in the Downtown on the pedestrian mall on B Street.
ADJOURNMENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ AGENDAS: Agendas and material are posted on the City’s website on the Friday preceding each Council Meeting and can be viewed on the City's website at www.cityofsanmateo.org . Any supplemental material distributed to the Council after the posting of the agenda will be made part of the official record.
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By Telephone - Call (408) 638-0968 and enter the conference ID found at the top of the meeting agenda. When the item of interest is open for consideration, select *9 to raise your hand. When called upon, press *6 to unmute, state your name and provide your comments.
In Person - Complete a “Request to Speak” form available before the meeting or submit a request at the speaker kiosk in the Council Chamber. 1 of 4
ACCESSIBILITY: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, those with disabilities requiring special accommodations to participate in this meeting may contact the City Clerk’s Office at (650) 522-7040 or [email protected]. Notification 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. 2 of 4
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CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 1 Section Name: STUDY SESSION File ID: 22-6029 TO: City Council
FROM: Drew Corbett, City Manager
PREPARED BY: City Manager's Office
MEETING DATE: May 2, 2022
SUBJECT:
B Street Pedestrian Mall – Special Community Events
RECOMMENDATION:
Provide feedback on a special community event series this fall in the Downtown on the pedestrian mall on B Street.
BACKGROUND:
Due to changing Federal, State, and County restrictions related to stopping the spread of COVID-19 virus, the City postponed hosting special community events in 2020 and in 2021 in the Downtown. As residents, businesses, nonprofits, and governments are slowly returning to normal activities, staff is proposing to host an event series in the fall and is seeking Council feedback. This report provides a short summary of the September Nights on B events series that was held in 2019 and requests Council input as staff begins planning for a second special community events series in the Downtown this fall.
September Nights on B
In 2019, the City hosted the September Nights on B Street event series on three consecutive Thursday nights on September 5th, 12th, and 19th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm on B Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. In order to host the event series, the block was closed to vehicles. The closed street was transformed into an open public space filled with tables, chairs, a music stage, a dance floor, a children’s play zone, a beer and wine tent, and community outreach booths.
The City hired live musicians for the event and each of the three evenings featured a different genre of music. In order to support the large number of foodservice businesses in the Downtown, participants were encouraged to order take-out from the Downtown restaurants and enjoy the live music and dancing each night.
All three nights of the event series were well attended. Staff estimated that there were approximately 1,000 attendees each night. The total cost to put on the September Nights on B series was roughly $120,000, or $40,000 each night. The City received $26,750 in sponsorships to offset event costs. The Downtown San Mateo Association provided the largest sponsorship at $25,000, and the remaining funds were provided by Kaiser Permanente and San Mateo City College. The City surveyed businesses on the block after the event series and received highly positive feedback from the majority of the businesses. The Chamber of Commerce hosted the beer and wine tent that was located on the block and used the event as a fundraiser to support its operations.
Proposed Community Event in the Downtown
Since 2019, there have been changes in the physical environment and in the work culture. With regard to the physical environment, B Street between 1 St Avenue and 3rd Avenue (2 blocks) is permanently closed to traffic. When the City hosted September Nights on B Street, it was held on one block with a large number of full-service restaurants. With the two blocks closed to traffic, there is the possibility of hosting the event on both blocks or alternating the event between the blocks. In 2019, staff heard from businesses along the event block between 2nd and 3rd Avenue that they experienced a 3 of 4
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bump in revenues on the event nights, however, businesses the next block between 1st and 2nd Avenues and elsewhere in the Downtown told staff that they did not experience a revenue increase on event nights.
The second change is that in 2019, there were a significant number of office employees in the Downtown, and the event series provided an opportunity for coworkers to socialize after work. However, many of the office users in the Downtown still have a large number of employees working remotely. It is not possible to know if there will be more office workers present this fall. The September Nights on B series also attracted families to attend, however, the City received feedback that some families found weeknights were difficult due to their children’s afterschool activities.
For the community event, the City will again engage with an event management company to help with the logistics, equipment rentals, and labor for the set-up and break down of the event. Additionally, City Manager’s Office and Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and Police Departments will be needed to assist with the event. Businesses located on the event blocks will need to temporarily remove any platforms or furnishings belonging to their businesses to accommodate the event. Staff will again rent tables and chairs that are open to all members of the public, regardless of whether they are dining at the restaurants on the street.
As staff starts to plan the 2nd community event in the Downtown, staff is asking Council feedback on the following questions:
Does the City Council want to host a special event series this fall on the pedestrian malls on B Street? Does the City Council want 1, 2, or 3 events?
Does the City Council want all of the events to be held on a weekday evening, weekend afternoon or both? Does the City Council want the event to be held on B Street between 2 nd and 3rd Avenues, on B Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues, on both blocks, or alternate the event on between the two blocks? BUDGET IMPACT:
The total cost for the September Nights on B Street was $120,254. Staff anticipates that the cost will be similar to or slightly higher than the 2019 cost due to inflation and potentially a larger event area. Staff will seek outside sponsorships to help off-set costs. Funding for a special event series has been included in the proposed fiscal year 2022-23 budget.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
This agenda item is not a project subject to CEQA, because the City Council is providing feedback to staff and is not taking action with regard to a specific project at this time. (Public Resources Code Section 21065.)
NOTICE PROVIDED
All meeting noticing requirements were met.
ATTACHMENTS
None
STAFF CONTACT
Jennifer Chen, Economic Development Manager
[email protected]
(650) 522-7009
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