PALO ALTO –– For now, downtown streets will remain closed to traffic, allowing outdoor dining that flourished during the pandemic to continue — at least through summer.

A proposal to reopen downtown streets after the pandemic shut them down and turned them from car-centric spaces to community hubs was rejected in Palo Alto on Tuesday, preserving the makeshift public squares until September.

The move comes as other Peninsula cities weigh what to do with popular pandemic-era public spaces and parklets that have made the area’s historic downtowns bustle with outdoor dining and local festivals but which some say interfere with a smooth reopening of the California economy.

At the start of the pandemic, the Palo Alto City Council gave City Manager Ed Shikada the authority to close Ramona Street, University Avenue and California Avenue until Sept. 30 this year or earlier.

Earlier this month, Shikada came out with a plan to reopen University Avenue and Ramona Street on July 6 and California Avenue Sept. 7, a proposal that incensed residents who want to see the makeshift public spaces continue and who have grown to love the lively atmosphere that they bring.

But Shikada said in a staff report that while the street closures have benefited many of Palo Alto’s popular restaurants and bars fronting University Avenue, Ramona Street and California Avenue, retailers and other businesses on those streets and on side streets have suffered from a lack of car traffic.

Over the past two weeks, more than 400 people wrote the city to express support for keeping the streets closed, and only a handful of people wrote in favor of reopening streets, according to public records.

MENLO PARK, CA – DEC. 10: Outdoor diners enjoy lunch at the Left Bank, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, along Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park, Calif. San Mateo County is one of the few Bay Area counties still allowing outdoor dining during the current stage of the pandemic. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) 

On Tuesday, after public outcry from residents, council members decided in a unanimous vote — with Mayor DuBois absent — to keep the streets solely open to pedestrians until September 30.

Surprised by the amount of people who reached out to the city in support of keeping downtown streets closed to cars, Councilman Greer Stone said “to ignore the absolute will of the community in this is imprudent.”

“Residents clearly are showing a desire to keep (streets) open,” Stone said, adding that the closures have created a “European atmosphere” that is “working to make Palo Alto a destination spot.”

But Mayor Tom DuBois, who was absent for the vote on street closures, said he remained concerned about the impact that returning traffic is having on residential streets around downtown. He said the city has had an “inability to find that University Avenue is no longer needed for vehicles.”

“Especially when Stanford is back in businesses, I just don’t see the data for us to say that” we don’t need University Avenue anymore, DuBois said. DuBois added that downtown retailers that have suffered during the pandemic — specifically those with other locations — are finding that a comeback in Palo Alto has been harder than in other areas.

He said retailers are “competing with people that have gotten a large amount of free real estate” in the form of street-space.

Other council members, like Alison Cormack and Greg Tanaka, called on city staff to better ascertain just how businesses are faring on and near streets only open to pedestrians. Tanaka said the city ought to reach out to surrounding communities for help.

Councils in neighboring Mountain View and Menlo Park both decided to extend street closures for several months after receiving public support to do so.

The Mountain View city council unanimously voted on Tuesday to extend the closure of Castro Street until January 3, and Menlo Park preemptively extended the closure of Santa Cruz Avenue until January too.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – SEPTEMBER 14: Pedestrians walk on Castro Street on Sept. 14, 2020, in downtown Mountain View, Calif. Castro Street has been closed for traffic for outdoor dining. (Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group) 

In Menlo Park, where city leaders have embraced the closure of Santa Cruz Avenue since the fall of 2020, the closed downtown street has become a gathering place for residents and a hub for entertainment, food and music.

Restaurants like Left Bank, Galata Bistro and Roma spent tens of thousands of dollars to set up elaborate dining parklets on the street, and more restaurants are opening in the area soon. Menlo Park spokesman Clay Curtin said the council has received a lot of interest in keeping them as pedestrian-only streets permanently, but as of right now January is the end date.

“I think at the time the council made the decision we didn’t really know what the length of the pandemic was going to be,” Curtin said. “There was and is still a concern we could have a resurgence so they set that date far out in the future just to make sure they accounted for every possible scenario.”

Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei said in an interview Thursday the council decided to keep three blocks of Castro Street closed. She said the city surveyed businesses to gauge their sentiments and found the majority supported extending the closure.

Kamei has made it a point throughout the pandemic to visit Castro Street with her family at least twice a week to support local businesses. She said she enjoys the pedestrian environment it has created, which allows more freedom for unique activities.

Mountain View already was looking at permanently making the 100 Block of Castro Street right across from the Caltrain station pedestrian-only as part of the overall redesign of the city’s transit center and to give way for the train line’s electrification plans. Kamei said those plans will be discussed by the council “imminently” and she added that city staff have already begun to gather feedback from local businesses.

“I think the question now is the 200 and 300 blocks, and council will review that in the new year if they’d like to make that permanent,” Kamei said. “Part of it for me is that me and my family have enjoyed it, but the other part is I want to make sure I’m listening to people to figure out what’s good for our downtown and our residents.”