San Juan Bautista
– According to Carolyn Roe-Gargiola, things have changed since
she opened the County Bounty gift shop three years ago.
Roe-Gargiola can remember buses bringing tourists into the Mission
City during her first year. Since then, she said, tour buses have
become a rarity, and tourists have dwindled.
San Juan Bautista – According to Carolyn Roe-Gargiola, things have changed since she opened the County Bounty gift shop three years ago. Roe-Gargiola can remember buses bringing tourists into the Mission City during her first year. Since then, she said, tour buses have become a rarity, and tourists have dwindled.
Roe-Gargiola is the vice president of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, and she has plenty of ideas about how San Juan Bautista’s financial woes can be solved – for example, opening public restrooms. She’s also clear on what’s not the answer: Franchise businesses like Starbucks and McDonald’s.
Starbucks was on the mind of many locals on Tuesday, when the City Council introduced a new ordinance that would loosen San Juan Bautista’s restrictions on formula businesses – in other words, businesses that conform to a larger chain’s appearance or business practice requirements. The council will consider approving the ordinance at its next meeting in February.
When Roe-Gargiola attended the council meeting, her top priority was keeping Starbucks out of town, and she said many of the Mission City’s business owners and residents share her concerns.
However, City Manager Jan McClintock was quick to emphasize, “There has been no application for a Starbucks in San Juan Bautista. There’s not going to be a Starbucks application, as far as we know.”
Furthermore, she said, the relaxed restrictions would still prevent a Starbucks from coming to the Mission City.
The council passed an ordinance banning formula businesses in 2004. However, McClintock said, that ordinance was accidentally removed from the books when the city code was revised last year. Now that the oversight has been discovered, the city is trying to put the ordinance back in place, but some councilmembers thought the restrictions should be loosened.
The new ordinance still forbids most formula businesses, but it does create an exception for stores that address unmet community needs. For example, San Juan Bautista doesn’t have a hardware store, and McClintock said such a store is unlikely to open if it doesn’t have the buying power of a national chain.
Jim Gibson, co-owner of the local Windmill Market, has dealt with the town’s resistance to franchises before, when the council nixed plans for a Subway next to Windmill in 2004. He said the city needs to capitalize on the traffic from Highway 156.
“(Businesses) could live off that highway,” Gibson said.
Gibson, who also co-owns Hollister Super, thinks a Starbucks or a Subway is crucial to drawing motorists off 156. He predicted that a chain restaurant would actually be a bigger benefit downtown businesses than to Windmill. But Gibson also thinks that with a the help of a neighboring franchise, Windmill’s business could eventually increase 20 or 25 percent.
Many of Roe-Gargiola’s concerns about the looser rules were addressed at the council meeting, but she’s still opposed to the idea of a chain restaurant downtown.
“There’s a possibility that a Starbucks might help me a little bit, but my overall concern is for this town,” Roe-Gargiola said.
According to her, chains would only hurt San Juan Bautista’s historic character, which is key to drawing the tourists that businesses rely on.
“We have so much charm here,” Roe-Gargiola said.
San Juan Bautista isn’t the first town to institute restrictions on formula businesses. For example, the Napa Valley city of Calistoga passed similar restrictions in 1996. According to Kent Domogalla, an administrator at Calistoga’s Chamber of Commerce, the town was up in arms about the possibility of a Taco Bell, and a ban on formula restaurants and lodgings was quickly pushed through. Since then, the restrictions have been refined.
“I think it’s worked out very well for Calistoga,” Domogalla said. He thinks the absence of chains makes the town unique and helps attract tourists, who contribute half of Calistoga’s tax revenue.
Like San Juan Bautista’s proposed ordinance, Calistoga allows some chain businesses into town – specifically, those that are still distinctive in appearance and service, even if they are connected to a larger business. However, Domogalla said, those restrictions haven’t allowed a flood of Wal-Marts and Burger Kings. Indeed, the only formula business that’s opened since the law was passed is The Lodge at Calistoga, which is a part of the Clarion Inn network.
Patricia Riley has had a real estate office in San Juan Bautista for 37 years, and she thinks the whole discussion of chain stores is moot, since a McDonald’s or an In-n-Out couldn’t support itself on San Juan Bautista’s 1,500 residents.
Riley said her business has also suffered as foot traffic has decreased, and she thinks the city government needs a clear plan to tackle these issues.
“It needs something other than the mission,” Riley said. “There isn’t one simple answer.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
