2026-11-04 - Economic Development Committee Special Meeting

02:02Mhm.

03:01>> Welcome to the Economic Development

03:03Committee. This is Wednesday, November

03:054th, 2026.

03:08Clerk, community girl.

03:10>> Councilmember Lu?

03:11>> Here.

03:12>> Chair Rachal?

03:13>> Here.

03:13>> Vice Mayor Stone?

03:15For the record, two present.

03:17>> Okay.

03:21Okay, first item is in-person public

03:24comment. This is on anything that's not

03:27on the agenda, but under the purview of

03:29this committee.

03:31>> There are currently no in-person general

03:34public comment requests to speak.

03:36>> Okay, we'll move into action items.

03:38Action item one is recommendation City

03:40Council to amend entertainment zone

03:42ordinance to establish an enter-

03:44entertainment zone on Ramona Street.

03:47Alex, you'll be taking this.

03:49>> I [clears throat] will. Good afternoon,

03:50Alex Andrade, Economic Development

03:52Manager, Assistant to the City Manager.

03:54Thank you, and as our chair just

03:56indicated, today's item is related to

03:59the proposed entertainment zone on

04:01Ramona Street. So, we will go to the

04:04next slide. This will be a brief

04:06presentation and of course we'll be

04:08available for any questions. So, the

04:11state enacted Senate Bill 969 which

04:14allows for cities across the state to

04:17establish an entertainment zone.

04:19And I want to be very specific about

04:21what that entertainment zone can do and

04:23that's specifically talking about sale

04:25of alcohol to be consumed outdoors

04:27within a geographic area that's defined.

04:31And so, we're talking about public

04:32right-of-way, streets, sidewalks, plazas

04:35and the purpose really is to try to

04:38invigorate business districts and bring

04:40more people to our

04:42our downtown and or Cal Ave for example.

04:45So, we're really looking at community

04:47driven driven events to support

04:49business, a festive atmosphere and again

04:52to spur economic vitality. There are two

04:54things that the city must do to comply

04:57with Senate Bill 969. Number one, as I

05:00just mentioned, the ordinance and that's

05:02really that's the regulatory component.

05:05The ordinance which already exists

05:07because the city council approved a Cal

05:10Ave specific entertainment zone. So,

05:13that ordinance again has to define the

05:15geographic boundaries and the operating

05:17hours. And of course we must consult

05:19with law enforcement for any

05:23public health and safety related

05:25concerns and speak about mitigating any

05:28of those factors.

05:29Next slide, please.

05:33So, just as a reminder on March 18th,

05:35the staff was before you and that was

05:38that item was specifically for the Cal

05:40Ave

05:42entertainment zone. At that particular

05:44meeting, the committee indicated that

05:47staff would have flexibility to expand

05:49the entertainment zone to the closed

05:51portion of Ramona Street after staff

05:53conducts

05:55Ramona Street merchant outreach. We have

05:57been doing that

05:59through a variety of ways, in-person

06:01consultations, emails, uh calls and

06:05really the business engagement has

06:07resulted in a variety of thoughts about

06:09the actual proposed entertainment zone

06:11on Ramona Street.

06:13We certainly have received uh comments

06:15about support for specifically from

06:18businesses in the food and beverage and

06:20some retailers. There's concerns by some

06:23commercial businesses that are wanting

06:26to ensure that there's a reasonable

06:27approach that benefits not just food and

06:30beverage, but all of the businesses on

06:33Ramona Street and and nearby.

06:35And then on the other side, there are

06:37some commercial businesses that just do

06:39not support the entertainment zone for a

06:41variety of reasons that are located

06:43there on the screen,

06:44um but specifically I'll call out public

06:46safety, cleanliness, and noise

06:49in particular.

06:51Next slide, please.

06:55So, the proposed Ramona Street

06:57entertainment zone, um the map there,

07:00you're looking at the shaded yellow

07:03area, that's currently the car-free

07:06portion of Ramona Street, so that would

07:08be the boundary. Plus, however, that

07:10orange shaded area, which takes you from

07:14Good Thing Coffee to the end of the

07:16building that houses the Wine Room.

07:19So, um that would be the proposed

07:22boundary, and the entertainment zone

07:24hours would be exactly like what's

07:26allowed on Cal Ave, which is Monday

07:28through Saturday from noon until 10:00

07:30p.m., as well as Sunday 10:00 a.m. to

07:3310:00 p.m.

07:34Now, one thing that's important here is,

07:36although we're talking about specific

07:38hours that are required for

07:40establishment of an entertainment zone,

07:42it's the specific I'm sorry, it's the

07:44special event permit application and

07:46process that really dictates the the

07:49hours of a specific entertainment zone

07:51activation.

07:53Next slide, please.

07:56So, in terms of regulations and process

07:58for the proposed Ramona Street

07:59entertainment zone, against again, just

08:02wanted to reiterate Senate Bill 969

08:05specifically allows cities to allow

08:08outdoor consumption of alcohol.

08:10It doesn't talk about specific noise. If

08:13we're going to talk about that, that

08:14conversation will revolve around a

08:16special event permit.

08:19Which is um led by our police

08:21department. All uh ABC alcohol beverage

08:25control license conditions must apply.

08:28And in that third bullet, there's a

08:30variety of sub bullet points. Each

08:33participating business needs to notify

08:35ABC of their participation. We've heard

08:38from various businesses on Cal Ave, it

08:40takes about 30 seconds. It's very quick

08:42on the ABC website. They must continue

08:45to check ID to ensure

08:47people are of proper drinking age. And

08:51the participants who are consuming

08:53alcohol must wear the same colored

08:55wristband. On Cal Ave, the businesses

08:57decided to utilize the color blue.

09:01And so providing alcohol beverages must

09:03also be served in a transparent or clear

09:06non-glass, non-metal cup with the

09:10business brand or the logo.

09:12And each event organizer, again this is

09:14done through the special event permit,

09:16uh must have signage that indicates that

09:18there's no alcohol beyond the specific

09:20point.

09:22Next slide, please.

09:25So last week

09:26the Office of Economic Development

09:28hosted a Downtown University Avenue

09:29Stakeholders Meeting on October 28th.

09:32The feedback that you see on the screen

09:35is not comprehensive. We added as staff

09:37added what we thought were the most

09:39germane components to this. I won't go

09:41to every

09:43through every bullet point here for

09:45brevity's sake. But again, I will

09:47indicate that noise is of concern from a

09:50variety of businesses.

09:52Representatives that were here at the

09:54stakeholder meeting thought perhaps one

09:56way to mitigate that is to move from

09:58amplified music to acoustic

10:01uh as an alternative.

10:03We also um discussed or the

10:06stakeholders discussed

10:08that we proceed with a Ramona Street

10:10Entertainment Zone, but respect hours of

10:12operation for a variety of businesses as

10:15well as the hotel guests at the Cardinal

10:17Hotel.

10:19Um an example of street act- activation

10:21that has been

10:23successful is the Art Walk, and I

10:25believe there's an Art Walk that's

10:26scheduled for November 7th.

10:28And so there will be

10:30music uh associated with that through a

10:32special event permit process that I

10:34think is underway.

10:37I'll go to the next I have two more

10:38slides, and um and then obviously we'll

10:41take questions. In terms of next steps,

10:42obviously we are here in front of you at

10:44the Economic Development Committee. The

10:46City Council, depending on the dialogue

10:49and how you um

10:51direct staff to proceed, staff could

10:53take a look at

10:55moving to a City Council action for well

10:58full consideration of the City Council

11:01at the end of before the end of the

11:02year, so it could take place first

11:04reading, second reading in early to

11:06mid-December.

11:07If you so choose. And the last slide is

11:10just the recommendation.

11:12Uh again, for brevity's sake, I am not

11:14going to read that, but we're here

11:16before you to um have a dialogue and for

11:19your consideration to

11:21amend the existing ordinance to allow

11:23for the entertainment zone on Ramona

11:25Street.

