PD Editorial: New parking rules are a step toward downtown Santa Rosa health

Santa Rosa officials spend a lot of time envisioning a future downtown, and justifiably so, but the city center desperately needs some attention right now.

High hopes that accompanied the reunification of Old Courthouse Square in 2017 are fading a bit as downtown businesses struggle to make ends meet.

Five restaurants within walking distance of the square have shut their doors so far this year - Jade Room, La Vera Pizza, Mercato, Stout Brothers and Tex Wasabi's - with at least one more to come soon. Gerard Nebesky says he plans to close the Fourth Street restaurant, Gerard's Paella, he opened just last year.

It isn't just restaurants. There are empty storefronts on nearly every downtown street, some of them vacant for a year or more.

Shopkeepers and restaurateurs say dimly lit streets, homelessness and city parking rules are driving customers away. “It's such a battle,” Nebesky said.

Santa Rosa can't afford to lose that battle - and not just because local leaders are counting on a future of taller buildings that combine residential and commercial space to add economic muscle and fortify cultural life in the largest city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon.

Downtown already exemplifies important local values. Most of the businesses are locally owned in a region that values farm-to-table food and locally crafted products. These businesses donate to local schools and nonprofit organizations and underwrite community events.

They need help from the city. And they need public support, too.

As has happened in business districts across the country, local shops are struggling to compete with big e-tailers, and the ripple effects spread to nearby restaurants, salons and service providers.

Tourism, another staple of the local economy, still hasn't fully rebounded from the 2017 fires. Hotel occupancy rates are down from last year, according to tourism officials, and so are retail sales. With the added threat of prolonged power outages, potential visitors may go elsewhere.

Santa Rosa's City Council took a small step this past week to encourage more people to shop and eat downtown. Since the start of 2018, the city has enforced parking meter rules until 8 p.m. - for certain meters on certain streets. The idea was to make sure “premium” parking spaces turned over regularly. The result was needless confusion, predictable frustration and $35 parking citations - more than enough to spoil a good meal.

Beginning soon - it can't come soon enough - all metered parking will end at 6 p.m. We hope that will be an incentive for people to do some of their holiday shopping downtown. Free weekend parking in city garages would be a welcome next step.

City officials will meet soon with business owners to discuss other needed changes. Restoring Old Courthouse Square was an important milestone, and long-term planning for a transit-oriented city center continues. But immediate steps are needed to give downtown a fresher, cleaner look and give visitors a greater sense of security - green waste collection, lighting, better maintenance of the square and more police patrols, among other things.

Making downtown a more attractive destination will pay big dividends for the entire city. A community that uses local services and buys local products is less susceptible to economic headwinds - and more likely to work together to solve big problems like housing, traffic and disaster recovery. Local matters.

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