Downtown a priority for new Belmont mayor

“I want to really make sure we get this downtown created,” she said. “We’ve been talking about it for so many years and as mayor I have an opportunity — and it’s necessary — that I start getting out to businesses and have meaningful dialogue and get people excited about the downtown that we planned.”

Becoming mayor was a first for Hurt and it was also a first for Belmont — she is the city’s first woman of color to hold the position.

“When I became mayor a lot of people were amazed that it happened and supportive because of the changing demographics in our city. It’s definitely diverse,” she said. “But who I am is not just the color of my skin, but the ideas and values I believe in and there are many other people in our community with those same values and beliefs.”

A month into her new role, Hurt finds herself spending more time engaging the public and in meetings than she did as a councilmember and balancing her mayoral responsibilities with work and family has not exactly been a breeze, she said. Hurt is a single mother and a lawyer by trade with her own consulting firm and she also just took on a new role in the county courts.

“But so far being mayor has been really exciting,” she said. “For me it’s not about the power, it’s about the possibilities and letting people know that anybody can rise to this position and be a figurehead and a platform.”

Hurt moved to Belmont 14 years ago and was attracted to the city because it was affordable at the time, home to plenty of open space and conveniently located near San Francisco, San Jose and the East Bay via State Route 92.

She also saw room for improvement.

“I saw potential in the city to be quite honest, though I like the small village feel and I still think we can maintain it with thoughtful planning,” she said. “I’m excited about the possibilities of mixed business and housing opportunities, affordable housing opportunities and also making it such where our residents don’t have to go to neighboring cities to get the things that they need.”

As for what those specific businesses should be, Hurt is eager to hear from the community and consultants, but she was happy to see Dog Haus open a location on El Camino Real, for example, with a menu that wasn’t otherwise represented in Belmont and at a location that had been tricky for past occupants.

She’s also open to a tech company moving to the city.

“It wouldn’t hurt, especially when we talk about diversifying our revenue streams and some of the folks in our city now are in tech and startups,” she said, adding that a satellite office in Belmont could help take cars off of roads. “That’s the exciting thing about this council is that we’re open to businesses that have not typically been in Belmont.

“We definitely have a lot of people calling our community development director interested in when will the downtown plan happen, what’s going on with certain city-owned locations and can I plug in and play,” she added.

For Hurt, one next step to implementing the downtown plan is to work with Safeway to reposition the store closer to El Camino Real and underground the parking. Those conversations are only beginning, and she’s encouraged that the company at least appears open to the council’s vision.

Hurt’s vision for downtown includes “outdoor living rooms” as she described them, or public hangout spaces beyond restaurants, and placemaking and public art are also a big part of her plans.

“Placemaking is about art and right now Belmont is known as an art hub and I’m not sure why, though there are great artists here,” she said. “We need more public art around here and I see great opportunity for that.”

To make that happen, Hurt wants to see the city adopt an art impact fee for development. Such a fee is being researched and, while no number has been proposed, Hurt noted that other cities have adopted art fees of 1 percent.

For Hurt, the Twin Pines Park Master Plan is also central to the downtown vision.

“[The plan] is an anchor to the downtown and this new town center has to include this marriage between park and urban,” she said.

Hurt’s vision, which is largely shared by her council colleagues, represents more change than Belmont has seen in decades.

“Our interest in creating a downtown with great businesses and some housing — I think some people are afraid of what that looks like. We’re going to find a nice balance and remember there are a lot of needs we’re trying to meet in that grand picture,” she said. “But to me it’s a renaissance time right now and I don’t want us to miss the train.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 102