11:26That concludes staff's presentation. We

11:29can take questions. I know there's

11:30public comment as well.

11:34>> Do you have any clarifying questions,

11:35George?

11:36>> Uh

11:37>> [clears throat]

11:38>> Okay. We'll move on to public comment

11:40then.

11:42>> We currently have one request to speak.

11:44Our one first speaker is John S.

11:47John, you may now unmute yourself and

11:49share your comment.

11:52>> Hi guys, John Shenk here with Voyd's

11:53Brothers. Thank you. Sorry I couldn't be

11:55there in person tonight. I um

11:58very much appreciate Alex's leadership

12:01here in trying to find ways to support

12:04businesses. My concern that I want to

12:06voice is that despite the efforts that

12:10have happened, I think I feel like it's

12:13premature. I don't think we know enough.

12:15I think the surveys that have happened,

12:19you know, if you read the report,

12:20there's

12:2120 respondents on the you know, on Cal

12:24Ave to how's it going? Half of which are

12:27residents, the other half not. You know,

12:2910 people, 20 people doesn't

12:32for me really feel like that's a big

12:34consensus, you know? And in the downtown

12:38I think the numbers in terms of feedback

12:40and Alex can correct me if I'm wrong,

12:43but you know, is is fewer in numbers.

12:46I'm

12:47especially sensitive to the concerns of

12:50the Cardinal Hotel just because they've

12:53been there forever and ever.

12:55I think hotels are really important to

12:56our economic vitality and I know they've

12:59expressed concerns over noise.

13:02Specifically, you know, if this is

13:04allowed to go till 10:00 p.m. that I

13:07would

13:08agree it seems highly unlikely things

13:11would wrap up and there's no more

13:13drinking and noise or anything outside

13:15at 10:01.

13:16And then we're going to be back to

13:19other

13:20you know, similar policies where we've

13:21done things and then we rely on code

13:23enforcement to fix it and that

13:27it doesn't work. And I think we need at

13:30least it you know, you can always extend

13:31things. It's always hard to rein things

13:34in and I would

13:36suggest you pull back on the when these

13:39things would end given a hotel is half

13:41the frontage on the close Ramona Street

13:44or so.

13:45Also, I I'm trying to figure out why on

13:49Ramona Street on Sundays it would start

13:52at 10:00 a.m.

13:55I'm not sure what events other than

13:57football games are going on where people

13:59want to come and and drink outside cuz

14:01this is purely about alcohol

14:03on on Sunday mornings. I did my own

14:06little Google Map, clicked on all the

14:09retailers I could, I would gather 90%

14:13aren't even open before 11:00 a.m. in

14:15the downtown.

14:17Not to say there aren't some and some of

14:19the food ones and such are, but all the

14:22other types of retailers are either

14:23closed or open at 11:00 or 12:00. And I

14:27just I'm not

14:29I get it was kind of copy and paste from

14:31Cal Ave, but I I don't think it's

14:33appropriate. And I

14:36feel like some more specific study on

14:40Ramona answering questions about what's

14:43the process going to be like

14:45in terms of the permitting, etc. What's

14:47on it? What's reviewed? So that the

14:49other retailers and owners can feel real

14:52positive about this. Thanks.

15:05>> Our next speaker is Guillaume B.

15:07>> Hey.

15:09I got seat.

15:13Uh 3 minutes, but

15:16Okay. And I I I think we're just uh

15:20I don't know. I feel like we're

15:21launching a space shuttle. Um

15:23but really all we're asking for is

15:26uh Ramona, which is a closed street

15:28that's been defined as a closed street.

15:30Um it is not going to reopen and if it

15:32is, let's talk about that instead. Um to

15:36be a place that we can uh run events

15:38that are, you know, enjoyable for all.

15:41Um

15:43we're not trying to have house parties.

15:46Uh the limit 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

15:50Sure. Maybe we won't have an event at

15:5210:00 a.m., but who cares? Um

15:55you know, maybe there's a a Sunday where

15:57there's a football game that we want to

15:59have an event at 10:00 a.m.

16:01These are just

16:02we're just talking about the possibility

16:04of doing things. The events themselves

16:06all have to go through approval as well.

16:09Um so I think we're uh

16:11putting the

16:13What did I say? Cherry before the horse

16:14or something? I don't know.

16:16Thank you.

16:17Um but really we're just asking to be

16:19treated as fairly as California Avenue.

16:21I felt like there's been a lot of money

16:23and interest and effort put into

16:25California Avenue. And I'm asking for

16:28uh, downtown and Ramona to be treated

16:31equally uh, cuz I see an imbalance

16:33there. And the reason it's Ramona's cuz

16:37Ramona's closed. Uh, I'm open and would

16:41love to promote other businesses with

16:43signage. Uh, the point is to bring

16:45people to downtown because downtown is

16:47currently dead.

16:49Um, it's not to have Ramona be the only

16:51place people are hanging out.

16:53Um, and um, open and and would love to

16:56see other businesses just like we have

16:58the uh, jewelers participating in the

17:00art walk. This next art walk. Um, we'd

17:03love to have them have them participate

17:05in other things we do. Uh, it's not just

17:07about the restaurants that are on

17:09Ramona. Uh, the hotel does not take up

17:12half the block. Uh, probably takes up, I

17:14don't know, a sixth of the block if I

17:15were to guess. So, I just want to make

17:17sure things aren't exaggerated. And

17:19[snorts] of course, we're concerned

17:20about the noise level and I think the

17:21timeline uh, defines that. Um, I don't

17:25see an issue there.

17:27But, um,

17:29you know, happy to compromise on things,

17:30but I I I I think people are like using

17:33the worst case scenario

17:35um, as the reason to not do this. And

17:38what we're trying to do is create a

17:40great scenario uh, and do something, you

17:43know, really nice and activate a street

17:45that currently is not activated at all,

17:47even though it's closed. I mean, why

17:49have we not put any money into the

17:51beautification of this street? We've got

17:53these ugly barricades and these cement

17:56balls. That's what we got in 6 years.

17:59Um, I honestly I'd rather have the

18:00orange things we had and put covers on

18:02them. With at least like people's brands

18:05on it or something. Um, this was not an

18:07upgrade. Uh, God knows what we spent on

18:09it. But, um, we have a street that's

18:12closed. It's a historical street, the

18:13only one in Palo Alto. It's on the

18:15registry and we should be celebrating it

18:17and finding a way to

18:18make it [snorts] a cool place.

18:21>> Your time is up. Thank you.

18:22>> Perfect. Okay. Thank you.

18:27>> Our next speaker is Nancy C.

18:35>> Hi everyone. Well, first I'd like to um

18:38say I totally agree with Guillaume about

18:41the majority of what he said. And I

18:44think we shouldn't overcomplicate

18:45things. I think we can certainly move on

18:48with ideas and make them work. They they

18:51do not need to be the most dramatic

18:54negativity.

18:56Um and unfortunately, many times

18:59landlords look at things differently

19:01than uh the business.

19:03So [snorts] I think

19:05as far as hours go, we can discuss and

19:07make it logical. As far as the type of

19:10music, which with or without alcohol, we

19:12would like to have some live

19:14entertainment. Why not? Why can't we

19:16have acoustic guitar? Why can't we make

19:19the place enjoyable for our community?

19:21Because after all, what we do is for our

19:24community. That's the bottom line. And

19:27we can certainly respect the hotel and

19:29take care of any noise and make sure it

19:32doesn't go past 9:00 at night. Who

19:34cares? But we shouldn't overcomplicate

19:37everything and try to come to quicker

19:40conclusions and start to beautify Ramona

19:43Street. I got a nice list of artists who

19:47could possibly do a mural on the ugly

19:49asphalt in the middle of our street.

