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Home My WebLink About061521 DAVE AT PETE'S BRASS RAIL - 08.1 Marie Sunseri From:dave@petesbrassrail.com Sent:Tuesday, June 15, 2021 1:11 PM To:Renee Morgan; Robert Storer; Karen Stepper; David Fong; Newell Arnerich Cc:Jill Bergman; David Crompton; Joe Calabrigo; Marie Sunseri; ceo danvilleareachamber.com Subject:TLUP discussion at Council meeting ***CAUTION*** THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM DANVILLE STAFF This email originated from outside of the Town of Danville and was not sent from a Town Staff member! Do not click on links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. Dear Council Members, As a follow-up to my email last week, I would like to send to you a few more thoughts to consider as you make your decision regarding TLUPs. I plan on attending the meeting tomorrow night and will seek to speak with you at that time. 1. The temporary measures were put in place to help struggling restaurants, retail and service businesses survive during the pandemic. Recovery is underway, but a successful rebound is still months away from being the norm. Even though we can begin to feel more optimistic about what's coming down the road, businesses still do not have any reason to expect sustained revenue levels. We need time to gauge demand for services and to be able to intelligibly create and adapt "new" business models. 2. Residents and out-of-towners overwhelmingly prefer to have the expanded outdoor dining choices currently available to them. More foot traffic will be generated and maintained if the temporary measures remain in place. If they go away, guests will seek other destinations that continue to offer these, including Walnut Creek, Concord and Martinez, to name just a few. 3. The "costs" of keeping these measures in place can be dealt with as isolated incidents. Noise, garbage, sidewalk traffic, etc can all be dealt with on a case by case basis because their occurrence is exceedingly minor relative to the benefit that these measures bring about. Create an official ordinance, if that would make things easier to manage. 4. Just as the pandemic forced business owners to adapt instantaneously and without a blueprint because time was of the essence, we still need time to adapt to whatever the newest data reveals to us in the several months that are to come. If we can gather this type of data for the next several months about consumers preferences and spending, then we can begin to construct workable business models for the future. We all know that capital expenditures are as much about time as they are about money. I would add the additional factor of timing. Asking us to remove the parklets and other temporary measures by July 31 or Aug 23 hurts us disproportionately to the intended outcome. End of summer and the Fall months are our busiest for outdoor dining. Expecting (or hoping?) us to somehow budget for, arrange for architects, contractors and inspections, and build out improved permanent structures in the midst of the time when our outdoor spaces are in highest demand is untenable. Please allow us to utilize these spaces to the maximum during the Fall season so that we can assess the viability of improving these spaces for the long term. In this case, we could use the late Fall and beginning of winter to take these steps, and utilize the slower period of winter to take on the actual improvement process. I thereby ask you to extend the TLUPs through December 31, but also suggest we begin the discussion process of what comes next on November 1, by which time we can assess the data that we can collect in the interim period. Thank you for your consideration, Dave -----Original Message----- From: "dave@petesbrassrail.com" <dave@petesbrassrail.com> Sent: Friday, June 11, 2021 3:21pm To: "Renee Morgan" <rmorgan@danville.ca.gov>, kstepper@danville.ca.gov, nnarnerich@danville.ca.gov, rstorer@danville.ca.gov, dfong@danville.ca.gov Cc: "Drew Nichols" <coachdrewnichols@yahoo.com>, darren@danvilleharvest.com, "Rod Worth" 1 <rworth@rodneyworth.com>, curtis@esinrestaurant.com, rnegi@aol.com, angelap@bluelinepizza.com, normsgrille@hotmail.com, ebaycicikiki@hotmail.com, cedolini@icloud.com Subject: Danville restaurant recovery Dear Town Council Members, I would like to offer some input as you continue to deliberate over the details of the planned reopening that has been declared for June 15th. I try to speak as a representative of many other restaurateurs who are similarly affected, but freely admit that things which may or may not be advantageous/disadvantageous for me may be the complete opposite for others. Having said this, here are the things that are rattling around in my brain: Repealing or scaling back access to temporary relief for structures, parklets or other emergency accommodations would be premature at this time. We are still desperately trying to claw our way back from the depths of last year's challenges. Yes, revenues are beginning to rebound, but the ability to continue this trend with an unknown operating environment is unproven. We have no data upon which we can rely to make accurate business plans for the next 6+ months. It's a welcome change to theoretically be open at 100% indoor dining, but we still have no idea whether this is what will help us most - I easily envision a scenario where customers still prefer to sit outdoors (where it is thought to be safer) through the winter time provided we keep them warm and dry. This would not be possible unless we are allowed to keep our temporary accommodations The idea of choosing between the parade or parklets is moot. One need not choose. Having spoken with Kiwanis, they've assured me that the parade can proceed without a hitch even if parklets are still in place. I've heard the same from the Fire District. Also, many of the parklets and temporary structures aren't even on the direct parade route and would offer no impediment whatsoever to the parade. If the Town is looking to remove these things for other reasons, then please be transparent, declare it thus, and have an actual dialogue over the facts (which any of the merchants would. be happy to share) - please don't use the parade as an excuse. Uncertainty - this has been the emotional challenge of the entire Covid debacle. Yes, having our business reduced by 2/3 or more has been devastating during Covid, but it is the difficult task of trying to run a business without any advance warning of changes to our operating business parameters or customer environment that causes the biggest challenge. For example, we are within a week of being allowed to open to 100%, but still have no guidance from OSHA as to under what conditions we will be required to operate. This condition of not knowing can only be alleviated by one thing - more time. Please give us more time in which we can begin to collect data about customers needs, wants and preferences (in the new, updated environment), and then to formulate an intelligent plan of service. And then we need time to be able to adapt our physical environment tp match the customer marketplace. Just as the Town decided it needed more time to plan the necessary accommodations to host a parade, (and that's why the July 4th parade was postponed) we need time AFTER we've collected customers' preferences in order to made changes and adjustments - they can not happen simultaneously. If there are other compelling reasons to change the operations under which we are operating, then let's talk about it. All that I hear from customers is that they want the increased choices of dining outdoors on an ongoing basis in the future. Please don't take that away without an inclusive discussion over what these factors are. Our industry is still in emergency mode - we haven't been able to relax in more than a year - Please allow us the time to make adjustments once we've been able to collect data, and not force us into making immediate adjustments before Aug 23 without first seeing what will actually be needed or appreciated by our customers. I am available anytime to talk about any of these issues and to elaborate with more details. Thank you, Dave Homer 925-528-8302 Owner, Pete's Brass Rail & Car Wash 2