Can Saratoga Village’s downward spiral find an upswing?

For the last year the site of the Rose Sector a Mediterranean store has been closed and drew questions from passerby about what might take its place a common occurrence in Saratoga Village There were about vacant storefronts in the Village based on an informal count about a month ago disclosed Mayor Belal Aftab The issue posed by vacancies is twofold If there aren t enough stores downtown then people aren t drawn to the area And if there aren t people shopping prospective business owners are less likely to set up shop there It can become pretty briskly a downward spiral Aftab mentioned Councilmember Kookie Fitzsimmons has lived in Saratoga for over years Growing up she revealed she and her siblings would pile into a station wagon and pick up their school uniforms try on shoes and stop by the bakery in the Village In her memory it was a quaint small town life where the nearest hardware store or grocery store was downtown But that s not the circumstance in Saratoga nowadays Aftab declared part of the reason why there hasn t been a lot of foot traffic in the Village was due to the construction of Highway The Village is located on Big Basin Way which indeed runs along Highway Aftab recalled that when he was growing up traffic had to use Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road which connects to Highway to get around Saratoga But since traffic has been diverted to Highway tens of thousands of cars that used to regularly drive by downtown haven t done so since the s The mayor added that another reason for declining foot traffic is that more people are shopping online He declared that while Los Gatos and Campbell are closer to freeways and therefore more accessible Saratoga is a little more out of the way Jim Cargill incoming Chamber of Commerce president noted the lack of foot traffic may also be influenced by the fact that multiple businesses in the Village tend to close early Those factors combine to make downtown Saratoga more of a destination shopping spot rather than an area where shoppers visit multiple stores in one visit Fitzsimmons echoed this sentiment saying that the industry demands in the Village are not the same as they were when she was growing up It just evolves and changes and there s nothing wrong with that announced Fitzsimmons You need to evolve you need to change if you re going to survive This issue isn t confined to Saratoga Village Prospect Avenue also has certain vacant storefronts Aftab noted Despite this he explained that the vacancies in Saratoga Village aren t a huge issue to the city council because sales taxes make up very little of the city s revenue Sales tax revenue is aggregated with revenue from transient occupancy taxes in the city budget and is listed under other taxes In the fiscal year other taxes only raised about million Most of of the money in Saratoga is raised through property taxes which brought in a whopping million in the same time period To tackle the vacancies a group of residents known as the Saratoga Vitality Neighbors have taken to encouraging businesses and the city council to prioritize advancing use businesses in the Village Operational use refers to businesses like retail stores or restaurants that are meant to inspire pedestrian traffic or activity usually at the ground level of streets or around constituents open space Usually businesses at ground level are meant to be advancing use but in Saratoga offices are allowed with a conditional use permit The Neighbors group argue that prioritizing proceeding use businesses can prevent any more closures from happening by stirring up the downtown commercial sector Sheryl Cancellieri owner of the building at Big Basin Way explained that after the Rose Sector shopkeepers left the site they started remodeling the whole building for what she hopes will be a mixed restaurant and retail concept I see this time of vacancies as opportunities to bring in a handful of ongoing storefronts with strong business concepts and operators to thrive here in Saratoga Cancellieri mentioned The neighborhood wants new businesses to be here and are ready to assistance However Cargill noted that there should be a balance between wet businesses like retail restaurants and services and dry businesses like professional offices There demands to be a mix of businesses and a symbiosis You can t have restaurants and you can t have hair salons Cargill declared Aftab explained it would take a combination of short- medium- and long-term policies to revitalize the Village Chosen of his suggestions included a law that would require landlords to pay more for vacant spaces to encourage them to find renters upgrading buildings for mixed commercial and housing use or streamlining the process for business owners to set up shop and encouraging outdoor dining As people are aging in place you need places to go and walk and see people and so a thriving downtown is indeed good for all of us Aftab commented