19:51Make it nice working with Hauser and

19:53Wirth and with Pamela Walsh Gallery and

19:56hopefully that will make it more

19:58beautiful. Get some nice planters like

20:00you gave Cal Ave, some string lights,

20:03and let's beautify this already

20:06beautiful street. But with a little

20:08little teeny bit of effort from the city

20:10could be much nicer and make it so fun

20:13for the whole community. It's already

20:15the most vibrant street in downtown, but

20:17it can be even more so and more

20:19beautiful for everybody. Thank you.

20:23>> And that concludes public comment for

20:25item one.

20:28>> Okay, [snorts] thank you. We'll move on

20:30to discussion. George, you want to kick

20:31it off?

20:33>> Yes.

20:35One second.

20:37Uh

20:37thank you for bringing this. Um I guess

20:40just one question a couple questions to

20:42start.

20:44Is there some process to impose limits

20:48administratively later about the number

20:51or nature of uh entertainment zone

20:54events or special event permits that get

20:56issued? It seemed like there was some

20:58leeway in the ordinance, but I wasn't

20:59really sure how to read that in

21:01practice.

21:03>> Thank you, Council member Liu. I'm going

21:05to look to our city attorney

21:07um to answer that question. I think that

21:09could come by way of the special event

21:11permit

21:13process.

21:15>> Uh good good evening, Tim Shimizu,

21:17assistant city attorney. So, yes. Um

21:21Council can always direct staff to adopt

21:23regulations that put um limits

21:27that are stricter than what is currently

21:29in the ordinance. That includes things

21:31like time the time of events, how late

21:34they may go,

21:36um or the number of events

21:38um in any given period. Um

21:41you know, that power is not unlimited,

21:43but yes, as a starting point,

21:45um

21:46many of these issues can be addressed

21:47through regulations.

21:50>> Okay. I think in the entertainment zone

21:53ordinance that the city manager is

21:56designated to be able to

21:59um

22:00uh

22:02uh have some discretion about

22:06uh boo boo boo, and sorry, I'm

22:09look

22:11uh pulling up the language. Basically,

22:14something in the spirit of like time,

22:15place, and manner restrictions on

22:16entertainment zones and special events.

22:18So, if there is a problem like

22:21uh there are

22:2310 weekends of entertainment zones in a

22:26row and it's just like clearly too much.

22:28We'd be able to move on that relatively

22:32fastly and minute quickly and

22:33administratively, right? Without

22:35actually the need for council direction

22:37like

22:38uh

22:39maybe you implied a little bit there.

22:41>> Yeah, so I think

22:43the city manager of course always

22:45appreciates sort of

22:48some some level of directive if that's

22:50what the council has in mind up front,

22:52but yes, in general the

22:56the ordinance does give a lot of

22:57discretion to staff on the ground.

22:59>> Okay.

23:03How

23:05do special event permits and alcohol

23:08work right now in the sense that

23:11uh for

23:13uh for example, I think uh maybe a month

23:15ago when Hauser & Wirth opened, they

23:17closed a portion of Emerson, had a

23:19special event permit presumably, and had

23:21like some kind of alcohol or cocktail

23:23sort of

23:25collaboration with Scotty's, the bar on

23:26Emerson. Um

23:28so to some extent private entities are

23:30able to

23:31have alcohol in the downtown areas for

23:34special events, and that special event

23:36started at 11:00 a.m. for example. So

23:38like

23:39what's the daylight between what

23:42happened there and what we're

23:44going to make easier or different here?

23:48>> Yes, I'll chime in. Uh Ruth Acorn,

23:50economic development specialist. Um so

23:54for Hauser & Wirth specifically, that

23:56was not an entertainment zone of course.

23:59So for third Thurs- uh Thursday lives,

24:02um

24:02it is regulated by the hours of the

24:05event. Um so the applicant comes in, um

24:08informs the special event coordinator of

24:11their intent of where the location's

24:13going to take place in the hours, um and

24:15then through those conversations, the

24:17special event coordinator um

24:20advises if they wish to activate the

24:21entertainment zone if it's within the

24:23boundaries. Um so for For there was a

24:27business that came in in the closed

24:28portion of Cal Ave.

24:31Um an organizer was like, "I want to

24:33make this event from

24:34you know, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m." Um the

24:37coordinator would then advise if they

24:39would like to activate the entertainment

24:41zone. If they do, then there's a list of

24:43requirements that come after that.

24:45>> Okay.

24:48Um

24:49>> Councilmember, that's different than

24:50another special event that's outside of

24:52an entertainment zone.

24:53>> [cough]

24:53>> So,

24:54>> [clears throat]

24:54>> um like you said, either the house

24:56owners or the chamber will put on things

24:58like the art festival, art and wine

25:01festival. Those are separate and

25:02distinct because they have different ABC

25:05regulations that the city doesn't We're

25:07not obviously ABC.

25:09Um but under this state um

25:13law, the new legislation, basically the

25:15entertainment zone helps streamline some

25:17of the ABC requirements so that if we

25:21have this designated entertainment zone,

25:23it's a more expedient process with ABC

25:26to basically say, "Yep, you know, I'm a

25:29business, I have my existing alcohol ABC

25:32permit, these are my regulations, and

25:34I'm going to enact my ability to

25:36participate in this entertainment zone."

25:38Versus a separate event where it could

25:40be you maybe even bringing in sellers,

25:43frankly. Um and so you're obtaining a

25:45separate special event um ABC license to

25:48permit you to sell alcohol, frankly, uh

25:51within your event, whether it's in an

25:52entertainment zone or not. Uh and so

25:55that's a different process. The

25:57entertainment zone is intended to help

26:00streamline that process, at least with

26:02those existing businesses that hold uh

26:05an ABC license.

26:06>> Yeah.

26:07Yeah, but that's helpful, and I think I

26:09was just trying to poke at or

26:12get wrap around the point that um there

26:15is already

26:17some flexibility to do

26:20events with alcohol on closed streets in

26:22downtown

26:24at sort of various hours or uh

26:28in front of various other businesses. Um

26:32Uh in general, I'm supportive. I think I

26:35am

26:36open to brainstorming ways to

26:40make sure we have sanity checks and

26:43practices within the city manager's

26:44office or whatever appropriate office to

26:47administratively

26:48tweak the practices

26:52in a pretty responsive way.

26:54Maybe at least for the first several

26:55entertainment zones, we should really

26:59knock some doors and get feedback after

27:02in a sort of more rapid and streamlined

27:03way than maybe sending a survey like

27:05months later and then just use that

27:08feedback from the first few to

27:10inform

27:11>> [snorts]

27:13>> hours or changes or any other practices

27:16that we might need.

27:18I mean, I think I'm also open to

27:21brainstorming some of those guardrails

27:22now, but

27:27Yeah, I understand the concerns. I think

27:29we have safeguards and processes in

27:31check and I think we can do this well in

27:33a way that addresses the concerns from

27:35the community. So

27:37that's where I'm landing.

27:42>> So I attended the last week's meeting

27:44and there was

27:46some of the merchants

27:48were not thrilled. They opposed it and

27:51the ones that were supportive were kind

27:53of lukewarm about it. No one was

27:55enthusiastic about that and I would hope

27:57to see more merchant enthusiasm and that

27:59really makes me

28:01not very supportive of this.

28:06There's a lot of

28:07discomfort with Ramona, but most of that

28:10is about either trash or the amenities

28:14and it just you know, the look and the

28:15feel of it. I think the alcohol is

28:17probably low on the list. I never

28:20like even last week when we talked about

28:22it

28:23people didn't say, "Oh, if we could just

28:25serve alcohol in the street, it would go

28:26away." Most of the street right now is

28:28already parklets where you can have

28:30alcohol.

28:31At least in some of the parklets that

28:33have

28:34alcohol license

28:36the middle part of the street is only

28:38about 12 feet and there really isn't

28:39much space there. And if you had a band

28:42playing

28:44most of that

28:45most of the people listening to the band

28:47likely would be already in a parklet.

