San Bruno meter money stirs merchant interest

One of those merchants is Rebecca Molano of One Love Cafe, a business that will soon open on San Mateo Avenue. Molano said she heard through the merchants there is a beautification plan for the downtown but it hasn’t progressed. Molano asked the City Council to implement a policy to require the revenue generated from the meters be used to update downtown.

“We ask that the council put the policy into writing. There seems to be a lack of trust in my short time here from what I am gathering between the public and the City Council,” Molano said. “I personally am trying to organize the business owners a little bit more so that we can liaise and try to come to a better understanding so things can move forward,” Molano said.

Molano’s energy, ambition and voice is what the downtown merchants need, Sadana Traxler, the owner of San Mateo Avenue thrift store Twice as Nice, said Wednesday.

“We need the city’s support, we haven’t had one street event on the avenue this year, Posy Parade was moved and community day I’m not sure why that didn’t even happen,” Traxler said. “We need some consistency and some support from the downtown and I know merchants are looking to move elsewhere and we [Twice as Nice] don’t want to move. We love this city.”

It’s a battle Traxler has been fighting for years, she said and she believes downtown merchants are ready to work together to fight for improvements and support through a business association.

Mayor Rico Medina said he supports, welcomes and believes a downtown business association would be beneficial.

“There used to be a member association from each block that worked together, had a voice together and it really did make a difference back then,” Medina said.

The city is committed to its downtown, Medina said, adding it is the reason it bought the Wells Fargo building years ago, which is now where Centennial Plaza is located. Medina said he understands the merchants’ concerns and believes the concept of the parking money is to reinvest it back into the downtown, although he said it’s nothing set in stone.

“It’s not a guarantee, but there’s an understanding that money should be used in some capacity for downtown improvements,” Medina said.

Both Councilmember Marty Medina and Vice Mayor Tom Hamilton previously stated they support the revenue to be reinvested downtown.

There hasn’t been any street events on San Mateo Avenue this year and with the city’s new Recreation and Aquatic Center nearing completion and plans to develop the Shops at Tanforan into a mixed-use housing and retail oasis, Traxler is concerned the focus of the downtown will fall to the wayside and visitors will stop coming.

The city projects it could generate around $2.67 million to $3 million of annual revenue from the parking meters. It currently makes around $55,000 a month in parking citations.

“The city is going to be making money off of parking meters from visitors that our businesses are drawing in. I think it’s fair to reinvest back into the downtown,” Traxler said. “There is no uniformity on the [San Mateo] Avenue and we need to clean it up and it wouldn’t cost that much, it just needs to be planned, organized and executed.”

Traxler wants trees to be planted, public art and events to bring the community downtown, she said.

Molano echoed her comments and added she hopes issues that concern the merchants will also spark concern from the city’s residents.

“I see it as an issue bigger than a merchant issue, there seems to be a disconnect with the community as a whole,”Molano said. “Part of bringing the community together could be using the downtown as a community space.”

nick@smdailyjournal.com

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