Editorial

The plan should include new garage, validation

The plan to introduce paid parking downtown offers a sensible way to address the district's parking and peak season congestion problems, even if no one seems entirely happy with it.

Downtown business owners, residential neighbors, town staff and the Town Chamber of Commerce have worked hard to hammer out compromises that will encourage business vitality without making life miserable for those who live in Los Gatos' historic neighborhoods.

For years, Los Gatans have been talking about the parking problem downtown. For years, solutions have been sought and ultimately abandoned. This is the first time there has been so much community participation, a paid consultant, a workable model plan and town commitment to dedicate resources to reaching consensus.

When the plan goes to the town council July 17, council members must not lose sight of how much effort and compromise have gone into the proposal. Everyone is sharing the cost. Residents as well as businesses.

It is a well thought out, workable plan to consider, and the council should pass it as the foundation of an integrated solution, which must include a validation plan and garage.

Because the plan's purpose is ostensibly to better manage existing parking, the proposal going to the council will not spell out that paid parking should provide a revenue stream for parking garage construction. If the council adopts the plan--and it should--it must leave no doubt that revenues will be used to expand the parking inventory.

That was the intent of the downtown community parking task force, and the town must deliver more parking spaces for visitors and residents alike who will now have to pay to park downtown--and receive tickets when street meters expire.

When people wonder why they have to put up with the annoyance of metered parking, there must be an answer that makes sense and assures them that the parking situation is improving.

Although those who have worked on the plan say it is flexible and can be changed if parts of it don't work well, the council needs to include a validation program to avoid putting anyone out of business, particularly the Los Gatos Cinema, a town treasure.

It is a historic and cultural landmark in town, as well as an economic anchor that draws customers to the business district, and in doing so, helps keep the town's tax base healthy.

A small theater (that has not been converted to a bookstore, a dance club or a Burger King, as has happened in Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, downtown San Jose and Willow Glen) on the main street helps give Los Gatos the character of a traditional American town center, a welcome contrast in a world of sprawl, malls and cineplexes.

It would be a terrible irony if the end result of the parking plan was to drive out owner-operated small businesses and encourage the proliferation of big chains, with deep pockets.

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