28:49>> 18 feet

28:50>> 18 feet? Okay.

28:52>> There's parody comments, but

28:55I don't agree with that. I'm very

28:56enthusiastic about Pamela and

28:58>> Okay.

29:00Oh

29:00>> We do need another one.

29:01>> Okay. Guillaume, want to come up? I'd

29:04I I'd like to hear your discussions.

29:06>> Yeah.

29:09Yeah, I mean of course there's

29:11Alex last week brought up all these

29:12things.

29:13>> Guillaume, [clears throat] are you going

29:14to like

29:15>> Sorry. Alex brought up all these things

29:16that you brought up and I'm not sure

29:18what skin he has in the game cuz he

29:19doesn't have any buildings on that

29:20street.

29:21>> Okay.

29:21>> I'm not sure why he's against it.

29:24But I guess it's a we just keep kind of

29:27going around in circles and not trying

29:28anything. And then we end up with

29:30nothing other than a closed street with

29:32homeless people that I call the cops on

29:33every week.

29:34>> [laughter]

29:35>> So we're just trying to activate the

29:37street with whatever guidelines. I don't

29:40know how we can say it's too small. It's

29:41not too small. We haven't tried

29:42anything.

29:43>> Yeah.

29:44>> And I again, I don't know why California

29:46Avenue gets the special treatment. I

29:48mean that's the way I feel. There's

29:49money and effort put into California and

29:52we're left you know, without any of

29:54those people.

29:56Of course, it's not going to change my

29:57life to have people drinking on the

29:59street.

30:00It's not really about the drinking. It's

30:02just about being able to hold an event

30:04with music, maybe some vendors,

30:07you know, not food or beverage vendors

30:09and bringing energy to the middle of the

30:11street so that people come service our

30:13businesses and think to come back to

30:15Palo Alto.

30:17But right now we just have nothing.

30:21You know.

30:22Um that's the concern. And we're trying

30:25nothing cuz we keep

30:27Yeah, doing nothing and then fighting

30:29about it.

30:31Um I don't even quite understand any

30:33landlord's opposition. I'm not I I just

30:35don't like

30:36What What do they care for us trying

30:38something? Like try one and then tell us

30:40we can't do it. I don't know.

30:42You know,

30:43try two.

30:44>> That's a good segue cuz my next question

30:45was if we wanted to give this a trial

30:48and just have a special event, you were

30:50saying

30:51staff was saying that if we

30:54went through ABC, we could have a

30:55special event with alcohol.

30:57This just streamlines it. So, if we

30:59wanted to do one, do one.

31:02>> Okay, it's not quite that simple. It

31:03doesn't

31:04>> Okay.

31:04>> It someone would need to pull an ABC

31:06license and it is different in terms of

31:09the enabling

31:11the permissiveness of the zone. I'd have

31:13to think about and confirm with staff on

31:17if there was a way for us outside of the

31:18ordinance to pilot something.

31:21>> Okay.

31:22>> Thank you.

31:22>> Yeah, so

31:24um if

31:25ordinarily without a special event

31:28um

31:29for this designation in place

31:33usually

31:35like a one-day or a special event ABC

31:37permit only applies to one business.

31:40So, it wouldn't enable say the whole

31:43community of businesses on the closed

31:44part of Ramona Street to all

31:46participate. They'd basically need to

31:48bring in some special one-time vendor to

31:51sell alcohol in the middle of the

31:52street. So, if you wanted to sort of

31:54pilot this on Ramona

31:56the easiest way would be to

31:59go ahead with this process with very

32:01clear direction to city manager about

32:04rolling this out in a very limited way.

32:06And then

32:08to have some kind of check-in mechanism

32:09about whether to keep going forward or

32:11not.

32:12>> Okay. [snorts] Yeah.

32:13>> Cuz that would allow the

32:15all of the businesses that are in the

32:17district in the the zone to participate

32:19if they wanted to.

32:22>> So, we wouldn't all have to pull our own

32:23ABC catering license?

32:25>> Yes, if the as long as the entertainment

32:27zone is active, then you wouldn't need

32:30to pull separate permits.

32:31>> Yeah, so I want to clarify that. I mean,

32:33you know, when we do an event every

32:35single

32:36if we don't have the entertainment zone

32:37and we want to do an event, every single

32:39business has to get an ABC license.

32:41That's $200.

32:43And then I got to convince those to

32:45really to go pay for it, you know. All

32:46of a sudden, half the people aren't

32:47doing it cuz they go, "Well, I'm not

32:49paying this money." So, that's the whole

32:50point of this entertainment zone. It's

32:51just give us some freedom to try to do

32:54something.

32:55I guess that's what I'm saying.

32:57And again, if California got it, I I

32:59just don't understand.

33:01Doesn't make any sense to me.

33:03>> Yeah.

33:03Well, I appreciate your support. And

33:06if the merchants are supporting it, I

33:08want to support that. And I would be

33:10inclined

33:11to do this with a trial and see how the

33:14merchants like it, the neighboring

33:16businesses who aren't selling alcohol

33:18how they like it,

33:20and move on from there.

33:22>> And I think, you know, there's some

33:23practical considerations too, seeing

33:25that it's November already. And you

33:27know, I don't know how

33:30how many activities in general that the

33:32community wants to put forward in sort

33:34of the

33:35weather and daylight right now anyway.

33:38So,

33:39>> Yeah, we wait till the spring. That's

33:40correct.

33:40>> Okay.

33:41>> At this point.

33:41>> Yeah.

33:42What would be the

33:43I'll go ahead.

33:44>> Yeah, so that's my last thing. You know,

33:45I obviously understand the two jewelers

33:47and the spa's concerns. Um

33:51and you have a lot of

33:53uh

33:54restaurant owners that are just tired

33:57and don't feel like anything works

33:59because they're jaded, you know. And I

34:01also understand their just reticence to

34:04believe anything can work.

34:05Uh I'm me, Pamela, you know, some other

34:08people in the community are just willing

34:10to try something to try to bring energy

34:13to downtown.

34:15Maybe it doesn't work, you know. Um

34:18but I think we are you're not wrong. You

34:21There was lukewarmness that they're just

34:23like, "Nothing works anymore. I'm

34:24getting sued every 6 months.

34:27You know, minimum wage is $18." I mean,

34:29yeah, they're they're tired. Um so,

34:33you know, like

34:34give you [clears throat] some context on

34:35that.

34:37>> Do any of you have any questions?

34:39>> No.

34:46>> I make a co-cabaret on the patio.

34:48Absolutely not even in this

34:50entertainment zone, but I would like to

34:52support my fellow business people.

34:54Is the city concerned about liability in

34:58the zone? Is [clears throat] that kind

34:59of what is the iffy part with the ABC

35:02licensing?

35:06>> Uh

35:07I know.

35:09>> Okay, just because it seems like the

35:10city seems a little bit nervous about

35:13trying something new.

35:15>> I mean, from a staff perspective, the

35:16liability is set with either the permit

35:20or the ABC permit holder.

35:22Um and so from a staff perspective, now

35:24as for the policy decision from a

35:26council perspective, you know, it is

35:28your the at the council's discretion how

35:31you wish to enable these different

35:33permissives.

35:35>> So, would it then be like let's say

35:37Guillaume pulls a permit.

35:39Everyone pulls their own permit, and

35:41you've got all these people in the

35:42middle of this zone, and they're having

35:44a great time, and someone falls and hits

35:45their head.

35:47Who's responsible?

35:49>> So, for Cal Ave, Cal whoever organizes

35:52it buys an insurance policy.

35:54>> But you have all of these different

35:55people together organizing together. How

35:58does this work?

35:59>> Well, for the entertainment zone,

36:00there'd be one permit, right? Alex, you

36:02want to talk to this?

