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The Ventura City Council extended the closure of downtown Main Street to vehicles through June 2024 as it explores ways to make the street dining program permanent.
Jim Friedman, one of the councilmembers to approve the extension Monday night, said he wanted more input from the businesses on the barricaded five blocks of Main Street.
Friedman said the future of the program, dubbed Main Street Moves, depends on the willingness of the property owners to pay for using public right of ways and other city costs.
“That’s important data we need,” Friedman said.
Friedman said the information would help the council determine the costs of an environmental impact report, which could range from $75,000 to $500,000. If an entire street is shut down instead of remaining open with patio spaces, the review process would cost more.
The program started during the pandemic to make a portion of the downtown street pedestrian-friendly and is centered on five blocks of Main Street, from San Buenaventura Mission to Fir Street. One block of South California Street, between Main and Santa Clara streets, is also closed.
Some restaurants and bars have created a dining patio on the street.
The city will conduct an analysis of a full-closure model for Main Street from the 600 block to the Mission and California Street between Main and Santa Clara streets reopened with patios. Officials said will evaluate the entire program with input from businesses along the closure route.
The city will also consider establishing fees for businesses so that the street can be permanently closed.
A long-term program will incur ongoing costs to maintain the area to a standard of “attractiveness, commerce and safety,” according to a staff report. Ongoing costs include maintenance, slurry seal on streets over the six blocks and costs of new public facilities such as portable toilets.t. The costs can add up to over $100,000 a year, according to the report.
The hope is that an environmental review, which can take 12 to 18 months, will be completed by 2024, said Meredith Hart, the city’s economic development manager. A full street closure 7-days-a-week triggers the need to create a pedestrian mall, which falls under the Pedestrian Mall Act of 1960. The act requires an environmental review.
The city is also merging into the studies requests from the Downtown Ventura Partners, the area’s business association.
The association requested the city to start the process of charging restaurants on June 1 and signalized intersections and other safety measures as soon as possible. The association currently pays for barricades, some signage, portable bathrooms in the summer, maintenance and lighting.
“There would be some clarity for all of us over the next year to see who chooses to participate,” said Kevin Clerici, executive director of Downtown Ventura Partners. “It’s a start. The fees that are being proposed would graduate to a higher rate if and when the program ultimately took effect with a license agreement…The intent is for everything to be reinvested right back into the program.”
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-
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