Outdoor dining and shopping downtown are poised for a big comeback this year, after the Pleasanton City Council on Tuesday approved framework along with a $100,000 sponsorship for Weekend of Main street closures.
The 2022 Weekend on Main program is set to return in May as part of the annual Pleasanton Downtown Association (PDA) events programming, following a 4-1 vote at the council meeting, with Councilmember Julie Testa dissenting. The downtown street closures will extend from the Main Street bridge to south of Bernal Avenue every first weekend of the month, starting Friday at 4 p.m. and ending Sunday at 9 p.m.
Started when the pandemic first struck, Weekend on Main gave downtown restaurants and merchants room to expand outside operations during 2020 while indoor dining and shopping was restricted by county and state officials. The weekly street closures also took place last year from the end of April through Labor Day weekend.
After being “well-received by the community” in both years, city staff and the PDA began collaborating on a Weekend on Main program last summer, with the goal of balancing the interests of both downtown merchants and restaurants.
During the public hearing on Tuesday, PDA Board President Bryan Bowers said “there’s competing stakeholders that have different opinions” about what Weekend on Main should look like going forward.
“We want to fill up the blank space during the day where the street closure is not being used, and really try and get the retailers engaged and able to benefit from the closure and the amount of people that are downtown,” Bowers said.
Given the choice of holding Weekend on Main either through the end of October or December, the council opted to run the program longer. Bowers said “it just kind of made sense to go ahead and take advantage” of the street being closed for the annual holiday parade.
“December is already kind of a soft close because of the parade,” Bowers said. “If we were going to close December, then we felt like we needed to close November also so that we were consistent with that first weekend of the month, instead of skipping November and just having December.”
Retailers did not support weekend street closures during the holiday season — especially November and December — “so their customers have access to their shops with no deterrents,” staff said.
Jaime Zile, owner of Ja’ime Bridal located on Main, thanked the council for limiting the street closures to once a month “because every single weekend was a huge hit revenue-wise to my business,” and said that signage pointing the way downtown would also be helpful for visitors.
“The biggest problem that we had was getting customers that were coming from 580 taking Santa Rita and then just having a detour sign at Del Valle Parkway, and so I spent many Saturdays and Sundays directing customers on how to get to my store,” Zile said.
Zile added that she “would love for the street closure to start at St. John, that would just alleviate a bottleneck in my mind because you could then get into downtown a little easier and take Peters or Ray Street.”
Balancing the needs of both restaurants and retail stores was a point of discussion on Tuesday. Restaurant owners said extending the series into those months “allows them to make the most of the holiday season for their establishments.”
Testa recommended having Weekend on Main twice a month and said, “I have spoken with many restaurant owners over the last couple of weeks and they felt like they were making a compromise by saying twice a month,” adding that “they do want to work together to support the retailers.”
Councilmember Kathy Narum said she “wouldn’t mind seeing it twice a month but I think we have to be realistic.”
“We have to be honest with ourselves. Our Main Street cannot survive on restaurants alone,” Narum said. “We have to find a balance here, and I believe this is a good start.”
Mayor Karla Brown agreed with Narum and said, “Good business downtown means not just restaurants, not just gas stations. It means everything, so we need to encourage them. We still have some empty spots downtown and are hoping the PTA can work with the commercial real estate agents to fill those.”
Testa said, “There was an implication that going to two closures a month is not supporting the retailers or businesses. If you are looking for balance, it would be two days of closure a month and two days where it’s not a month, and that is taking all of the businesses into consideration.”
Councilmember Jack Balch recommended prohibiting parklet construction during the Weekend on Main period and said, “We don’t want someone in the middle of a parklet construction operation on the Friday that we are shutting down for Weekend on Main. We don’t want a half-built parklet.”
To promote shopping locally and fellow businesses, the PDA will work with both restaurants and retailers on cross-promotion marketing. Additionally, the city and PDA will work together “to ensure that any activities planned for the December Weekend on Main support — and don’t interfere with — the holiday parade and tree lighting.”
Staff said holding Weekend on Main on the first of each month will make room for Concerts in the Park on Friday nights when the streets are open.
Costs for police and traffic engineering staffing, downtown cleaning, and event oversight are absorbed as part of the city’s ongoing department operations, but this year’s Weekend on Main event could generate direct costs of approximately $170,000. To support the PDA for the 2022 programing, the council will allocate $100,000 from the Business Support Fund, which has approximately $1.35 million available.
