Santa Rosa again looks to close part of Fourth Street downtown to vehicles

Santa Rosa is again floating a proposal to temporarily close a portion of a major downtown street to create a walkable and bikeable path that council members hope helps draw more visitors to the area.

City officials, downtown leaders, merchants and residents have debated how to revitalize Santa Rosa’s urban core as it grapples with an identity crisis fueled in part by boarded up shops and less foot traffic following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city has sought to make streets more active while spurring outdoor dining through its parklet program. It is also touting the draw of new apartments in downtown and beefed up police patrols and homeless service to address safety concerns.

Still, downtown businesses and residents say more is need to make the area attractive to visitors.

The City Council late Tuesday requested staff members return with a discussion to seasonally close two blocks of Fourth Street to vehicle traffic from B Street to La Rosa Tequileria and Grille and from Beer Baron Bar & Kitchen to D Street.

The small streets that bookend Old Courthouse Square would remain open under the proposal allowing cars coming down Mendocino Avenue or up Santa Rosa Avenue to circle around the square.

The proposal, tossed around by city officials and residents for decades as one way to enliven the area and make it more attractive to visitors, has been implemented before, during the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The city barricaded traffic along three blocks of Fourth Street from B to E streets in July 2020 as officials sought to lure diners and customers back to the city’s core as shelter-at-home orders and other pandemic restrictions loosened.

It allowed restaurants to expand outdoor dining options onto curbside parking spaces and the street and though initially in place for three months, the closure continued at a smaller scale through the early part of 2021.

The latest idea initially drew mixed feelings from some businesses along the route when it was presented to a group of merchants some weeks ago. Business owners raised concerns it would further burden retailers and restaurants rather than provide a boon.

Officials with the Downtown Action Organization, which oversees the city’s downtown community benefit district, said in February they would poll affected businesses and would look to support the closure if all businesses were in favor and if the city marketed the closure and gave more attention to the area through programming.

The closure likely would be in effect during the summer though additional details about how the city would manage or market the closure weren’t immediately available.

Mayor Natalie Rogers, who requested the item be added to a future agenda, said the idea came out of conversations with residents and some businesses about the city’s economic health.

The Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market and movie, live music and other events hosted by the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber and its partners during the summer are already a draw to Old Courthouse Square and closing the street to traffic could help attract more people and make it safer to visitors, she said.

Rogers said she hopes to engage affected businesses and the community before the city makes a final decision. The idea is worth exploring and the pandemic-era closure was successful, she added.

“I wanted to put it on the table and have a conversation,” Rogers said. “I don’t want to close down Fourth Street in a vacuum without getting feedback, so I’m hoping we get some engagement from the community to really see what it is they want.”

City staff is expected to return to the council at a future date with a plan and discussion about the impact of the closure, though Rogers said she didn’t know Wednesday when that hearing would be scheduled.

You can reach Staff Writer Paulina Pineda at 707-521-5268 or paulina.pineda@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @paulinapineda22.