The Solvang City Council changed its tune on the future of Copenhagen Drive, after hearing proposals on both sides of an ongoing debate about whether to reopen the road or permanently close it.
In January, city staff presented a handful of different approaches to reopening the street to vehicular traffic, but the City Council opted to temporarily maintain its closure and outdoor dining accessibility, and redirected staff to research the potential of supporting a permanent closure.
Staff provided three different closure options and the estimated costs of each during the City Council’s Feb. 28 meeting. The meeting ultimately ended with the City Council embracing its original directive to reopen Copenhagen.
Councilmember Jim Thomas was the first to voice his opinion after staff’s presentation, stating that he would like to see the street temporarily reopened to vehicles before making a final call, and revisit the matter “after people get to see both.” He emphasized that Copenhagen Drive has been closed since 2020.
While referencing recent survey results read during the City Council’s Goal Setting Workshop, held on Feb. 26, Mayor Pro Tem Mark Infanti argued to reopen the road because it would increase parking availability downtown.
“We had a survey done, and the No. 1 issue in the survey is parking,” Infanti said. “Closing Copenhagen loses 60 parking spaces. So right off the bat, there seems to be a reason not to keep it closed, from the parking alone.”
Infanti also argued that the estimated costs of all three closure proposals were too high, and that the project would only benefit a fraction of businesses located on Copenhagen Drive.
“There’s four or five businesses that get to put tables out on the street and get the advantage of it [the closure],” Infanti said. “We’re looking at spending $1.5 million to $3.5 million to close the section of Copenhagen that primarily benefits five businesses of 20-something in those two blocks. I think that’s inappropriate.”
During public comment, local business owner René Kaerskov spoke in favor of keeping the road closed and maintaining it as a “pedestrian street.”
Kaerskov is the owner of the Danish Mill Bakery, located on Copenhagen Drive. He proposed that the city should charge Copenhagen businesses that are encroaching on parking spaces, in order to decrease the costs of a permanent closure.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, nobody should get real estate for free from the city,” Kaerskov said. “Let the businesses pay for this [the closure], and let the city contribute to it and facilitate it.”
Infanti replied later in the meeting, saying he appreciated Kaerskov’s comment about letting the businesses pay, adding that closing the street would still have some effects on the city.
“It really isn’t completely cost-free to the city,” Infanti said. “And I’m not sure every one of the enterprises would be willing to pay for it or are able to pay some of those costs.”
Councilmember Robert Clarke said he would personally like to see Copenhagen remain closed to vehicular traffic, but would not be opposed to reopening if that benefits a majority of Solvang businesses and community members.
“I personally think it looks nice. I think it adds a lot of flavor to our city,” Clarke said. “I think the visitors like it a lot. But if there’s a groundswell of support to have the street reopen, I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.”
Infanti motioned to direct city staff to begin the process of reopening Copenhagen Drive and return to the City Council with the necessary steps for final approval, which passed 5-0.
This article appears in Mar 3-10, 2022.