36:03>> Yeah.

36:04The special event permit does require

36:06insurance.

36:07>> Yeah.

36:08>> So, how does that work then

36:10for everybody?

36:13>> So, a special event is pulled by a

36:15single party, whether it's a

36:17conglomerate of parties or an individual

36:19depends on the event itself. The permit

36:21itself requires that there be a certain

36:23insurance threshold be met, and that

36:25insurance requires certain parties be

36:27identified as the responsible liable

36:29parties. Past that, that's just

36:32insurance.

36:33As legal can tell you, if there is a

36:35claim for our some injury, there are a

36:38number of factors that may go into how

36:40that claim is then prosecuted.

36:43Whether it's through the city's

36:44insurance, through the special event

36:46permit holder, or

36:48um

36:48our general attorney's office, depending

36:51on the cause of it and the events

36:53surrounding it.

36:55>> All right, that was my question. I also

36:58would like to say that I think that we

36:59have extremely responsible business

37:01owners that love their street. And they

37:04have been granted a closed street, and

37:06for it just to sit there as a closed

37:08street is silliness. It's silliness.

37:11I really wish that we could allow them

37:14the opportunity to at least try.

37:16Let's see what happens, even if it's

37:18November. In November, there's Christmas

37:20markets coming up. You guys could do

37:22wonderful things, and it would bring

37:24folks to Palo Alto. We are dying

37:27downtown.

37:28At least let them try.

37:30That would be my two cents.

37:32Yeah.

37:33That would be

37:35I I I I just wish that the city would

37:37take a deep breath and realize that we

37:39are the ones that are here. You know,

37:42we're the ones with the businesses

37:43downtown. We're the ones dealing with

37:45homeless and crazy and nonsense. Let let

37:48the businesses try something.

37:50They are responsible people, and they do

37:53a great job daily. Maybe we just try one

37:56and see what happens. And that's as an

37:58outside person. I don't even get to

37:59participate in this, but it will bring

38:01people downtown.

38:02>> Okay, thank you.

38:02>> Thank you.

38:03>> Yeah. All right.

38:04To be clear, this is this item is just

38:06about whether alcohol can be served

38:08there. We can have special events

38:10independently of this. So, the this is

38:13Yeah.

38:15Okay. Uh what kind of costs are there

38:17for the city to do this? Is it just

38:19purely the ordinance, or there's some

38:21overhead that we have to do with ABC?

38:26>> There's no cost from ABC to um any

38:29applicant. They just notify ABC, and

38:32then that's about it.

38:33>> Okay.

38:35>> However, if there is a special event,

38:37there are certain um

38:40items that

38:43that entity may be interested in. There

38:45could be a closure of a street, for

38:47example. So, there's

38:49costs associated with

38:51other components. So, I think it's

38:52unique to the specific event.

38:55>> Yeah, for Ramona though, we wouldn't be

38:56closing any streets.

38:58>> Right. I'm just talking about outside of

38:59the entertainment zone.

39:00>> Okay, got you.

39:03Okay, did you have any follow-up,

39:05Storage?

39:10>> Uh just as a brief comment, I think

39:14some kind of experimentation makes

39:16sense. Uh just being able to try

39:19something to Guillaume's point. Um

39:22Uh

39:25I think if they're or I I'm curious

39:28what the interest would be to for

39:31running events from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m.

39:33and if they're

39:35uh for the first several special events,

39:37we maybe actually cap things at 9:00

39:39p.m.

39:40Talk to the hotel after and then

39:43uh hopefully prove that it's really not

39:46that much of an issue to run from

39:489:00 p.m. to say 10:00 p.m.

39:51Um

39:52Uh

39:54So, yeah, that would be the only

39:57uh

39:58maybe possible comment or

40:00mild compromise just for the first

40:02couple events as we figure things out

40:04that I could imagine, but otherwise I

40:06think the downside of trying things out

40:09is pretty low.

40:13>> Okay.

40:14>> May I share that uh one of the comments

40:16that we received has to do with uh

40:19an alternative where

40:22the special event can go till 10:00 or

40:24the entertainment zone is active till

40:2710:00, but perhaps not allowing alcohol

40:30to be sold after 9:00 p.m. So, that at

40:3310:00 p.m.

40:35the street then is

40:37is uh quiet.

40:38>> Okay.

40:39And would that have to be in the

40:40ordinance or would that be the city

40:42manager would have that discretion?

40:46>> So,

40:47ultimately, that's a at the discretion

40:50it's a policy decision. So,

40:53Council could leave the ordinance at the

40:55more permissive 10:00 p.m. and give

40:57staff direction that although it's this

41:00level that

41:01the desire is that events not be

41:04authorized to have activities past 9:00.

41:06You can also change the ordinance to

41:089:00 p.m.

41:09And you can always come back and change

41:10the ordinance later to 10:00 p.m.

41:13So,

41:15either path is an option.

41:19>> Okay.

41:21>> Yevette

41:22>> Uh

41:24>> Otherwise, I will make a motion.

41:26>> Uh yeah, go for the motion.

41:29I was just going to say that I think

41:31staff can handle these things

41:33and that we don't necessarily need to be

41:35overly prescriptive right now.

41:37>> Yeah.

41:38So, I would say

41:40I would like to move the staff

41:41recommendation.

41:45And

41:47direct staff

41:53to

41:56Let's see.

41:59To perform a trial

42:02that has um

42:04a single event

42:06single event trial to

42:09as a pathfinder for this project.

42:13And

42:15um give staff direction to negotiate

42:18hours

42:20with

42:21merchants.

42:25>> I guess I would

42:27appreciate a little bit more feedback. I

42:29mean, I think you've heard that there

42:31are

42:32various opinions on how this shall go.

42:36And ultimately if the Council is

42:40you know, I think

42:41>> [snorts]

42:41>> providing clarity on what your

42:43expectations are

42:45would enable staff to make a more

42:47informed administrative decision.

42:51Otherwise, I think what will likely

42:53happen is is staff will make a decision

42:55and then council will simply have one

42:58side or the other provide complaints.

43:00Um so, I think having some dialogue over

43:03what are the council's goals in this?

43:06You want one-time pilot? Are you looking

43:08for it to end early? So, you're looking

43:10for a daytime event? Are you looking to

43:12test the limits in terms of the timing?

43:19>> I think we want to walk before we run.

43:21So, I would not want to go to a 10:00

43:22p.m.

43:23>> Okay. So, I think then you want to It

43:25sounds like your recommendation would be

43:27that you would recommend council approve

43:29this ordinance

43:31and provide staff the direction to

43:35um

43:36perhaps report back after an initial

43:39pilot event that doesn't extend past

43:419:00 p.m.

43:44uh before authorizing further special

43:45events.

43:47Or further activations of the zone.

43:50>> Yes, I think 9:00 p.m. is probably the

43:52right cutoff.

43:53Uh

43:54I think

43:56one event is going to be a pretty

43:58limited sample size. I think

44:02it might take uh

44:05I could easily imagine one event which

44:06is just like

44:08have alcohol for a couple of hours

44:11during an NFL game or something and then

44:13we don't really learn anything.

44:15>> Yeah.

44:15>> Um and so, I think we should gather

44:18feedback from merchants after the first

44:20event, but I think maybe the

44:22informational report that uh or

44:25uh follow-up agenda item

44:28>> [snorts]

44:28>> should come back after three events,

44:31after

44:33five events, something like that. Um and

44:36I think the specific follow-up is just

44:37that uh

44:39we bring the feedback back to this

44:41committee.

44:44>> Okay.

44:46I like the idea of reporting. Go ahead.

44:49>> Can you guys just repeat it so I can

44:50make sure that I'm hearing it

44:51>> Okay.

44:52>> Or you can re- reinstate it, please.

44:54So, I'll share what I have.

44:56>> Okay.

