Hollister
– The Hollister Downtown Association recently selected
Irvine-based RBF Consulting to prepare a new downtown strategy
plan.
Hollister – The Hollister Downtown Association recently selected Irvine-based RBF Consulting to prepare a new downtown strategy plan.
According to the firm’s proposal, RBF Consulting has prepared downtown plans for a number of other California cities. Members of the business community are hoping to tap that expertise to help downtown Hollister take advantage of the new Highway 25 bypass.
“Their style and their plan focused on results, not just providing us with some report to put on the shelf,” said San Juan Oaks general manager Scott Fuller, who was a member of the HDA’s nine-person selection committee.
Public officials and business owners have said downtown Hollister needs a plan to prepare for the opening of the Highway 25 bypass. The bypass should make San Benito Street more pedestrian-friendly by rerouting highway traffic to a new road east of McCray Street. City and county leaders broke ground on the project on May 1, and the bypass is expected to open by the end of 2008.
Hollister resident Tony LoBue, who recently bought a commercial building on San Benito Street, said he’s excited by the opportunities that the new bypass will provide.
“Without … pedestrian traffic, we’re not going to have successful businesses downtown,” he said.
LoBue, a former city councilman, said he’s hoping Hollister narrows San Benito Street to two lanes and uses the extra space to create diagonal or perpendicular parking spaces.
Machado said that’s exactly what the city of Livermore did when a state highway was rerouted off its main street several years ago. That strategy paid off, Machado said, and Hollister can follow Livermore’s lead.
“We’re still on the right track; it’s just not our time yet,” Machado said.
RBF Consulting comes not just with a long list of experience, but planning awards as well. The firm’s downtown-specific plan for the City of Sierra Madre won an American Planning Association Award for its public outreach in 2005. John Gillison, Sierra Madre’s former city manager, said that although the specific plan has since been caught up in political turmoil, he’s still happy with RBF’s work.
“It was a very well-designed outreach process,” Gillison said.
Downtown businesses aren’t the only ones interested in revitalizing the area. Fuller said drawing more tourists to San Benito County will be key to San Juan Oaks’ success.
“San Juan Oaks and a healthy downtown go hand in hand,” he said.
Ray Becker, project manager of the proposed 6,400-unit El Rancho San Benito development, said he’s hoping to encourage the development’s residents to shop in Hollister.
“There’s going to be a lot of new buying power, and we want to work with Hollister to capture some of that,” he said.
Before even the planning can begin, HDA Executive Director Brenda Weatherly said she needs to raise some money. To foot the nearly $200,000 bill, Weatherly said she’s hoping to get funding from both community members and the city’s redevelopment agency. Anyone interested in contributing should call the downtown association at 831-636-8406, Weatherly said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
