Publication Date: Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Business license? Nope -- think "registry"
Business license? Nope -- think "registry"
(October 13, 2004) After nearly a half-century debate, Palo Alto still shies away from business-license tax
by Jay Thorwaldson
Forget about a "business license tax" for this generation of Palo Alto city leaders.
Think "Business Registry," instead.
That term surfaced in materials prepared for the Tuesday evening study session on a "Retail Action Plan" -- part of Mayor Bern Beecham's initiative to safeguard the community's sales-tax revenues that help fund city services. Council members can comment and ask questions but take no definitive action as a group in a study session.
The registry would enable the city to track the comings and goings, size and other features of businesses in the community. City officials emphasize it's not a license tax in disguise.
"They wanted to stress the point that it would only be a cost-recovery program, not to raise revenues," Planning Director Steve Emslie said of the registry proposal. At most, businesses would be charged $20 to $25 per year, he said.
Palo Alto is one of the few cities in the Bay Area that does not have a business-license tax as a revenue source.
As a consequence, no one knows for sure -- not the Planning Department, not the Chamber of Commerce -- just how many businesses are operating in town at any given time, Emslie noted.
If approved subsequently by the council, the registry could be implemented by early 2005, he said.
Other elements of the Retail Action Plan include making parking easier in commercial areas, revising the city's Zoning Code for commercial areas, and updating the sign-ordinance to increase flexibility.
The idea is to "try to simplify the process" of signage while adding some flexibility and to make sure commercial districts "have the right development standards to allow businesses to grow and thrive, but without impacting adjacent neighborhoods," Emslie said.
"It's always a challenge when you have commercial areas surrounded by neighborhoods," he noted.
Emslie said he city's long-awaited "Zoning Ordinance Update," whereby the Zoning Code is aligned with the last Comprehensive Plan revision, should be completed early in 2005 for the city's residential zones and by the end of 2005 for commercial areas -- under the wire for the next Comprehensive Plan revision process that is scheduled to begin in 2007. The last plan revision was in 1996.
Beecham in March created a committee to explore what could be done to enhance the retail environment to safeguard sales-tax revenues for the city. One outgrowth was a recent plan to revise regulations for car dealerships.
Committee members Terry Shuchat, who founded the Keeble & Shuchat photography business 39 years ago, and Barbara Gross, manager of the Garden Court Hotel, each gave brief outlines on "What retailers told us" and the committee process.
Shuchat compared what it was like starting a business in the mid-1960s to today.
Besides rent being drastically lower ($300 a month) then, a new small business only needed a phone line and a ledger book, Shuchat noted. There was no burglar alarm and no special alarm fee to the police department, no fax, no computers, no Internet or Web site, and no sewer, water or hazardous-chemicals fees to various agencies or departments.
Many small camera stores have gone out of business, but hard work and attention to giving customers good service -- plus some good competitive luck -- paid off, he said.
Gross said retailers told them in a series of meetings that the city needs actively to encourage residents to shop locally -- as Councilwoman Dena Mossar urged as mayor last year.
Accessible parking is critical, she said -- along with signs and materials to clearly guide people to where parking is located.
"I think it was a good exercise," Gross said of the process. "Everybody went into it thinking they were willing to put in the time because they felt it was such an important topic -- and it needs to stay on top of everyone's list."
Weekly Editor Jay Thorwaldson can be e-mailed at jthorwaldson@paweekly.com.
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