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6.1.A. - Page 33 <br /> Mary Gallagher said she is an urban planner, referred to a letter dated February 14tn <br /> and spoke in favor of incremental improvement, more competition, and having an <br /> attractive downtown. She opined that office use is not ideal but better than a vacancy <br /> as some retail tenants are surrounded by vacancies right now. <br /> Diane Howard said she served on the City Council from 1994 to 2009 and she worked <br /> on the Downtown Precise Plan. She spoke in favor of keeping the first floor level of <br /> Broadway as retail only in the main downtown corridor, and noted that nonretail spaces <br /> would be dark at night and do not provide the foot traffic needed and there are <br /> businesses that are here because of prior use commitments. She believes the solution <br /> is not to panic and fill space with any type of use. She urged the Council to not move <br /> forward but initiate a process for a dialogue. <br /> Susie Peyton, a resident since 1993, said she helped work on the community committee <br /> to help with the parks and she expressed hope that the community here today speaking <br /> to Council can be more involved in the process. She expressed her pride, love, and <br /> willingness to help do what is best for downtown. She values that the Council allows the <br /> community to get involved in this process and why this is being rushed. She asked <br /> Council to let residents help Council do what is best for this town. <br /> Sandra Hess spoke about her family-owned property and how they have a vacancy and <br /> would like to have retail tenants. She commented that office space is more expensive to <br /> build out and they support a vital downtown and would like to build more energy, but few <br /> retail tenants come by. She said there is little office interest for the downtown but she <br /> does appreciate Council's openness to options. <br /> Michelle Fraedrich, representing multiple property owners, said tenants want to be <br /> downtown for the opportunities where they can walk and patronize retail. She said <br /> there are a lot of companies looking to see what Redwood City can offer them and said <br /> companies could help support the City and also benefit the community through <br /> innovation. She thinks this is an innovative idea and she supports it. <br /> David Wozneak, a private law enforcement non-profit business owner, said that interest <br /> is low and they have had an offer from a small credit union, but current zoning does not <br /> permit it. He opined that the proposed offer would bring in more foot traffic which is a <br /> good thing and having a restaurant is not the answer to everything. He does not think <br /> that retail is the answer to everything. <br /> John McClellan, with Colliers International, said he represents two buildings on <br /> Broadway that are priced competitively, but are vacant and he opined that it is a myth <br /> that office space will price out retail. He believes office and retail spaces will <br /> complement one another and spoke in favor of limiting the change to five years. <br /> Brett Webber, with Colliers and a resident since 1985-86, said they are working daily to <br /> make downtown better and they do not want to see vacancies. He spoke in favor of <br /> having people downtown by allowing nonretail entrepreneurs in, as they will buy food, <br /> and he also questioned how much it helps to only bring retailers in if the people are not <br /> here. <br /> SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL May 21, 2012 <br /> MEETING MINUTES PAGE 13 <br />