In a 4-0 vote Monday night the Healdsburg City Council approved the closure of Plaza Street between Center and East Street at the senior center parking lot through Dec. 31, 2021 for the city’s open streets program.
The council also directed staff to return with a plan that explores options for possibly lengthening the timeline for the parklet program, a program that was initially created with the intent of allowing businesses to apply for parklet permits to operate outdoors temporarily during COVID-19 restrictions.
Open streets
Plaza Street between Healdsburg Avenue and Center Street will remain open to vehicular traffic, a win for retailers on the block who’ve claimed that the full Plaza Street closure has been a detriment to their business.
Vice Mayor Ozzy Jimenez had to recuse himself from the conversation and the vote as he has a business conflict of interest on Matheson Street near the Plaza with his business Noble Folk Ice Cream & Pie Bar.
The open streets program — which will run a cost of about $4,000 a month for tables, chairs and supplies for the small segment of Plaza Street — was created with the intention of providing extra outdoor seating and room for restaurants and retail, and initially included the closure of Plaza Street between Healdsburg Avenue and Center Street.
The closure received mixed reviews.
Restaurants like Duke’s supported the closure, however, retailers like Outlander and Rainsong Shoes vehemently expressed dismay towards the closure, saying the closure often went under-utilized and negatively affected their business by taking away valued parking spots for their customers.
“I am so grateful that the street is open again. It has improved my business immeasurably,” Outlander owner Chris Bryant said during a virtual community meeting held last week to discuss the street closure. “Everything about that street closure was detrimental to me and my business. I just cannot in any way go along with another Plaza Street closure and I’ll let my voice be heard because I do not like it.”
At the same community meeting, folks from Duke’s said they thought the street closure was successful as it benefited their restaurant, but they also respect the concerns of nearby businesses.
In addition to recommending that council approve the street closure for Plaza Street only between Center and East streets, city staff recommended the additional option of installing tables and chairs for designated seating in areas of the Plaza and West Plaza, but the idea wasn’t too popular, especially among residents.
“First and foremost, if you want economic recovery in Healdsburg and if you want healing in Healdsburg then the number one thing we need to be doing is figuring out how to get our citizens, our employees, our families and our teachers vaccinated. I am absolutely against putting plastic tables and chairs in the Plaza,” said Healdsburg local Brian Sommer. “We’re not trying to create that type of atmosphere in something that is as special to the Healdsburg community as the Plaza. That is the living room of the locals that is near and dear to every Healdsburggundian’s heart.”
Resident Valerie White expressed concerns that tables in the Plaza would invite more people to come down and might make the Plaza too crowded and create a COVID health and safety risk.
“Tables in the Plaza during COVID, I can’t see it. It’s like flying in the face of all medical people … Tables down in the Plaza (would) invite people to come down, sit at a table where other people have sat, sit closer than six feet apart without a mask because they’ll probably be drinking or eating, so I think that flies in the face of all medical things,” White said.
idea to put tables in the Plaza was ditched for now, and the council unanimously approved the street closure for just the section of Plaza Street between Center Street and the senior center parking lot where it meets East Street.
Parklets
Currently the life and duration of the parklet program — which allows businesses to apply for an outdoor activity permit to create a parklet on a sidewalk or in a parking space — is tied to that of the pandemic in an effort to help businesses, however, both businesses and council members expressed interest in the possibility of extending the parklet program beyond the pandemic.
With this in mind, council directed staff to come back with a report on possible options for creating a longer term parklet program or for extending it past the conclusion of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What I heard tonight pretty clearly from a lot of our small business owners was that they really want to have greater longevity in their ability to have parklets both from a return on investment perspective, but also from a COVID safety perspective,” Councilmember Ariel Kelley said. “I think it’s pretty clear that even though we are starting the vaccine rollout, for younger folks in our community we don’t have a timeline in sight of when we’ll have heard immunity and so I think when it comes to being able to dine outdoors, even if restaurants can be open indoors, I don’t think folks are going to want to go back to eating indoors and there might be some folks who just don’t feel comfortable with it quite yet and when we’re out of the COVID declaration I would love to see a future state in our community where we have more of a European bistro vibe where folks can be eating and sitting outside so I do want to see staff come back with a longer term parklets solution that encompasses some ABC regulations that allow us to have alcohol outside when the declaration of the emergency is over.”
Councilmember David Hagele agreed with Kelley, but said he’d be interested in limiting the parklets to just restaurants instead of all businesses.
Residents like Mark McMullen and Walter Niederberger said they believe the parklets program has been a great success so far and that they like the idea of perhaps creating permanent parklets.
Jessica Timmsen, the owner of Mr. Moon’s, said she also supports businesses’ continued use of the parklets initiative.
She said she believes the parklets have been more successful and useful than the open streets program.
“Many have invested in creating lovely and substantial areas within these parklets and I support continued use of the parklets and giving these businesses a chance to regain their investment in creating (them). I’d advocate for revisiting this portion of the program as we move forward and assessing the impact that these parklets will have on our business community and specifically on which industry types should be allowed to continue with parklets,” Timmsen said.
Will Seppi, the current board chair of the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce, said extending the term for the parklets program would be crucial in helping the businesses who’ve invested in a parklet.
White, who also spoke on the open streets subject, implored council to conduct in depth community outreach regarding the possibility of starting a long term or permanent parklet program before making a decision on it.
She said community input on the topic is just as vital, if not more so, than garnering business community input.
City staff will return to council at a later date with a more concrete report/proposal regarding the parklet program.
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City to close Plaza Street only between Center and East, will revisit parklets program - Sonoma West
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