City Council Minutes 2021 04 06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes April 6, 2021 Page 3 of 11 City Manager Balser noted the COVID dial is still changing and staff will get any new information out to residents as it becomes available. REGULAR BUSINESS RESOLUTION NO. 26, SERIES 2021 — A RESOLUTION APPROVING THE TEMPORARY CLOSURE OF PORTIONS OF MAIN STREET IN DOWNTOWN LOUISVILLE FOR OUTDOOR DINING AREAS Director Pierce stated that in 2020 due to indoor dining restrictions from COVID, the Council approved a block -by -block closure of Main Street from Walnut Street to Elm Street closing it to vehicular traffic to accommodate expanded dining for Downtown restaurants. The closure ran from June 10 to December 4, 2020. A winter outdoor dining set-up is currently in place; it retains on -street parking areas for restaurant seating but the street is open to traffic. Based on a recommendation from the Downtown Business Association, staff and the Economic Vitality Committee (EVC) have been discussing a temporary closure plan for this year. Discussions centered on a closure between late April and early November; coordination with Public Safety; consideration of summer special events; and an evaluation of options with RTD for the bus reroute. In addition, staff was directed to conduct engagement with residents, Downtown businesses, and Downtown restaurants to gauge support for a temporary closure. The proposed closure for this year includes a 10-14 foot emergency access lane down the middle of the street. This would be available to pedestrians but not for seating or traffic. On March 1, the City launched three surveys to target various stakeholders regarding a temporary Main Street closure. Residents in the immediate Main Street area received a postcard and link to the survey and the resident survey was publicized through City communication channels. The majority of respondents to each of the three surveys support the temporary closure plan. There are several Downtown businesses opposed to the closure; they do not believe it is a benefit to their business and that it creates issues for parking and patron access. Respondents to the resident survey that did not support a temporary closure were most concerned about parking and bus re-routing. Some responses also touched on the fairness of the closure to all businesses as well as the likely loosening of COVID-19 restrictions in the coming months. If the temporary closure of Main Street is not approved, staff is prepared to accommodate outdoor dining requests limited to the on -street parking spaces. Based on likely demand, this would include a combination of patio parklets and jersey barriers to create seating areas. It is also feasible for staff to change from a full closure to an on -street parking program should Council want to pursue a different timeline than recommended by EVC.