I have often been asked “Is Foster City really a business friendly community?” My answer is “Yes, for a business that is compatible to Foster City!” So what makes a business compatible to Foster City? A better question would be what businesses are needed in Foster City? These are good questions and will require careful study. The answers will impact the citizens of our town.
Foster City was conceived with a full array of retail stores located in shopping centers at Port’O’Call, and Marlin Cove. The bookstores and department stores failed when Hillsdale became a fully enclosed Shopping Mall that offered more selection and competitive prices. Only the essential services such as grocery stores, dry cleaners, and good quality food service businesses succeeded.
Two Big Box type retail stores, Orchard Supply Hardware and Costco opened in Foster City and are successful because they not only meet Foster City’s community needs, but also satisfy the needs of surrounding communities on both sides of the Bay.
As a Corporate Headquarters, Foster City has become a highly desirable location. Vintage Park is an attractive campus-like area that offers both a peaceful and safe location for corporate headquarters with adequate research and development capacity.
Foster City’s clean, peaceful, and safe location enables Orchard Supply Hardware and Costco to attract customers from adjacent communities. Foster City’s Police and Fire Departments, with their full Paramedic services, enhance the local shopping environment and are a significant advantage for retail businesses.
Foster City’s strict sign ordinances are often questioned as not being retail business friendly. The Foster City Chamber of Commerce reports that some of their members are requesting changes that would permit electronic signs, scrolling signs, and neon signs.
Changes to enable signs on large buildings are also being requested. The Community Development Department has scheduled public meetings on April 19th and 28th, May 5th and 16th to evaluate these requests. I urge every resident to follow these public meetings carefully. They will be available on FCTV Channel 27.
I will examine the merits of these requested sign ordinance changes based on the impact the changes could have on our residents and on how effective the changes would be on bringing business revenue to Foster City.
We should always keep in mind that the principle source of revenue in Foster City is Property Tax. Any changes in the sign ordinance that negatively impacts property value must be made up by increased business sales tax revenue. I just don’t foresee that happening.
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