45:02>> Madam clerk, if you are Mike. Thank you.

45:06Yes, so um

45:08This was a original one.

45:10But this was recommends

45:12council approve. Let me know if you

45:14would like me to edit any of this.

45:16>> To report back after

45:18>> Pretty much

45:19>> three initial pilot events to this

45:22committee.

45:25Or

45:26>> Report back

45:26>> So sorry, actually recommend council

45:28approve the ordinance and provide staff

45:30the direction to report back. And then

45:32after instead of an initial pilot event,

45:35just say after three pilot events

45:38that end

45:40no later than 9:00 p.m.

45:48>> Okay.

45:50And also to clarify, this will be an

45:52amendment to the ordinance.

45:56>> Yeah, because the ordinance has enough

45:59city manager discretion to do all of

46:01this.

46:02And then if after three events, we don't

46:04like it and

46:06we end it, then we would have to I guess

46:08pass another ordinance to

46:10just [clears throat] clean up. But

46:12um

46:13>> And I would say report back after no

46:15more than three pilot events.

46:18So the staff won't staff won't come back

46:20after one.

46:21>> Yeah, good call.

46:22>> Okay, you said

46:24back after no more than three.

46:26>> No more than three.

46:30>> Okay, so

46:35>> Alex, are you happy with that?

46:38>> From a staff perspective and to bring

46:40people to downtown for economic

46:42vitality, it meets the BRE strategies

46:45goals. So which is the business

46:46retention, expansion, and attraction

46:48strategy. So yes.

46:54>> Okay, so Do you have second?

46:56>> Yeah, I'll second.

46:57>> Okay.

47:00>> Yeah, it's already in there. Nice.

47:03>> Very cool.

47:04>> Yeah.

47:07>> Chair Ricks Doll?

47:08>> Yes.

47:09>> Councilmember Lu?

47:09>> Yes.

47:11>> Motion carries with Vice Mayor Stone

47:13being absent.

47:38>> The next [snorts]

47:38>> Okay.

47:40>> Economic development activity report for

47:42November 2026.

47:45Ruth, are you handling this?

47:48>> Chair Ricks Doll, Councilmember Lu, Ruth

47:50economic development specialist with the

47:52city. I will be presenting the economic

47:55development activity report for the

47:57month of November. Next slide, please.

48:03I'll couple business engagement training

48:05exciting updates. As part of the Brea

48:08strategy under the umbrella,

48:10we hosted the business reception as well

48:13as the small business training workshop.

48:15The business reception took place last

48:17month. We had about 17 businesses

48:21represented from large-scale tax

48:24generators here in the city of Palo

48:25Alto. The primary goal was to foster

48:29meaningful private sector collaboration,

48:31understand the needs and how the city

48:33could best support. And so great

48:35conversations came out of that. We're

48:37already seeing great fruit.

48:39They're reaching out. We're having

48:41conversations with departments on

48:43utilities and other great conversations

48:45that we're expected to have next month

48:47at our next economic development

48:49committee.

48:50The next item we have the small business

48:54training workshop. We had a three-part

48:56module Um, collaboration with the

48:59Silicon Valley Small Business

49:01Development Center, as well as the Small

49:03Business Administration and the

49:05California Office of Small Business

49:07Advocate. And so, through these um

49:10modules,

49:12we were able to equip um great number of

49:14of business uh leaders that are deciding

49:17to establish business either here in

49:18Palo Alto or outside um in ways to

49:21finance their business. And so, uh there

49:23was a lot of great engagement, a lot of

49:25participants enjoyed

49:27um the workshops. And thank you to Chair

49:29Ractliffe for attending the first module

49:32and provided great remarks.

49:34Um they appreciated the representation

49:36of staff um during these uh modules.

49:39Next slide, please.

49:41On to business openings and closings. As

49:45of the time of the report, we didn't

49:46have closings, um but now we have a

49:48couple to announce.

49:50Uh for business openings, we have Bon

49:52Bon Matcha, um opened October 20th. Yaya

49:56Greek Yogurt opened October 30th. And

50:00you uh Yuca Tory Restaurant and Bar

50:02opened November 1st. You may have

50:05already recognized Yuca Tory. Uh their

50:07cafe and store opened earlier on this

50:11year, uh but their restaurant and bar is

50:13now officially open.

50:16Um we have two more um openings coming

50:18up for um early

50:20towards uh next year, My Saigon and Pop

50:24Up Bagels.

50:26Uh jumping into business closings, uh we

50:29did hear the announcement from Square

50:31Pie Guys. Uh they're they officially

50:33closed October 30th.

50:35Um and you'll also notice Unal Ghali.

50:38I've hopefully I'm pronouncing that

50:39correctly. Um they are expected to close

50:43soon. Uh they will be you'll notice that

50:45they'll be switching um spots with Pop

50:48Up Bagels. So, as soon as Pop Up Bagels

50:51receives their permit issuance to start

50:54um renovating and making the changes,

50:57Unal

50:58Ghali is Unal Ghali. Thank you. Um will

51:02be uh closing their services. Next

51:06slide, please.

51:08Next we'll be jumping into property

51:11metrics. We heard the committee at our

51:14last meeting that we wanted to see a

51:16little bit more of the office space

51:19in these metrics. And so you'll see for

51:21both retail metrics and office metrics

51:24for California Avenue,

51:26there was a drop.

51:29Between the vacancy rate, available

51:31space, and net absorption.

51:34And so we have been made aware of a

51:36couple

51:38vacancies, some spaces being occupied.

51:41One of them being with Square Pie Guys

51:44leaving, Zareen's will be taking over

51:46that location.

51:48As well as Hotel California. That as you

51:52guys might be aware, that space has been

51:54vacant for some time. But we have three

51:58leases two confirmed and one pending.

52:01One of them being a bakery, another

52:03being a bookstore, and the last

52:05potentially being an art studio.

52:07So that's really exciting news for Cal

52:09Ave.

52:10And of course we have Croissanty coming

52:13hopefully in the next several months.

52:14They're currently going through

52:15inspections.

52:17And Earl Salt Bakery as well. A very

52:20popular

52:22bakery that is currently only has one

52:24location in San Francisco.

52:26And they will be coming to Palo Alto.

52:29Next slide, please.

52:31>> I'll go I'll let you finish and then go

52:33back. Good.

52:34>> And we'll be jumping then into downtown

52:36University Avenue.

52:39Just like Cal Ave, we're seeing also

52:42a a drop for retail,

52:45but we're not seeing the same for

52:47office. And so we're still looking at

52:50the market to see what the trends are.

52:53But as of right now,

52:55vacancy rate, available space, and net

52:57absorption for downtown

53:00saw decrease. And happy to also see the

53:04vacancies that were once on the block of

53:06University between

53:09um

53:10It's flying my mind but Bri- I believe

53:12Bryant Street and Apple Store the

53:15where La Corte is

53:17um as well as 575 Mission. Uh it's great

53:20to see that that block is now being

53:22activated um and many more other

53:25activations to come. Um so jump into the

53:28next slide and that concludes my

53:31presentation. Um I would love to open it

53:33up for questions, concerns, and also

53:35feedback um as we are putting events

53:38together um as we're supporting

53:40businesses um it's great to hear how we

53:42can uh continue supporting and uh create

53:44a vibrant Palo Alto. So open it up to

53:53>> Uh thank you. Great updates. Amazing to

53:55hear about Hotel California. I think it

53:58has taken a long time for that property

54:02owner to sort of

54:04uh

54:05get some of the investments in the space

54:07and I am amazed that as these

54:10investments have come through over the

54:12past year like they

54:14uh

54:15seem to have leased up most if not all

54:17of that ground floor space which is

54:19amazing.

