Developing Hayward's Downtown
In Which: Council discusses ways to revive Downtown, Councilmembers take aim at unhoused and street vendors, and Police Captains get raises despite massive deficit.
City Explores Ways To Boost Business Downtown
On September 23rd, the City Council took their first look at plans to make Downtown more business-friendly. The Planning Commission took a look at the plan at the end of August, and the presentation was mostly the same. We took a deep look at the Staff Report, the data, and the strategies the City is considering in the story below.
Collin Thormoto
To briefly recap, Downtown has been struggling and it’s not a secret. Some of that is outside of the City’s control, but there are some things that they can do to try to make things more vibrant and encourage businesses to open. Broadly speaking, the City wants to remove barriers—many uses require permits that are expensive and time-consuming—especially for businesses that cater to downtown consumers.
The three main groups, identified by an outside consultant, are Significant Singles, Flourishing Families, and Family Union. The report said that there is likely enough demand for full-service restaurants, ethnic grocery stores, clothing stores, stationary stores, and more Downtown, but customers are likely going elsewhere because they don’t exist. But as Economic Development Director, Paul Nguyen, pointed out to the City Council, there are many factors that the City can’t control.
An important barrier to a vibrant Downtown night life has been the City’s 2013 Cabaret Ordinance, which regulates any event or place where live entertainment is provided, “including but not limited to: singing, playing music, dancing, performing karaoke, acting, holding a fashion show, performing pantomime, performing comedy or other act or performance and to which admission” that is available without a cover charge.
The Cabaret Ordinance, which then-Councilmember Mark Salinas voted in favor of, has a very robust application process, potentially involving approval by the Planning Commission. Regardless, it’s widely believed that it has had a strong chilling effect on the entertainment business in Hayward—especially Downtown.
Concerned Citizens Push For More Moral Downtown
A series of public comments from the Hayward Concerned Citizens urged the City Council to adopt a more conservative vision of Downtown Hayward. Theresa Rezentes called specifically to “advocate for a Downtown Hayward that is more moral.” She and her fellow Concerned Citizens spoke against Entertainment Zones that allow drinking in public, as well as massage parlors, adult stores, and cannabis businesses.
Suzanne, also a member of Hayward Concerned Citizens, spoke harshly against the unhoused residents who frequent Downtown. She also spoke against street vendors, casting both as needing to be taken care of to support local businesses.
TJ, another Concerned Citizen, also spoke against unhoused people Downtown, specifically targeting the Regis Village project, which is near Downtown. She hinted that its very existence would be a problem for Downtown businesses. “I don’t want to put the cart before the horse and say ‘Lets bring all this new stuff in the Downtown and still have people hanging out that are acting up.’”
However Councilmember George Syrop later pushed back on the idea that cannabis and adult stores are inherently bad for the City. “Complaints like that can feel disingenuous,” he said, “when we have a high density of bars and alcohol is statically linked to more casualties, disease, and crime than cannabis or vibrators.” He encouraged the City to examine biases and to make data-driven decisions, instead of relying on moral panic.
Getting Out Of Their Own Way
Many on the City Council supported streamlining permitting and approvals in an effort to make it easier for businesses to start. “I just want to make sure that we’re not that cause,” Councilmember Angela Andrews said. City Staff said that the Development Services, Fire, Public Works departments are meeting to discuss how things can be streamlined, as well as addressing problem projects that have required a lot of back and forth discussion.
Councilmember Andrews encouraged Staff to centralize permitting—a kind of one-stop-shop—and to meet regularly with external groups to get real-time feedback on the process changes. Staff had mentioned earlier in their presentation that they were meeting regularly with the Chamber of Commerce. “Communication, coordination, clarity is what I’m looking for,” she said.
Councilmember Dan Goldstein asked if Staff could consider breaking up the large package of proposals and focus on quick and easy fixes. He also encouraged looking at the things that currently require Administrative Use Permits and Conditional Use Permits—which can take months to process and cost thousands of dollars. He suggested that some “actually are… red tape.”
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Councilmember Syrop suggested a goal for the City should be to make one visit enough. “There’s an East Asian country that has this North Star that says it should only take one visit for a business owner to get everything they need from the public agency they’re interfacing with.” And while he recognized that it was a very difficult thing to accomplish, he suggested it was a worthwhile goal.
Councilmember Syrop also pushed for the City to abandon an ordinance that requires food establishments to have no more than 50% of sales come from alcohol. He said that Hayward was the only City with such a restriction. “If no other Cities have it,” he said, “I don’t see why we should have to keep it.”
