Early in the pandemic, when shops and restaurants were navigating never-before-seen rules limiting how they could operate indoors, some Orange County city leaders were quick with a remedy: Let them pour outdoors onto sidewalks and into parking spaces, where customers might feel safer going and keeping the businesses afloat.
In some cities, including Laguna Beach, Orange and Fullerton, entire streets were shut down to create walkable shopping and dining attractions widely considered successful in helping businesses weather COVID-19 restrictions. Elsewhere restaurants were allowed to put up their own tents for alfresco dining.
But nearly two years later, well after bans lifted on indoor shopping and dining, some city leaders are debating now whether to keep their pandemic-spurred outdoor promenades in some form permanently or pack them up.
With questions over design, long-term use and the fairness of giving some businesses the use of public space, officials have been weighing the benefits and potential harm of extending their programs beyond the pandemic.
‘Some uniformity’
In Orange, where city leaders shut down Glassell Street in Old Towne for a year and a half to create the Orange Plaza Paseo, Mayor Mark Murphy said now is as good a time as any to reopen the road to traffic and have businesses revert to their original setups while officials study a seasonal or more permanent option.
Though there is a surge in COVID-19 cases, it is the cold season and indoor dining is back to normal for now, he reasoned.
Established to serve as a lifeline for the businesses in the historic district, the paseo soon became a popular attraction, adding even a European flare to the plaza.
But like many cities, Orange officials are working out now what would be the long-term impact – not all the neighbors were thrilled with the loss of parking spots and rerouting of traffic. Among the considerations many cities are facing: How to create a consistent design that complements its surroundings.
Take a walk down Main Street in Huntington Beach and you’ll see a “hodgepodge of patio sizes and furniture,” Councilman Mike Posey said.
Fencing on parklets along Seal Beach’s Main Street are irregular, and in Orange, officials have said a design standard that better matches the historic Old Towne would be essential.
In May of 2020, the Huntington Beach City Council unanimously supported Posey’s proposal to temporarily allowing eateries on Main Street to use adjacent public and private spaces outside, including sidewalks and parking lots.
Twenty months later, the extra elbow room remains in place. Posey is looking to make the setup permanent – with some tweaks, including a more uniform design.
“Some uniformity would be more aesthetically pleasing instead of having different kinds of barriers and floor treatments and umbrellas,” he said.
The barriers surrounding businesses in Seal Beach where officials helped move operations outdoors “were never designed to last this long,” Mayor Joe Kalmick said, “and the parklets aren’t looking so great.”
“There are odd types of fencing that vary from parklet to parklet. One fell over and scratched a car. The plants that were put out originally aren’t being tended to,” he said.
“In the longer term, we would want the outdoor dining areas to look more uniform and artful.”
Before businesses in Orange took down their outdoor setups last week, one resident described “a tailgating look.”
While the paseo is packed up, the city has hired consultants to come up with options for a seasonal design. One alternative, incorporating parklets that would allow the street to remain open to cars, has raised questions over consistency with Old Towne’s historic feel and the safety of restaurant patrons seated nearby traffic.
‘We’re not New York’
Officials largely agree the outdoor dining allowances in their cities have been a boon to those able to take advantage.
The Promenade on Forest in Laguna Beach continues to be a draw. Adjacent to Main Beach Park it has become a community gathering spot with pedestrian-only shopping, outdoor dining and performances since it opened in June 2020.
Sales tax data from the city shows how successful the promenade has been, said Mayor Sue Kempf, who worked with the businesses early on to get the temporary space created.
After sales taxes revenue to the city from that stretch of businesses took a nose dive in the months after the arrival of coronavirus – by 49% at one point – after the promenade opened revenue rebounded to nearly pre-pandemic levels in just six months, Kempf said. “Overall, you can tell how successful it was.”
The paseo in Orange brought in more sales tax revenue over a 14-month period than was generated in the same amount of time prior to the pandemic, city spokesman Paul Sitkoff said.
Posey said some businesses on Huntington Beach’s Main Street saw a 200% sales increase, prompting staffing challenges, “which is a good problem to have.”
And while it can’t be attributed directly to the city’s outdoor dining program, San Clemente City Manager Erik Sund said sales tax in the city is much higher than anticipated.
But some community members and city leaders have questioned whether it’s fair for officials to provide businesses in some areas with extra space and not others, or to close down public streets for the benefit of private owners.
Fullerton Mayor Fred Jung said blocking Wilshire Avenue to cars and bicyclists is his “lone objection” to the city’s current setup.
“Shutting down a public street like Wilshire for the benefit of private businesses is not something that I would continue to do long term,” he said. “That said, if you are a business in the city of Fullerton, and you negotiate a deal with your property owner or the landowner in the floor space to have, and continue, outdoor dining, I think that’s something that I’m certainly supportive of.”
The City Council in September voted to extend Fullerton’s program through March, at which time it’ll revisit it, Jung said, keeping public health “on the forefront of our mind.” But discussion on a permanent program will require the city’s leaders to “reimagine what dining may look like now,” he said.
“In doing so, I think we also have to be cognizant of the fact that Fullerton is not France. We’re not New York. We’re not even Santa Monica,” he said. “The population density doesn’t exist in these areas to be able to say, “Well, let’s close the street down.’”
Stay put or pack up?
Laguna Beach’s City Council has already approved making permanent its popular promenade, which has become a destination for residents and visitors alike. A design firm is looking at what changes need to be made.
Kempf said once the permanent promenade’s design is complete, it will likely not include the existing deck-like platforms that were built. Instead, the street will be leveled to create the outdoor spaces. Restaurant owners will then be asked to pay rent for their outdoor dining spaces.
In San Clemente, the approach where owners paid for their spaces was used in 2021. But all outdoor dining along Avenida Del Mar, the town’s center, was closed down earlier this year, Sund said.
The last remnant of outdoor dining is still up and running at the Pier Bowl and will continue to March. The City Council is expected to consider bringing back outdoor dining for the summer, he said.
Seal Beach’s Mayor Kalmick said, “Behind the scenes, we are trying to prepare for what happens when the emergency order is over.”
He said officials could look at a policy “where the city recovers costs,” like charging restaurants per month to use some outdoor space.
“We have seen large public support for retaining some sort of outdoor dining, particularly from people who have been to Europe and other countries where it’s a staple.”
