SLO puts street closure program on hold, focuses on rolling out parklets instead
The city of San Luis Obispo experimented with temporarily closing some of its main streets to vehicle traffic to encourage outdoor dining and vending, but now it’s making changes to focus on parklets as part of a refinement to better accommodate business and public health needs.
The Open SLO Program was launched in mid-June, focusing on Mission Plaza, Monterey Street and Higuera Street in the downtown area, allowing community members to come together and enjoy the pedestrian-friendly district.
But the city announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that it was indefinitely suspending weekend closures on Higuera Street and the upper block of Monterey Street (from Morro to Osos streets), shelving the initiative for the time being.
“Open SLO weekend street closures on Higuera Street and the upper block of Monterey Street (Morro to Osos) are on indefinite hold,” the city Facebook post stated. “This will allow the city to refocus resources on rapid parklet deployment. Staff will conduct more outreach to downtown businesses in the future to gauge level of support before continuing the weekend road closures.”
One small section of street closure will remain closed, though.
The block of Monterey Street closest to Mission Plaza (Chorro to Morro Streets) “will be closed to car traffic in one direction only (eastbound only) for the foreseeable future, allowing for outdoor dining on half the street, while preserving traffic circulation, commercial and passenger loading on the opposite side of the street,” the city noted.
Luke Schwartz, the city’s transportation manager, said this period generally represents “a pause” on street closures for later reassessment.
Schwartz said, while restaurants have enjoyed the street closures for outdoor dining, a few retail businesses in particular have cited financial challenges due to loss of vehicular access.
“We have heard from three or four retail businesses on Higuera and other parts of the downtown about that,” Schwartz said. “We want to make sure it’s working for everyone...some community enjoyed more space to walk around and space for themselves. But we don’t want to take away a business’ livelihood.”
More parklets to be added
The parklet program will continue installation of more temporary and permanent installations as funds allow.
Temporary parklets will feature “water-filled barricades and other materials to allow interested businesses to immediately expand operations into the adjacent parking lane on a daily basis with approval of a no-fee encroachment permit.”
Schwartz estimates that a parklet costs between $10,000 to $15,000 on the low end, which can go up to $20,000 or $30,000 on the higher cost scale.
The city had some concrete parklet barriers to use for parklets on hand, loaned by a contractor at no cost, and may rent some more for $5,000 to $10,000.
Private businesses may contribute toward their own designs.
“In addition, if your business is interested in designing and installing your own parklet, the city is happy to help facilitate this,” city officials added.
Parklets are contained areas along streets that act as extensions of the sidewalk for various uses, including outdoor dining, vending or public relaxation areas. One currently is set up outside Big Sky Cafe.
“With Governor Newsom’s order requiring the immediate closure of several types of indoor business activities, the city is immediately shifting attention and resources to refine the Open SLO program to better serve the impacted businesses,” the city stated.
Mayor Heidi Harmon told The Tribune that the city’s Open SLO program was designed to be flexible.
“We were hearing this program was disproportionately impacting retail businesses,” Harmon said. “This program was set up to react more quickly and not as sluggishly as a (city) process might.”
One retailer who sent a note to The Tribune said their Higuera Street business was down 40 to 50 percent on the weekends with the street closure.
Expansion of business use into private parking lots is also allowed, and the city is encouraging businesses to work with landlords to facilitate that use.
For more information on Open SLO or those interested in a parklet, go to www.openslo.org or email openslo@slocity.org.
This story was originally published July 15, 2020 at 1:52 PM.
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