Safety And Who Belongs Downtown
Safety was also a major talking point for the City Council. Councilmember Andrews tied her comments to the calls from Hayward Concerned Citizens and tied the idea of safety Downtown to the St. Regis project. However, no specifics were discussed beyond the fact that another information session is in the works. She also alluded to some information about the Hayward Police Department and the Downtown BART station, but did not mention anything specific beyond saying, “I hope that can move the needle in terms of safety Downtown.”
Councilmember Francisco Zermeno pushed for an idea—which City Staff had already explained was impossible due to State Law in a different meeting—to limit street vendors to one location. He said it is a common practice in many Latin-American countries, including Mexico and Guatemala.
He then shared anecdotes about how street vendors are harming brick-and-mortar businesses, before suggesting harsh measures. “I want to hopefully convince you,” Councilmember Zermeno said, “that we should have zero tolerance for street vendors or mobile restaurants and unhoused in our Downtown. And I think that will help our business owners.”
Street vendors continued to be a source of concern for City Councilmembers, specifically in regards to Accessory Commercial Units (ACUs). The idea that food vendors moving into small-scale ACUs would somehow be harmful was also voiced by the Planning Commission. Councilmember Goldstein said, “I would not want to see, all of a sudden, more food vendors popping up.” However, when it came to arts and crafts studios or yoga studios he said, “I think that would be highly acceptable and desirable.”
Mayor Mark Salinas felt similarly. “I don’t want to see garages and people’s houses opening up as restaurants,” he said. “Objectively speaking [street vendors] are having an impact on brick and mortar [restaurants].” Mayor Salinas wanted the City to “get a handle” on street vending before considering ACUs as an option.
Councilmember Syrop was the only one who supported street vendors transitioning into ACUs. He said that ACUs are “a good opportunity to transition [sidewalk vendors] into a brick and mortar.” He stressed that ACUs should be spread throughout the City and could both drive down commercial rent—which he said is comparable to San Francisco in some areas and “really stifling our ability to attract new businesses”—and address retail and food deserts in the City.
Hayward Doesn’t Feel Like A College Town
The idea of making Downtown more vibrant was something that almost all Councilmembers agreed on. Councilmember Zermeno encouraged the Staff to consider carless weekends on B Street and parklets Downtown. He brushed off any concerns about parking by pointing out the generous parking garages and public lots nearby. Though Councilmember Roche pointed out that some women feel unsafe using those lots after dark.
Councilmember Goldstein strongly supported small-scale entertainment. “I say if somebody wants to do that and there’s no reason to deny it, just rubber-stamp the approval,” he said. Councilmember Syrop also supported making Downtown more vibrant. “This is a win-win for everyone,” he said, “as we think about how we attract other business, our businesses Downtown also benefit from that.”
But Councilmember Syrop also pointed out that there are currently a lack of options, especially for teens and college students. “A lot of folks would love to come out to the Downtown if there was more for them,” he said. “I think there is a hunger for some night life. There’s young singles who want to be out and we’re not providing that opportunity for them.” He suggested piloting entertainment zones with the potential for expansion, as well as parklets—though he stressed the need for safety plans and security around temporary structures.
Councilmember Roche supported ACUs as a way of expanding the option of night life in Hayward and bringing life to a community. “I lived in other cities where you would have a coffee shop on the corner in a residential neighborhood,” she said. She recalled corner bars in Baltimore, “it added to community,” she said. She also recommended some easy ways to bring students Downtown, “give them some cheap food, they’ll stay to have a few drinks.”
Mayor Salinas was also excited for the idea of a more vibrant night life Downtown and embracing Hayward’s college students. He was surprised that it seemed to be news that there’s a college-age student population, but nothing to do Downtown on Thursday through Friday. “There’s nothing to do down here,” he said. He highlighted the popularity of special watch parties at Buffalo Bills. “I can only imagine if there was a band in there,” he said.
He went all in on the idea of entertainment, despite his earlier support of the Cabaret Ordinance. “We should have something every night,” he said. “There should be the World Series and a DJ. It should be easy. Just make it easier to do it.” He also supported ACUs—so long as street vendors don’t use them—as he recalled Chicago neighborhood bars and restaurants, though he focused exclusively on the Mission Blvd corridor.
