‘This is about helping small businesses’

Advocates for establishing the pilot $50,000 program lauded the vision for refurbishing a commercial corridor which has struggled to keep pace with the glossy appeal of its sister shopping district along Burlingame Avenue.

Councilwoman Ann Keighran said she favored crafting the grant program as a means of incentivizing Broadway merchants to invest in preserving the aesthetics of their business.

“Broadway has struggled for a long time. And I do think if we can at least give a little bit of a nudge to start some of these improvements, and we can help go in that direction, I would hope down the road that they would make bigger tenant improvements,” she said, according to video of the meeting.

Mayor Donna Colson agreed the grants could be just the sort of program needed to revitalize Broadway businesses.

“To me, this is about helping small businesses, it’s about helping family-owned businesses and it’s about beautifying and creating a partnership in a unique way that particularly solves the issue for Broadway, as opposed to Burlingame Avenue.”

Under the approval from councilmembers, a $50,000 grant fund will be established by the city with a maximum of $10,000 available to businesses seeking financial assistance for facade improvements. Merchants must identify the projects they want to complete with the grant funding as part of the application process, and sums less than the $10,000 maximum available can be sought.

Support for the program was not unanimous, as Councilman Ricardo Ortiz voted against the grant fund with fears that solely making the money available to Broadway merchants was inequitable. More broadly, Ortiz expressed discomfort with offering public money to private enterprises.

“I still just have an ugly feeling about using city money to fix private property,” he said. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

In recognition of his concerns, Ortiz’s colleagues attempted to tweak the program’s design to prioritize allocations for merchants who volunteered to share the cost of facade improvements. Ultimately though their efforts were not sufficiently persuasive, and the amended program was approved by a 3-1-1 vote with Ortiz opposing and Councilman Michael Brownrigg absent.

For her part, Keighran recognized Ortiz’s concerns and expressed hopefulness that the altered application criteria would incentivize merchants to match a portion of the cost to beautify their businesses.

“That shows they have some skin in the game and then we just have to see how that goes over the pilot study program and we can always change it later,” she said.

Vice Mayor Emily Beach said she believes the program will be an asset for local businesses and residents hoping to enjoy a revitalized shopping scene.

“I think ultimately it is good for the community, we can help the Broadway businesses feel great about themselves and it will feel good for the community to just improve some of the looks where we can,” she said.

Beach also noted there is some money available to merchants through the Broadway Improvement District which can pay smaller sums to help with minor beautification efforts such as awning cleaning.

Meanwhile Colson said she believed in the merits of the city’s program and suggested if it is successful, it could be expanded to assist merchants in other shopping districts with similar needs.

“We’re going to do a pilot program, we are going to try to here, we are going to see how it works and if it is successful, then we can deploy it in other parts of Burlingame,” she said.

austin@smdailyjournal.com

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