Grant Avenue's Holiday Lights Have a New Owner This Year

"I call it sort of some bowling balls that are sitting on top of us." Stephanie Koehler, executive director of the Downtown Novato Business Association, used that phrase in front of the City Council last October, as the Marin Independent Journal reported. The bowling balls were two jobs most people walking down Grant Avenue never think about. One was wrapping the sidewalk trees in white holiday lights. The other was keeping 52 planters looking good all year.

This December, both jobs belong to the City of Novato. The lights over Grant Avenue are now a public works item. That change freed the association to spend its money on the street parties, the tree lighting and the New Year's countdown.

The Bill Behind the White Lights

The association is a nonprofit that works with the city to run downtown's business improvement district. Its money comes from an annual assessment on downtown businesses, a matching amount from the city, and vendor fees at its events. According to the Marin IJ's March follow-up, assessments run from $100 a year for small operations to $550 for financial institutions.

Those dues didn't stretch far enough. Koehler told the council the white lights on the sidewalk trees cost $93,000. The association's proposed 2026 budget of $323,000 came in $3,000 short. The IJ reported that the small gap "masked depleted reserves and cuts to upcoming holiday promotions." The association also didn't plan to raise its dues or its event-vendor fees.

So the group in charge of downtown's holiday season was cutting holiday promotion to cover the cost of holiday lights.

How the City Ended Up Holding the Lights

The handoff took one council meeting. On Oct. 28, 2025, Councilmember Kevin Jacobs asked whether Novato's Department of Public Works could take over the beautification program. City Manager Amy Cunningham said, "I do believe we would have the resources." She added that Measure M funds have made the department bigger. Councilmember Pat Eklund said she would be "very supportive." Mayor Tim O'Connor called the association's events "a highlight to our community."

The meeting minutes record the council's direction for the city to "take over the planters and the white lights." The motion passed 4 to 0. Katie Skjerping, the city's economic development manager, later told the IJ that the city took over both jobs in January. She put the city's cost at about $72,600 a year.

Jacobs had also asked whether the takeover would let the association hold its fees where they were. "It's hard times for people," he said. "Sales are down. It'd be almost a bonus to the merchants."

A Surplus for the First Time in Years

The payoff showed up in February. The council approved the association's revised budget on Feb. 24, 2026. It plans for $70,000 in assessments, a $70,000 city match and $280,100 in total revenue. It now shows a $44,587 surplus.

"The revised budget is the first in recent years to show a significant surplus as a result of the removal of those capital expenses for the Grant Avenue planters and tree white lights," Skjerping said, according to the Marin IJ. The surplus goes back into reserves.

The city's spending downtown grew too. With the lights and planters added, Novato spends about $531,000 a year on downtown on top of its match to the assessments. That money covers the tourism committee, the "Shop Local" campaign and the Tenant Improvement Grant Program, which helps businesses fix up their storefronts.

The city takes care of the street itself, including the trees, the lights and the planters. The association runs the events that bring people out onto that street.

What That Split Puts on the December Calendar

The association's biggest holiday event is back on its usual first Saturday of December.

Community Tree Lighting Festival, Saturday, Dec. 5, 4 to 7:30 p.m. The streets in Old Town close to cars and fill with live performances, artisan vendors, food and drink, and crafts for kids. Santa arrives by firetruck, and he and his elves listen to children's wish lists. The city's downtown page says the big tree stands near the Civic Green. Visit Marin lists the same date and hours. Last year's festival fell on Saturday, Dec. 6, on Grant and Sherman avenues, and the City and the association presented it together, according to the City's 2025 calendar entry.

The city's Parks, Recreation and Community Services department runs a set of events on the same weeks. Here is how the season fits together for a family planning ahead:

1. Letters to Santa, through Dec. 4. The mailbox at Novato Gymnastics Center, 950 Seventh St., is open around the clock.
2. Holiday Crafts Faire, Dec. 4 and 5. It runs at Margaret Todd Senior Center, 1560 Hill Road, on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
3. Santa photos, Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to noon. They're at the Crafts Faire and cost $5 per family. That leaves the afternoon free before the tree lighting starts at 4 p.m.
4. Gingerbread Build, Saturday, Dec. 12. Sessions start at 9:30 and 11 a.m. The 1 p.m. sensory-friendly session is new this year.
5. Bouncy Ball New Year Countdown, Thursday, Dec. 31, at noon. The association drops thousands of small bouncy balls onto the street from a ladder truck 40 feet up. Kids get a souvenir hard hat and can keep as many balls as their pockets and buckets will hold.

The tree lighting and the countdown are both association events, and both are built around a firetruck or a ladder truck. Those are the kind of downtown traditions that a budget weighed down by planters and light-wrapping was starting to squeeze.

A New Stop on Grant Avenue for the Same Crowd

Families staying downtown after the tree lighting have a new option this year. Kitsch + Sync is a family restaurant with indoor and outdoor play areas at 1757 Grant Ave. Marin Mommies published its hours in October:

• Monday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Tuesday, 4 to 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, 2 to 8 p.m.
• Thursday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

It also posts its own programming on the association's shared downtown events calendar, including Thursday Night Football and a Littles Music class priced at $19 per child with a play pass included. Any downtown business can submit an event to the calendar.

Getting Downtown While Novato Boulevard Is Torn Up

Plan your route on Dec. 5. The City's Novato Boulevard Improvements project covers the stretch between Diablo Avenue and Grant Avenue. The city warns of periodic delays, lane restrictions and temporary access changes. The project's update site puts the tentative start in November 2026 and completion around mid-2028. We explained why three agencies are sharing one trench on that corridor in our earlier Novato Boulevard post.

The association says parking at its downtown events is free. If you're coming from the west side of town, give yourself a few extra minutes and come in on a street other than Novato Boulevard.

At Team O'Brien - David & Deirdre, we follow how Novato invests in its downtown because those changes show up first on the blocks around Grant Avenue. If you'd like to know what that steady investment means for a home near Old Town, get your free home valuation or schedule a consultation, and we'll walk you through it over coffee downtown.