54:20Um

54:22I'm curious more about downtown uh and

54:25downtown retail in particular where I

54:28see the vacancy rate is still um

54:32uh

54:33you know, fairly stubbornly high. I mean

54:35between 13.2 and 11.8% it's reduced but

54:39maybe

54:40marginally be sort of the same. Um

54:46What's

54:48Do we have thoughts on what's next? Like

54:51uh in terms of our economic development

54:54plan

54:56uh

54:57terms of permitting, in terms of

54:59anything else uh that like is there

55:01anything that's still on the road map or

55:04would any further like retail

55:05streamlining

55:08anything like that have to be a new

55:09initiative.

55:12And I And though that's an example, if

55:13there are other initiatives like I'd

55:15love to hear.

55:21>> Well, internally

55:23staff is exploring

55:26a variety of solutions to ensure that

55:30permits are processed not only timely

55:32but um can be expedited.

55:35Uh specifically

55:37we're having conversations about

55:38specific types of businesses or the

55:40sizes of business.

55:41But um you may remember of course the

55:43city council did approve the retail

55:46vitality vitality ordinance. And so

55:48staff is working with planning and

55:50development services to get the word out

55:53and to get people excited about coming

55:54to downtown.

55:56Um that could include, as you may

55:59recall, a health type of a business

56:01where the former shoe palace, that's 455

56:05University Avenue. That's 7,000 square

56:07feet. It's two stories. Um so that could

56:10be uh a real good um activation for that

56:14part of University Avenue.

56:17>> Okay. And in that case actually I'm

56:19forgetting whether we uh changed the

56:21actual zoning or whether that was a

56:23one-off conditional use permit. But I

56:25guess I'm just curious in general um if

56:28you think there's any more juice to

56:30squeeze in terms of relaxing conditional

56:32use permits or making uh some of the

56:35process otherwise easier.

56:37>> Yeah, you know, we often hear from the

56:39real estate brokers that time kills

56:41deals. Yeah. And so thankfully staff is

56:44exploring that through our development

56:45cabinet uh where we meet monthly.

56:48Actually just on Monday of this week we

56:49had conversations that included uh

56:52directors from planning and development

56:53services, fire utilities, our building

56:56official, and a variety of other folks

56:59that are part of the permit permitting

57:01process. And so that is something I

57:04think from an economic development

57:05perspective we're excited about because

57:08it's important um

57:10and that's one way to gain a competitive

57:13advantage compared to other cities that

57:15might be doing

57:16well in attracting investment to their

57:18downtown.

57:19>> Okay.

57:20Um

57:21>> Councilmember, I might also just so uh

57:23aside from a zoning perspective, staff

57:25continues to work with the downtown

57:27businesses on what a University Avenue

57:30streetscape uh

57:32improvement might look like um and

57:35whether or not that is a viable

57:37uh investment and opportunity for us.

57:39And so that would be a significant uh

57:42capital investment as well as just a

57:44physical improvement to the space to

57:46help continue not only with the zoning

57:48but with the physical attributes as

57:50well.

57:51>> Yes. Um

57:53Yes, I understand and uh appreciate that

57:56uh of course as well.

57:58Um

57:59>> [snorts]

58:00>> I guess the other question that I have

58:02is how to think about the uh office

58:06vacancy rate and if any perspectives on

58:09why in the midst of this AI boom where

58:12office is

58:14from what I hear going very

58:16very hot in San Francisco at least uh

58:19why

58:20that's seemingly not spilling over at

58:21all to Palo Alto.

58:25>> Actually, staff is seeing um

58:29interest and investment uh related to

58:32AI. However, what we're starting to see

58:34is

58:37businesses that would require a

58:39significant amount of square footage so

58:41likely headed to places like the

58:43Stanford Research Park as opposed to

58:45coming to downtown for example. So um

58:48that is one of the

58:51impetuses or genesis for us as staff to

58:54start having those permit expediting um

58:57conversations because we are seeing an

58:59influx of a variety of businesses like

59:03Rivian, we've talked to SpaceX, AI,

59:06um General Motors of course since they

59:08took 340,000 square feet and a variety

59:11of other businesses that are definitely

59:13coming into Palo Alto and or expanding,

59:17which is exactly what we want to see, of

59:19course.

59:20And so, um but it is true we're

59:22generally not seeing that in our

59:25downtown

59:26uh from an office perspective.

59:30>> Okay.

59:32Got it. So, the professional services

59:34firms and startups are not actually

59:35growing in Palo Alto uh

59:38or downtown Cal Ave, but they're

59:40potentially going to the research park.

59:41Got it.

59:42Yeah, or if if that's the right

59:44conclusion.

59:47>> From a staff perspective, I'd like to

59:49propose that we um

59:51from a from economic development that we

59:53dive a little bit deeper

59:55in this respect and come back to you

59:58under the next month or thereafter from

1:00:01an economic activity report that we can

1:00:05we just want we want to check in with

1:00:06our real estate brokerage community and

1:00:09have um

1:00:11more information to share in that

1:00:12regard.

1:00:13>> Yeah. I Yeah, I would be interested in

1:00:15seeing sort of what's next in terms of

1:00:17getting some of these offices

1:00:19uh potentially filled.

1:00:23Can you bring up slide uh four, please?

1:00:28There are a couple things on this that

1:00:31I was looking at

1:00:33the vacancy rate for office on slide

1:00:36four at Cal Ave is quite high.

1:00:3924 and 26.

1:00:43Uh

1:00:44any

1:00:45understanding of why that's so high

1:00:47compared to university?

1:00:54>> We will have to confirm that, but there

1:00:56is the office space that is located

1:00:59above Tech CU, and it's significant

1:01:02square footage. That building is maybe

1:01:05three or four stories.

1:01:09Anyways, that that could be a

1:01:10significant um

1:01:12amount of square footage, which is why

1:01:14this number may be a little higher than

1:01:17typical.

1:01:19>> I heard that space is leased up in

1:01:21theory unless lease has been canceled to

1:01:23MongoDB, which may move in once the

1:01:26renovations are done.

1:01:27Uh but also the Visa office was fairly

1:01:30fairly previously fairly chunky and I

1:01:33think some of the offices on Cambridge

1:01:35are vacant as the Visa office is empty

1:01:37and I think some of the offices on like

1:01:39bigger offices on Cambridge are empty as

1:01:41well.

1:01:45How do we define vacancies? Is it if

1:01:48someone has leased the space?

1:01:51>> Yes, CoStar defines vacancy as the space

1:01:54leased but not it doesn't necessarily

1:01:56need to be occupied.

1:01:58>> Okay. And what about like 414, which is

1:02:01sitting there you know, not being

1:02:03offered for sale? Is that considered a

1:02:05vacancy?

1:02:10>> I believe it would but definitely can't

1:02:12confirm on that.

1:02:13>> Okay.

1:02:16>> [clears throat]

1:02:16>> And

1:02:17on the next slide on

1:02:19downtown, I was actually surprised that

1:02:21uh the office metrics are good.

1:02:23Uh the vacancy rates though for retail

1:02:26are higher than they are in Cal Ave.

1:02:29You know, Cal Ave itself on the street

1:02:31itself, I don't think there are any

1:02:32vacancies apart from 414.

1:02:35Uh

1:02:37are there Do you have any insight about

1:02:40what type of businesses, example

1:02:41restaurant shelves, are they

1:02:44fully booked? How's the com-

1:02:47for general retail versus restaurants?

1:02:50Do you have any insight on which is in

1:02:53more demand?

1:03:00>> I'm sorry, Consuelo. Are you asking

1:03:01who's pulled permits or

1:03:03>> No, if

1:03:05if we look at the vacancies, are the

1:03:06vacancies split between restaurants and

1:03:10general retail or are the restaurants

1:03:12all fully booked and the general retail

1:03:13are the vacancies?

1:03:16>> We would have to uh

1:03:18do an analysis and come back to you cuz

1:03:21I off the top of my head I

1:03:23can't respond to that at this point in

1:03:25time unless my colleague

1:03:27has general knowledge.

