March 7, 2023

Dear San Anselmo Business Owners & Property Owners:

Live on the Avenue 2022 wrapped in October to great applause and once again we learned quite a bit. We are pleased to announce that we are making plans for this coming summer’s Live on the Avenue series in downtown San Anselmo.

As you are aware the temporary Creek Park Plaza was shut down by the County Flood District in September of 2022.  Discussions are currently underway between the Town and the County to determine next steps. Currently the County is moving ahead with their plans to remove Building Bridge 2/Creek Park Plaza this year.  With that in mind, we are building in some contingency plans for this year’s event series.

Joy & Community – Survey results were overwhelmingly positive
 

Once again, the community filled the downtown closed Avenue and the Town parks to listen to music, visit with friends and family, play on the Avenue, and enjoy our downtown restaurants and shops that stayed open for the festivities. We heard from nearly 700 people who took the Town survey about the event series – 96% felt the event series was very good to excellent, and 98% said they would definitely return in 2023.

95% were satisfied with the timing of the music, but we heard from many young families who asked for things to get underway a little earlier with some earlier entertainment for their young children.  96% were satisfied with the number of concerts offered.
 
 People came downtown for the music, and they loved the variety and want more of it. They also want some volume control since some of the bands got a little loud.

We also heard that food is important, and people want more takeaway food they can eat in the parks or on the Avenue – mentioning that they would love more of the local restaurants to offer quick, easy options to enjoy in the parks and add more variety of food options.

“It’s a shame more stores aren’t open to capture business or promote themselves,” was a common refrain in the survey.  People were looking for more to do on the Avenue and while they were strolling around, visiting stores that were open was a highlight.

Safety was a theme – 96% were satisfied with the street closures and they mentioned often how much they loved the closed streets, but they also wanted them to be safe. They emphasized that no cars be left on the Avenue once it was closed, since any vehicles trying to leave once people were in the streets felt unsafe.  And there was also concern about cyclists riding through the crowds – signaling a need for more safety oversight.

Finally, the 2022 series ran July – mid October, with the Chamber adding June events as well.  This year, after reviewing survey feedback and discussion with the Chamber, it was determined that starting in mid-June and ending at the end of September made better sense.  Graduation weekends tend to be well attended and festive, and October weather can be unpredictable, and the daylight is waning during the event.

2023 Series Program Plan:

With all the valuable feedback in mind we have developed a plan for this year’s series:

When:             Friday and Saturday Nights
Dates:             June 9, 2023 – Sept. 30, 2023
 
Street Closure Timing: 5:30-10:00pm (soft closure at 4:30 pm)

Live Music: Times will vary, but most entertainment will occur between 5:30-9:00 pm

Music Location: Town Hall Plaza (will add Creek Park - if the County flood work doesn’t occur)

Avenue Pedestrian Safety

• Depending on recruiting and onboarding, the Town is hoping to have a dedicated Central Marin Police Authority officer to monitor street closure and safe car removal + cyclists walking bikes on the closed Avenue.
• Closure on San Anselmo Avenue; from Tunstead to Tamalpais Avenues:
  1. No parking zone and soft closure starts at 4:30 pm to clear the Avenue
  2. Hard street closure: 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm

Customer Parking 

• The Town will once again be providing multiple zones with free and enforced 30-minute parking spaces from 4:30-6:00 pm on Fridays & Saturdays to help with customer parking.
• The designated zones are the Town Hall parking lot (3 spaces), the Creek Park lot (3 spaces close to the Redwood Grove if the County work does not happen), and the Creek Park lot (3 spaces closest to the Coffee Roaster’s Bridge). All the spaces will be clearly marked. Please find a map below with a visual of the exact locations.

Music & Family Entertainment

• Live music will take place on Fridays and Saturdays between 5:30 - 9:00 pm at Town Hall Plaza. (and Creek Park if the County does not follow through with their flood mitigation)
• There will be a diverse range of musical genres as well as more family entertainment in Imagination Park and up and down the Avenue.
• Information about evening entertainment will be available at: www.SanAnselmoLive.com

Town Marketing Plan
Once again, we are happy to provide each customer-facing business with tools to help promote Live on the Ave, and clear up any confusion over parking, timing and traffic flow:

• Posters for your storefront (with QR code)
• Postcards for your register counter for customers to grab for quick info (with QR code)
• New: Postcards that explain the 30-minute parking option for customers who aren’t staying for the Live on the Avenue festivities but need to visit a store on the closed Avenue.

Other Promotions

• Town web page with detailed and updated information (easily found via QR code on all materials)
• Light post banners down the Avenue and a banner strung across Tunstead Avenue at the Town entry
• Social media posting - Town manager weekly newsletter, Instagram, Facebook, and NextDoor
• Creek Park kiosk updated with information about the Reimagination plans 
• Updated parking notices and signage along the avenue – highlighting the Friday and Saturday closures.

Food Options:

We have formed a restaurant brainstorming group to discuss the options for providing the Live on the Avenue audience with more grab and go food options.  We would love to have any restaurant owners/managers join in on the discussion so we can work towards solutions to feed the hungry crowds.  Please contact us at: kwarner@townofsananselmo.org

Questions/Comments?

We’d like to hear from you! Please email us at: recreation@townofsananselmo.org

The Town Council will be considering and taking action on the details of the 2023 Live on the Avenue series plans at their meeting on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 pm. We’d love to hear your questions and comments prior to that meeting and we encourage you to attend the meeting to show your support.

It’s going to be another hot summer in San Anselmo with Live on the Avenue!

Respectfully,

Mattie O’Grady & Kelley Warner

Mattie O’Grady – Recreation Supervisor

Kelley Warner – Community Engagement Coordinator