Economic Vitality Committee Agenda and Packet 2021 02 19

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SUBJECT: DBA REQUEST FOR MAIN STREET CLOSURE DATE: FEBRUARY 19, 2021 PAGE 2 OF 3 more interest in the parklets than in past years. The City currently owns 28, 12' patios. All of those were requested for utilization in the patio program proceeding the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the patios are $12,000 each and have a lead time of several months, it is not feasible to acquire them on short notice for increased demand. Staff is evaluating a grant program that might allow the City to purchase additional patios for the 2021 program, though they might not arrive until the summer. In the meantime, if outdoor dining remained within the on -street parking spaces, staff would plan to use a combination of the patio parklets and the concrete jersey barriers to accommodate restaurants desiring outdoor seating areas. Staff has also recently engaged with the Downtown Business Association (DBA) about potential outdoor dining options for 2021. The DBA requested that a recommendation to close Main Street for expanded dining be placed on the EVC agenda for discussion and consideration. Similar to last year, an extended temporary closure of Main Street would require approval from City Council. The DBA will be present at the EVC meeting to share their recommendation. DIRECTION: Should the EVC support further consideration of the DBA's request for a temporary closure of Main Street to allow for expanded outdoor dining, staff seeks input on the appropriate next steps in developing a closure plan. While Council's approval is necessary for the right -of -closure, there may be other information Councilmembers desire. The 2020 Outdoor Dining program was done at no -cost to participants. Staff seeks direction as to whether this would be the basis of the 2021 program as well. While the City's public safety partners were involved in last year's planning, staff has not yet re-engaged their participation. If a closure plan is to be developed, both Police and Fire should participate in those discussions. Last year when public safety agreed to alternative emergency access to support the closure, the City had no plans to close Front Street (except for Saturday morning Farmers Markets). This year, the Street Faire Committee is hoping to host late summer events that in a normal year would close Front Street to vehicular traffic. A downside of the speed to implement the Main Street closure in 2020 was the lack of engagement. Notification was provided about the closure to the surrounding residential area, but there was not sufficient time to engage in a conversation about the impacts or any potential mitigations that might be feasible. If the City is considering another temporary closure, it may be desirable to direct staff to perform additional engagement before finalizing a temporary closure plan. From a timing perspective, staff hopes to have direction on 2021 outdoor dining plans by late March or early April. It will take a few weeks to organize the implementation, purchase any supplies such as signage or lighting, notify the participants, and provide information to the community on effective dates. Based on what information the EVC Agenda Packet P. 7