1:03:29>> We can do a uh yeah, we can do an

1:03:31assessment of the vacant space um which

1:03:35could include uh the types of uses that

1:03:38are allowed in those spaces and I think

1:03:40that might get to your question. Yeah.

1:03:43>> Okay.

1:03:44That's all I have.

1:03:46>> Okay.

1:03:48>> Any last questions, George?

1:03:50Okay, then we'll move on to future

1:03:51meetings and agenda.

1:04:00>> So, your next meeting

1:04:02Brian help me out while I think Alex is

1:04:04taking some notes.

1:04:04>> The next meeting is scheduled for

1:04:07December 16th and we have an item

1:04:10related to utilities.

1:04:13And that item I'm looking to our

1:04:14assistant city manager um the title of

1:04:17that item.

1:04:17>> Oh,

1:04:18um this has to do with large load

1:04:20capacity reservations. Uh it's actually

1:04:22being heard by the utilities

1:04:24advisory commission this evening

1:04:27um as our electric utility tries to both

1:04:29meet the needs of business

1:04:31um but also

1:04:33design a program that helps us give

1:04:35businesses some certainty but also help

1:04:37us plan for load growth and load needs.

1:04:41>> Okay, so if someone a business comes in

1:04:43and says we need so many kilowatts then

1:04:47>> Yeah, it might be a business, it might

1:04:48be a developer um or a property owner

1:04:51that wants to reserve some um portion of

1:04:54system capacity. Um and so what would

1:04:56that look like? How's the program? What

1:04:58would the cost of that be? Um and that

1:05:01helps as Alex was saying the idea of

1:05:03time is money um in them knowing what

1:05:07capacity they have um as electricity is

1:05:10a major currency um so to speak in the

1:05:14business development these days.

1:05:16>> Okay.

1:05:18Also, aside from our usual economic

1:05:20development activity report, the Office

1:05:22of Economic Development is working

1:05:23closely with the Chamber of Commerce on

1:05:25a destination marketing effort. And so,

1:05:28um we would like to ensure that we touch

1:05:31base with our hotel core, as well as

1:05:35perhaps going before our University

1:05:38Avenue uh

1:05:40downtown stakeholders.

1:05:41But, that may be an item. So,

1:05:44we'll add that as tentative, and it

1:05:46would be uh an information

1:05:50>> [snorts]

1:05:50>> Okay.

1:05:52Next, we have virtual public comment.

1:05:54>> question about future items. Uh

1:05:56just knowing that we're very late in the

1:05:58year,

1:05:59uh and the committee may change in

1:06:02January, is there

1:06:05uh

1:06:06I I think I just need a refresher on

1:06:08what the process would be, or if there's

1:06:11uh or if the assumption that we just

1:06:13wait until the new committee is selected

1:06:15about prioritizing sort of and

1:06:18discussing more things that might be

1:06:19upcoming, like other retail ordinances

1:06:22or uh

1:06:24uh

1:06:25you know,

1:06:26I'm thinking about hotels, I'm thinking

1:06:27about improvements on Ramona Street. Um

1:06:33Uh

1:06:34presumably, we won't be able to hear

1:06:35those things in December.

1:06:37Uh

1:06:38is there any practice of keying those

1:06:40things up to be heard next year, or just

1:06:41getting them on the radar, or do we have

1:06:43to actually wait until

1:06:45the committee resets, or the council

1:06:47priorities get decided to sort of key

1:06:49those things up?

1:06:50>> Yeah, sure. So, as part of the council's

1:06:53annual priority setting, we'll typically

1:06:55in the fall, so November to December,

1:06:57ask all council members what your

1:06:58priorities are for the coming year. And

1:07:00so, I would say that is one of the

1:07:03primary ways to key that up,

1:07:06um in terms of specifics. Staff will

1:07:08also be doing similar, obviously,

1:07:10looking at the prior year's priorities,

1:07:14things that we perhaps didn't make the

1:07:15cut last year because of workload

1:07:17capacity,

1:07:19bringing those forward, as as as

1:07:21direction that the council has given

1:07:22staff throughout the year. So, it's kind

1:07:24of an amalgamation of all of those to

1:07:26set at your retreat in January

1:07:29what that future kind of work plan looks

1:07:31like.

1:07:33If the committee

1:07:35had a desire to talk amongst yourselves,

1:07:38so to speak, to identify perhaps what

1:07:40your priorities are as a committee

1:07:43to help inform council's discussion,

1:07:47staff could look at perhaps agendizing

1:07:49something like that somewhat as a study

1:07:51session. Obviously, knowing that you as

1:07:53committee members wouldn't be able to

1:07:54have that conversation outside of this

1:07:57meeting. So, if that's of interest, I

1:07:59think we can talk with the chair,

1:08:01but it would be more of a

1:08:04I think forum for the committee members

1:08:06to coalesce and decide on, you know,

1:08:08after being on this committee for a

1:08:10year, here's what I've seen and here's

1:08:11what I want the council to consider

1:08:13moving forward.

1:08:16>> So, we'd have that discussion then in

1:08:17December as part of the December

1:08:19>> we can if that's ultimately a desire of

1:08:21the committee, we could help facilitate

1:08:24agendizing that space for committee

1:08:26members to have that discussion in

1:08:27December.

1:08:28>> Okay. I would enjoy that having that in

1:08:30December because I think coming into the

1:08:33priority setting cold, it's very hard to

1:08:36have context and have anything really

1:08:38sink in

1:08:40and having a discussion beforehand

1:08:42where we could potentially collectively

1:08:44agree on some things to bring

1:08:46into January would be helpful.

1:08:48>> Sure. So, it would be probably something

1:08:50very similar or simple staff could put

1:08:52on the agenda

1:08:53simple report reporting out what your

1:08:55prior objectives were, perhaps what some

1:08:57of the tier two objectives were, and

1:08:59then open the floor basically for

1:09:01committee members dialogue.

1:09:02>> Yeah.

1:09:03Okay. That'd be good. You have a

1:09:04discussion among the three of us and

1:09:06figure out

1:09:08>> May I ask a question or make a proposal?

1:09:13The economic development staff was

1:09:14already talking about adding

1:09:17accomplishments for the calendar year

1:09:19under the economic development activity

1:09:21report for December.

1:09:22Could that conversation be had as a of

1:09:26that conversation.

1:09:27>> Yeah, Alex, why don't we take it offline

1:09:28and figure out how to navigate the

1:09:30agenda best knowing the committee's

1:09:32intentions.

1:09:33>> Thank you.

1:09:33>> Yeah, thank you.

1:09:36>> Okay.

1:09:38Okay.

1:09:38>> And then also just um one thing um I

1:09:41believe the um

1:09:44there was a motion to be taken for item

1:09:46two.

1:09:46>> Oh, we never voted.

1:09:48>> Yes, correct. We did not. So, if you

1:09:49guys wanted to

1:09:51>> What was the staff recommendation?

1:09:53>> I mean

1:09:54>> Um

1:09:55>> I'll move to accept.

1:09:56>> to recommend that the Economic

1:09:57Development Committee receive this

1:09:58Economic Development Activity Report for

1:10:00the month of November 2026.

1:10:02>> So moved.

1:10:04>> Okay. So, Council member, okay. Thank

1:10:06you.

1:10:07Uh

1:10:08motion carries 2-0 with Vice Mayor

1:10:11absent. Thank you.

1:10:12>> Okay. Thank you.

1:10:15Okay, now next is virtual public

1:10:17comment.

1:10:19Anyone online?

1:10:20>> There are currently no requests to speak

1:10:22online for virtual public comment. Thank

1:10:24you.

1:10:24>> Okay. Unless staff has anything, we are

1:10:26adjourned.

1:10:27Okay, we are adjourned. Thank you.

1:10:29>> Thank you.

1:10:30>> Thank you.

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