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6 CHAMBER <br />REDWOOD CITY <br />SAN MATEO COUNTY <br />October 14, 2019 <br />Mayor Bain and Honorable Members of the City Council <br />City of Redwood City <br />1017 Middlefield Road — P.O. Box 361 <br />Redwood City, CA 94063-0391 <br />Dear Mayor Bain and Honorable Members of the Redwood City City Council, <br />On behalf of the Redwood City -San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce, thank <br />you for initiating the Downtown Retail Action Plan. We cannot express how <br />impressed we were with the hard work that was done by City Staff over the <br />course of the last couple of years to formulate this plan. <br />City Staff has done a phenomenal job engaging the community including the <br />Businesses and Downtown property owners from the beginning. We are <br />appreciative of the composition of the Downtown Retail Task Force membership, <br />the consulting support provided to support the project, the meetings and the <br />listening that has occurred. Numerous presentations at the Chamber and the <br />Redwood City Improvement Association Committees were made. In both groups, <br />consistent concerns have been raised around three issues: 1) a potential retail <br />storefront vacancy tax, 2) not allowing banks on key corners of the Downtown, <br />and 3) addressing retail policies with historic buildings project based. <br />We are all key stakeholders and partners in implementing a successful Retail <br />Action Plan and creating a vital Downtown. While we support most of the policy <br />recommendations, we remain concerned about the City's Retail Consultants one <br />key finding of not allowing Banks or Financial entities on high traffic corners. We <br />believe this should be a project -based decision rather than a policy. Please <br />continue to review each project individually and let the merits and balance of the <br />project as a whole remain as a decision that the Council will make. <br />We appreciate your time and consideration. <br />Amy N. Buckmaster <br />President and CEO <br />Redwood City/San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce <br />1450 Veterans Boulevard • Suite 125 • Redwood City, California 94063 <br />• 650.364.1722 • Fax 650.364.1729 <br />www.redwoodcitychainber.com • amvCredwoocicitychamber.com <br />