Politics & Government

Council Will Mull Kayak Kiosk Idea

Rebuffed last year, Sunset Bay Kayaks returns under different circumstances to request a kiosk location.

Although rebuffed by the City Council last year, Trish Abbatiello of is not giving up on her request to have an information and storage kiosk at the waterfront that would serve to boost her business and others around the waterfront.

The City Council will revisit the issue tomorrow night at 7 p.m.

Last time, the majority of the council worried what would happen if other businesses came along and wanted kiosks at the waterfront, but so far no other business has come up with that request.

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Add to that the city’s loss of redevelopment money, the prime engine for molding, shaping and transforming the waterfront, and the issue could change this time around.

The eight-foot-in-diameter kiosk would be built by Abbatiello with no cost to the city. A sticking point may be where the city feels the location wouldn’t be in violation of the Bay Conservation & Development Commission’s rules, a little-known bureaucracy that creates regulations for waterfront areas.

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According to city documents, the area would be in the temporary parking lot at the northeast corner of Main Street and Solano Street.

But in an interview, Abbatiello said that location would be useless because people walk down the waterfront, not Main Street. She feels because the kiosk would be just that – no sewer, water or electrical hookups – it should be allowed to be moved closer to the waterfront.

Her ideal location is just north of , in the unoccupied gravel lot.

Abbatiello’s business is seasonal, but during the summer of 2011, it brought in an estimated 400 people to Suisun City’s waterfront area. In a tally of Sunset Bay Kayaks customers, she calculated that many people came from other parts of the Bay Area and the kayak trip was their introduction to the waterfront.

Indeed, when Trish is around the dock area during the summer time, she says she often fields questions from visitors not only about her business, but the waterfront in general.


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