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We are business owners on and around California Avenue in Palo Alto. We are retailers, restaurateurs and other service providers. We are a diverse group, and we have a common desire to see everyone in our business district thrive.
When the street was closed in 2020, most supported the move as essential to restaurants’ survival. Once the most critical phase of the emergency passed and indoor dining was allowed to resume, the City Council of Palo Alto extended the street closure through the end of 2023 to facilitate a feasibility study regarding permanent closure to automobile traffic.
This extension was met with frustration from those of us who are concerned about a never-ending “temporary” closure. We believe the study merely kicks the can down the road, offering no clarity to business owners who have been waiting for answers.
Now, as we approach the end of 2023, the city has announced that the study is expected to last well into 2024. How much longer is it going to take to create a plan for the business district’s future?
Is a total street closure the answer?
While community members support enhanced outdoor dining, many have determined that it cannot exist unless there is a total street closure. But blocking the main artery to the district is cutting off the lifeblood to many businesses, and we believe it’s unnecessary.
It’s true that California Avenue can be bustling during peak dining hours, but during the rest of the day, the street is nearly deserted. Office vacancies have certainly changed the business dynamic on Cal Ave, but the haphazard, unappealing aesthetic of the street and its closure to traffic are also to blame for keeping customers away, impeding the full restoration of business on Cal Ave.
We now have over three years of empirical evidence proving how the street closure has affected business on California Avenue. While the city conducts its study into 2024, let’s try something new: Reopen Cal Ave to traffic and evaluate the impact of the reopened street on business — we think for the better since it can’t be worse! To be clear, the closure of California Avenue is not creating parking problems, but it has created accessibility, visibility and vitality problems.
It is past time for the City Council to act on behalf of California Avenue. We propose reopening one lane of California Avenue from El Camino Real to Birch Street for one-way vehicle traffic as well as a dedicated bike lane. The remainder of the street from Birch to the Caltrain station would remain unchanged.
One lane would:
• Restore access to storefront handicap parking spaces for disabled clients; many buildings have zero or limited rear access.
• Improve visibility for all businesses on Cal Ave.
• Maintain open spaces for outdoor dining and recreational parklets.
• Reduce the use of residential streets by commuters getting to the Caltrain station.
• Route incoming business traffic away from residential streets.
• Provide emergency access for police and fire services.
• Keep pedestrian and bicycle traffic from mixing dangerously.
• Allow for continued temporary closures for the Sunday Farmers’ Market and 3rd Thursdays.
The one-lane compromise
Vacancies on California Avenue are higher than ever, and business diversity is shrinking. While permanent street closure would benefit some restaurants, it would devastate the district’s other businesses. We mustn’t reduce California Avenue to a restaurant row. We need to protect the vibrancy of the area to attract customers, encourage new business development, and support the needs of residents and the local community.
We believe the single-lane compromise achieves these objectives by supporting increased capacity for outdoor dining, dramatically improving safety and convenience for all, maximizing visibility for businesses, and providing our residents a well-deserved diverse, relevant and useful business district.
Country Sun is set to close at the end of the year, which is a loss for this community and the latest of many closures in our district. If we have to wait another year for the study’s results, and longer still for the council’s response to those results, how many more businesses do we risk losing?
It is time to adopt an unambiguous plan that will benefit the residents and businesses of this community. Please join us in appealing to the Palo Alto City Council for a common-sense solution to the ongoing limbo that is California Avenue.
Jessica Roth is a fourth-generation owner of The Cobblery, on California Avenue since 1940. Lisa Robins is a co-owner of Vin Vino Wine, on California Avenue since 1985. Mike Stone is the owner of Mollie Stone’s Market, on California Avenue since 1990. Michael Ekwall is owner of La Bodeguita del Medio, on California Avenue since 1997. Dennis Kelly is owner of Protégé, on California Avenue since 2018.
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