By Ventura Breeze Staff –
At the January 28 City Council meeting, Council voted in favor of keeping Main Street closed to vehicular traffic indefinitely. Specific actions that were taken by City Council included the following:
1. Certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed Main Street Moves Project. What the EIR showed is that potential significant environmental impacts of the MSM project could be substantially reduced to “less than significant” by adoption of defined mitigation measures.
2. Adoption of a Mitigation, Monitoring, and Reporting Program (MMRP). The MMRP enumerates the specific environmental impact mitigation actions required for the MSM project.
3. Voted in favor of continuing the Main Street Moves closure indefinitely in accordance with California Vehicle Code Section 21101(a)(1). This section of the Vehicle Code is the legal authority by which the City may keep Main Street closed (closure of Main Street by the City is allowed since the City has shown that the closed portion of Main Street is no longer needed for vehicular traffic).
4. Voted to continue the Pedestrian Mall Law process while maintaining the current Main Street Moves closure. The Pedestrian Mall Law is an alternate pathway for the City to enable permanent closure of Main Street to vehicular traffic.
5. Directed staff to create a Resolution for Intention for the Pedestrian Mall Law, with no monetary assessment of business or property owners, for review and approval at a future City Council meeting.
While City Council has the prerogative to assess property owners within the MSM project area for costs arising from enacting the Pedestrian Mall Law closure, Council’s intent is to NOT levy such an assessment on the property owners. At the City Council meeting, there were 25 public speakers who voiced their opinion on the MSM Project. Of those speakers, 21 expressed support for keeping Main Street closed, and 4 appealed to re-open Main Street to traffic. Those who spoke out against the MSM Project characterized the project as having precipitated an “urban doom loop” which the City will be unable to recover from economically: a “tyranny of the minority” causing the “slow death” of Ventura. On the other hand, those who spoke in favor of MSM saw the project as an opportunity for a “slow rebirth” of the vitality of the City.
Alex Schneider, a Ventura resident and 15-year employee of The Trade Desk (which is headquartered in Ventura), shared comments during the City Council meeting. He noted that all of his company’s offices nationwide are located in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods—including its Colorado office on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall, a street that is closed to vehicular traffic.
Alex stated:
“With clear direction from [City] Council going forward, I would love to help shift our efforts away from the courts and instead organize the efforts and resources of The Trade Desk—a $60 billion business in our backyard—along with other business owners, property owners, the Downtown Ventura Organization (DVO), Downtown Ventura Partners (DVP), and the City.
Together, we can come around a shared vision for what Main Street could be and focus our efforts and resources on how we can beautify and invest in a Main Street pedestrian corridor we can all be proud of.
With the Council’s leadership, we can make a car-less Main Street an asset that enhances and attracts more business and investment into our amazing community.”
During deliberation, Council members cited sales tax declines, (perceived) high vacancy rates, time required to implement improvements, costs to the City, costs to businesses, lack of a parklet plan, ADA concerns, lack of dedicated staffing, and overall uncertainty as risks to the success of the Main Street Moves Project. In the end, however, Council voted 5-2 in favor of making the closure of Main Street to vehicular traffic permanent. Those voting in favor of keeping Main Street closed:
- Mayor Dr. Sanchez-Palacios
- Deputy Mayor Halter
- Councilmember Campos
- Councilmember Schumacher
- Councilmember McReynolds Those who voted in opposition to keeping Main Street closed
- Councilmember Mangone
Scott McCarty serves on the Ventura City Planning Commission.
