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Politics & Government

City Extends Deadline to February for New Guidelines on Sidewalk 'Clutter'

Downtown Business District to present guidelines for regulating sidewalk displays at City Council's Feb. 7 meeting.

 

During a joint Healdsburg City Council/Planning Commission meeting Tuesday night at Healdsburg City Hall, the Downtown Business District was given until February to devise new guidelines for regulating sidewalk displays and advertisements used by businesses to attract passing customers.

In imposing the Feb. 7 deadline, the city extended its existing deadline of Dec. 17, .

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“I understand why you want to postpone this – it’s the busiest time of the year,” said Councilmember Gary Plass.

after telling Tuesday’s joint panel that the district needed extra time to solicit greater numbers of business owners for their input on drafting the guidelines.

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“We would just like a little more time to do this right – some businesses have very different needs than others,” said Anderson, who owns the downtown bed and bath store, Anderson added that downtown merchants are overwhelmingly on board with the idea of new rules addressing sidewalk displays.

“There was no feeling of, 'Why are they making us do this?'” Anderson said, describing the attitudes of merchants who attended recent DBD meetings about city’s intention to regulate sidewalk displays. “We all recognize the issues involved. (City officials) have been very lenient, and we appreciate that, and we appreciate you working with us to find a solution.”

The Council first addressed the issue of sidewalk “clutter” during its Oct. 26 meeting, when officials expressed concern that the practice of packing the sidewalk with display racks, stand-up signs, banners and other outdoor pieces was, in some places, creating unsightly conditions and potential trip hazards.

City ordinances forbid such displays, but the rules have mostly gone unenforced, according to Healdsburg Senior Planner Lynn Goldberg. The city did effectively crack down on the unchecked growth of sidewalk displays in 2003, but the insidious problem of expanding clutter has resurfaced, Goldberg said.

For business owners, sidewalk exhibitions are an important way of advertising deals and merchandise to passersby, Anderson said.

“It’s a huge issue for a lot of stores, because they use that space in front of the store to attract people’s attention and draw them in,” she said. “Right now, you can’t (legally) have anything on the sidewalk.

"The city has been very nice about letting store owners do it, but some have abused that and it’s now reached the tipping point,”  she said.

Even among merchants, outsized displays have sparked some controversy. For example, Anderson said some merchants have anonymously complained to the city about neighboring businesses flooding the walkway with too much stuff.

Anderson called such anonymous complaints “immature,” adding that the merchant association’s February proposal is likely to recommend an “ad hoc task force” that will address specific objections in a systematic and formal way.

She said the DBD is also considering rules that would stipulate a maximum size for display items but would also allow merchants with some particular need to apply for a special permit granting larger displays.

She added that the DBD would use e-mail questionnaires and door-to-door polling in its quest to secure feedback from all of the 400 or so downtown business owners.

“This could be a great opportunity for you to show us how this might happen in a way that could appeal to your customers while still keeping in mind that people are walking through,” Mayor Tom Chambers told Anderson after her presentation.

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