At the Coronado City Council meeting on January 20, the Council discussed a Policy No. 9 request for renewed discussion on the administrative policy to reduce off-street parking requirements for counter-oriented eating and drinking establishments, as brought forth by Councilmember Mark Fleming.
Direction on this item by a previous Council chose not to include “grab and go” establishments within the City’s administrative policy. Fleming proposed revisiting that element to allow such establishments to be included in that policy, stating his concern regarding empty storefronts within the Coronado Plaza.
Fleming felt that with a changing landscape where online retail is affecting retail storefronts in Coronado, revising the policy could create additional opportunities to incentivize new businesses to invest in empty retail spaces in Coronado.
In public comment, Rena Clancy (executive director of the Coronado Chamber of Commerce) noted that the Chamber has been in communication with several parties regarding Coronado Plaza specifically, and that rising rent prices have been an issue for many businesses. Additionally, businesses have mentioned challenges with the Plaza due to the lack of visibility to the public from inside the space. As such, she said the Chamber would be in support of this kind of proposed change as a possible way to support the growth of Coronado’s business community, but made clear that the Chamber’s support would only be for the language to specify these “grab and go” establishments as brick and mortar businesses.
Councilmember Carrie Downey asked about the Plaza property owner, feeling it wasn’t necessarily the City’s job to fill the Plaza’s empty storefronts, especially when the owners have not engaged in any refurbishing of the hallways, reworking of the parking lot prices given its very low usage due to the high price point ($70/day), and so forth. She also felt that expanding the policy to include venues that don’t require parking would be like rewarding the owner despite this bad faith behavior and past violations.
Clancy agreed there is frustration among businesses there with that owner, but as the City doesn’t have any rent policies for private ownership and the Chamber doesn’t have any authority to exercise any power over them, the Chamber’s goal is to take these kinds of opportunities to support the individual businesses where they can. Clancy added in response to a question from Mayor John Duncan that the ownership of the Plaza building changed in 2022 when it was purchased by the current owner.
In discussion, all council members appreciated Fleming raising the issue with the empty storefronts and felt it was important to look into, but largely felt more information was needed to determine whether or not such a change would be feasible without having to re-open the City’s Local Coastal Program and Orange Avenue Corridor Specific Plan to the California Coastal Commission’s Review, as well as on the Plaza space and businesses in particular to determine the best course of action, if any.
In addition to bringing up her concerns around changes the City’s plans with the Coastal Commission, Downey also felt strongly that the City has done a lot with the Orange Avenue plan to assist businesses in town, and that the proposed change in the Policy No. 9 request could invite a larger shift in Coronado’s business district that would be less aligned with the original intent of the document to create a space of both dining and retail venues for people to enjoy.
Downey suggested that, if empty storefronts are the main concern, a better place to start before jumping to changing the City’s policy would be to gather more information from businesses, the Chamber, and the Coronado Tourism Improvement District (CTID) about what could be addressed, and then figure out the best solution to do so.
Duncan agreed that the Plaza space is currently underutilized, but didn’t think the proposed change would necessarily impact parking in a huge way should “grab and go” venues move into it, due to their nature. He agreed that the Council could continue this discussion as an agenda item in the future once more information regarding the Coronado Plaza, in particular, is available to the Council.
Councilmember Kelly Purvis also noted her weariness around any reduction to parking requirements, given the increasing difficulty for finding parking in town, especially during holidays. She suggested tabling this item for the time being so staff can focus on current items and projects, and perhaps anticipate further discussion on it in tandem with future discussion around the outdoor dining policy that originated during the pandemic and further reduced parking availability. She would also want to work further with the Chamber to collect data on parking usage at the Plaza and the status of the businesses and empty storefronts.
Fleming added that he would support the idea of bringing in a consulting firm to collect data on what visitors and residents are looking for in terms of their experience in Coronado’s business district.
With such direction provided to City staff within their discussion, staff will look further into ways to support Coronado’s businesses, especially in regards to the empty storefronts within the Coronado Plaza at their convenience and, if appropriate, come back before the Council at a future date to discuss further action at that time.
The Council also provided full support to authorize the City to move forward with the Shore Median SR-75 project with both additives as recommended by City staff to widen the unused section of the median and extend the median landscaping through that section. The project will remove the unsafe northern crosswalk in front of the Shores at Avenida De Las Arenas and make the safer, southern crosswalk the sole SR-75 crosswalk at that location. Part of the funding for this project will also come from the Hotel del Development funds.
During this meeting, Downey was also nominated by Duncan to continue on for the next year as Coronado’s Mayor Pro Tempore, and her nomination was unanimously supported by the Council.
Kathy Prout was also recognized at the meeting with a proclamation celebrating her dedication to military families and the key role she played in advocating for national reform to restore earned survivor benefits. Prout has also served as a leader and advisor within the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and has received multiple honors for the impact her work has had. Mayor Duncan proclaimed January 20, 2026, as Kathy Prout Day in Coronado.
VOL. 116, NO. 5 – Feb. 4, 2026