September 2, 2005

Willow Glen Business Association News

Farmers’ Market to move Sept. 10

The Willow Glen Farmers’ Market opens at its new location, the parking lot behind Aqui’s, on Saturday Sept. 10 (See Willow Glen Times August issue). The Willow Glen Business and Professional Association (WGBPA) and South Bay Farmers’ Market are collaborating to enhance the market by adding attractions such as music, cooking demonstrations, kid activities and more. WGBPA’s goal is to use the farmers’ market to promote member businesses and to bring more “feet on the Avenue.”

Businesses interested in offering cooking demonstrations, children’s activities, home and garden demonstrations and live music can contact WGBPA at (408) 298-2100 or via the Internet at mia@downtownwillowglen.org The activities will be scheduled for two-hour blocks, with the exception of the music which can go on for the entire time.

The September 2005 issue of Sunset Magazine features a page on Willow Glen. Michelle Lau wrote the article for the section of Travel/Northern California Day Trip. It mentioned September is a good time to check out Willow Glen with Founder’s Day and the Palm Haven home tour on Sept. 10-11 featuring homes, antique cars, live jazz and other festivities (see related article page 7). The article also mentioned several shops on Lincoln Avenue including Gussied Up Dog Boutique, Hicklebee’s Book Store, The Grapevice, Aqui Mexican Grill and Willow Glen Frozen Yogurt.

Sewer project begins
The city of San Jose Public Works Department is preparing for the Lincoln and Willow Streets Sanitary Sewer Rehab Project. It is scheduled to start Sept. 12 on the east side of Lincoln and Minnesota.  Marvin Bamburg, MBA, chair of the Avenue Infrastructure Committee, is overseeing this project on behalf of the association. He has posted the construction schedule and locations in the window of the WGBPA’s office at 1202 Lincoln Ave.  You can also view a copy on our Web site www.downtownwillowglen.org under the “Members” section.

The association scheduled sidewalk washing for Aug. 25-26. We budgeted for a regular schedule of sidewalk cleaning for this fiscal year. Sidewalks on Lincoln Avenue between Coe and Minnesota are cleaned. With a regular schedule the sidewalks will improve with each washing.  Let us know if you see an area that needs special attention.

Inspectors from the San Jose Finance Department are visiting businesses in downtown Willow Glen to determine compliance with business tax and BID fees. They were in downtown Willow Glen the first week of August and visited many businesses requesting to see their business license. They are planning to return soon to complete visits. Remember to have your business license available. 

They want to ensure that every business has a license, the number of employees reported is still accurate, that every contractor has a license and are paying into the BID and that the license address matches the current location
The inspector in charge of downtown Willow Glen is Jennifer Wallace (408) 535-7007 or Jennifer.Wallace@sanjoseca.gov. Please call her with any questions. 

At the WGBPA’s Sept. 27 meeting at Siena Bistro on from 8 to 10 a.m., the San Jose Police Department will address issues affecting businesses on the avenue. If you have any questions or comments, e-mail WGBPA at info@downtownwillowglen.org or call (408) 298-2100.