By Pat Bietz
As a business owner in Morro Bay, I have always believed in the simple truth that positive growth only comes from change.
Braving new territory is always something that simply made sound business sense to me, so when the City of Morro Bay expressed interest in putting a parklet in front of my business (Top Dog Coffee Bar) to help all of the businesses on Main Street (and that was how it was explained to me), I could think of no serious objections.
Sure, it took up two parking spaces, but any business that is impacted because of a minor parking deletion has far greater issues than losing two spaces out of an entire block.
It was after all, directly in front of my store, so the impact on other businesses would hopefully be minor. And I figured that we should be able to withstand any additional pressure from this liability easier than some of the smaller businesses.
I also understood that as a business owner most of my life, I simply do not own the street. In truth any city can do what it wishes with parking spaces. They really did not need to discuss the matter with me, so my agreeing or not is a moot point and of no consequence either way. This is the reality of owning a business.
It was also explained to me very clearly that this was a public space, anyone could use it and just because it was in front of my store, I had no special privileges or rights. Fine. I want my street to do better. Period.
I did not expect my neighboring business to start a petition drive. My business has slowed to almost a stop, as rumors circulated about how we controlled and manipulated the parklet.
We have sent minimum wage employees home daily without them getting their full hours. These are kids, they depend on their tips, and as a result they have all struggled to make a living. I regularly apologize to them and they are aware of the issues and are disappointed by these unexpected reactions.
I was not aware that my neighbors so hated this parklet concept that they were willing to start a petition and name us, a fellow business owner in the header. This is not the Morro Bay I was familiar with.
I then realized I had to go in front of the City Council in the hopes that a 3-minute statement would be enough to change the critical negativity that we have faced in social media and the press. I outlined nine points. Here they are:
1. Top Dog did not request the parklet…period.
2. Top Dog did not request in any way, the parklet to be placed where it currently is.
3. Top Dog understands that we do not own the street, or anything on it.
4. I do not serve on any board in Morro Bay or anywhere, in any capacity where I could have used any perceived power to sway either the implementation or placement of the parklet.
5. In actuality, the parking that was lost was directly in front of Top Dog Coffee Bar.
6. For me, it is empirical evidence that positive growth only comes from change. We should at the very least, in the spirit of a unique business opportunity, be willing to give this a chance. (It is only a six short month trial period)
7. In light of the petition from my neighbor, we have to send employees home daily, due to a lack of business. Of course, after signing a petition with the offending business named in front of the offending parklet, most folks won’t visit.
8. It is my belief that after several conversations with City Manager David Buckingham that neither he nor the Council had any malicious intent or harm directed at Old Town. Rather they understand the steps we should attempt as a business community to remain economically sound. (In other words, they were trying to help us.)
9. Lastly, it saddens me that we can’t work together as a community to look forward to the future together. There is no progress in looking backwards. As a community, we must look forward and as a business owner who has created many jobs here in Morro Bay alone, it is my hope that together we can embrace a positive economic environment for us all.
I understand there are two sides to every argument. I also understand that there are times we must simply agree to disagree. But I do not understand the animosity over this issue, because no one meant any harm. Turning on each other truly is counterproductive to the larger issues we should be focusing on.
Sometimes outside pressures on business owners cause them to lose sight of the real goals and focus on non-issues. How will we be able to critically analyze the very short, 6-month test period on this pilot project, if all we do is constantly bring it up in a negative light. We won’t have the understanding to evaluate it properly, either pro or con.
During Farmer’s Market, it is packed with people, eating different food from various vendors on Saturday afternoon. It seemed like it worked for those folks. Maybe we should all relax a little and try to have some civilized conversation without the blame and finger pointing.
This is why I have decided to invite the community over for a FREE cup of coffee for two weeks to start a community-based dialog about the parklet issues. To my way of thinking, this is truly the type of coalescence our community genuinely needs.
Pat Bietz is owner of Top Dog Coffee Bar, 857 Main St., Morro Bay.
