The Saratoga City Council on Nov. 20 unanimously approved the temporary revival of the ad hoc committee working to improve the city’s commercial scene despite disagreeing on a pilot outdoor dining program.
The ad hoc committee formed in May to come up with ideas to revitalize Saratoga’s commercial areas and proposed those ideas to the council earlier this month. While some of the ideas proposed on Nov. 6 were met with unanimous support, council members were split on advancing a pilot program that would allow a fine dining restaurant to expand its outdoor dining in the Saratoga Village.
After responding to those ideas at the council’s last meeting, council members were on track to disband the ad hoc committee at the Nov. 20 meeting.
But several members of the public urged the council to resume conversations about economic vitality, arguing that Mayor Yan Zhao – one of the no votes on the pilot outdoor dining program – misunderstood that the program would come at a cost to the city.
“Like many of my fellow residents I’m pretty appalled that our council members and that our mayor believe that our Village is thriving. It’s clearly dead. You’ve heard from our business owners; you’ve heard from residents; I see it every day. There is so much opportunity here, and we as residents want to see more done,” resident Rafiq Bawa said at the meeting.
Council member Chuck Page, also a member of the ad hoc committee, proposed an alternate motion to extend the committee’s existence by one month, giving the group time to come up with a detailed plan for a pilot outdoor dining program for a Bella Saratoga restaurant on Big Basin Way.
“It would be as detailed a plan as we could do for a business-funded expansion of the sidewalk for outdoor dining at Bella Saratoga,” Page said.
Vice Mayor Belal Aftab, who also serves on the committee, thanked staff for the work they put into the economic vitality efforts, but said the staff report presented on the item at the council’s Nov. 6 meeting may have led to some confusion because it was himself and Page who were spearheading those efforts.
“That’s why I think us continuing the ad hoc committee to come back with something more substantive to clarify some of the points where there was confusion would actually go a long way,” Aftab said.
Zhao, who voted in favor of the committee’s extension, said she was interested in seeing more possibilities to revitalize the city’s downtown but appeared to double down on her previous comments that the Saratoga Village is already vital.
“I always say we have a beautiful downtown, and this downtown has been here for more than 68 years,” she said.