Empty Storefronts Are A Complicated Problem
The fact of the empty storefronts Downtown was something multiple Councilmembers addressed. Though Mayor Salinas recognized that it has been a topic of conversation for years. “I’m really trying to stay positive here,” he said, “because I feel we’ve been having this conversation up here for a long time.” The excess of vacant storefronts Downtown is something everyone notices and has strong feelings about, but, as City Staff pointed out, it happens because of a variety of factors.
Councilmember Syrop pushed for creativity on the “carrot and stick front” when it comes to vacant storefronts. The City has a vacant property ordinance, but it’s fairly weak and mostly serves to coerce property owners to secure buildings so that unhoused people can’t enter.
The Downtown Hayward Improvement Association even pushed for more teeth in the vacant property ordinance, but Economic Development Director Paul Nguyen pointed out that when someone owns the building outright, the consequences have to be incredibly severe to tip them into investing in the building enough to open it to tenants—he seemed to view incentives as favorable over punishments.
Councilmember Roche asked Staff to consider incentives to activate vacant properties like art pop-ups or pop-up stores. But Staff pointed out that those kinds of activities currently require a Temporary Use Permit, which costs $2,000 and takes 6 months to process. “That’s a big barrier to something that’s not even going to be there that long,” Senior Planner Elizabeth Blanton said.
However beyond that, the building needs to be brought up to code in order to open it— “and that’s thousands and thousands of dollars,” Mr. Nguyen said. He said that the older buildings Downtown have sat for so long and need those updates, but the owners then try to lay the cost of those upgrades on prospective tenants. “The challenge is finding the business that’s willing to pay to make all those improvements but still not own the building.” He ballparked a restaurant at needing $450,000 to $1,500,000 in improvements.
Mayor Salinas questioned whether, given all that information, it would be cheaper to just redevelop Downtown entirely. “We look at the potential of asking the building owners a different question,” he said, “and that is ‘Are you willing to bring the building down and build another building?’” He put it in very stark economic terms for the City, “The way they are right now is making absolutely nothing for us.”
Budget Warnings and Raises
Councilmember Andrews took to Public Comment to comment on the budget crisis facing the City of Hayward. She called for a “fiscal response team” to “support staff in their efforts as we continue moving forward.” She also called for transparency and for the budget to be a standing item on the City Council agendas. “At this time we are all… on the Budget and Finance Committee,” she said.
She also pushed for the Council to “be discerning with our initiatives” and for the City to revisit the Strategic Roadmap to “confirm what is essential.” She also called on State and County governments, as well as business and nonprofit partners to help the City since it is no longer able to provide the support it has in the past. “We see this type of support in other communities,” Councilmember Andrews said, “we need the support here in Hayward.”
The budget became a topic of conversation again later in the meeting when it came time to approve over $200,000 in raises for Hayward Police Captains. Councilmember Roche asked for clarification from Staff about why the Council is voting on the matter. The reason is because of contractual obligations approved by the City Council during an earlier budget cycle. “All of the increases are tied to contractual obligations,” Councilmember Roche confirmed.
Councilmember Andrews asked the City Attorney, Michael Lawson, to weigh in on the matter as a lawyer. He chose his words carefully. “The Council is constrained in not acting because of the language in the MOUs [Memoranda of Understanding],” he said, “and in that regard I think the recommendation… [is] legally defensible.” But he continued, “That doesn’t mean that compaction issues can’t or should not be examined in the future, particularly where it’s based on past practice.”
Councilmember Roche recognized that it was necessary, but also a very bad look. “Everyone deserves what they’re owed,” she said, “and what they bargained for, it’s just that given the current situation we’re in, to be showing raises is really difficult from the community’s perspective.”
Councilmember Syrop defended his previous votes for Councilmember salary increases. “I believe Council salaries ensure that these positions are more accessible to working class people and voices that are typically and systematically excluded from positions of power,” he said. And though the City Council volunteered minor cuts to their salaries, he recognized that it was largely symbolic and that larger changes that the Council needs to take responsibility for. “There are a number of reasons that we ended up here,” he said, “but the buck ultimately stops with us.”
Councilmember Andrews called on Staff to be transparent about the costs of initiatives, though Staff Reports always include a Fiscal Impact section. “Don’t continue to let us dream big when we have very small wallets,” she said.
Mayor Salinas called for a group effort across the City to help fix the budget. “This Council and this Executive Team is taking this issue very very seriously,” he said. “This is not something that is easy to work through.” He recognized how difficult it might be for the community to see Council vote for raises for the Police Captains and Police Chief, but said, “It is a vote that we are contractually obligated to take.”
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