By Linda Taaffe

Downtown merchants miffed over the Los Altos City Council’s decision to put a parking permit plan in place without their input will have the opportunity to voice their opinions July 8 during a special public hearing. The council agreed last week to possibly rescind the paid-parking idea, pending public comment from downtown merchants who said they were never notified of the city’s plan until after the council had already made its decision.

A handful of merchants urged the council last week to correct what they called a flawed notification process and to hold a public hearing regarding the parking plan. Merchants suggested the city update its database with information from its business license application records.

“We need to feel represented and listened to,” said one State Street merchant. “I am concerned and bothered by what happened.”

The problem seemed to stem from the county assessor’s tax roll database that the city used to notify downtown businesses about the plan to initiate a permit parking plan at the end of the year.

The database included the names and addresses of the property owners rather than the merchants.

The city sent a single additional notice to each building addressed to the “current occupant,” including buildings with multiple merchants.

About 25 out of 27 merchants surveyed were not notified of the pending discussions, according to an informal merchant poll.

Some merchants were prepared to wage a protest against the city, posting “public protest of public hearings” posters in their windows.

The public meeting is scheduled for 6-7 p.m., July 8, at the city council chambers.