Gov. Gavin Newsom’s June 11 executive orders that effectively “re-opened” California have communities like Solvang considering whether to keep city modifications such as the Copenhagen Drive closure.
Under the city’s emergency declaration in 2020, the council approved temporarily closing Copenhagen Drive to provide space for outdoor dining through the implementation of parklets. The policy was an attempt to help eateries that weren’t allowed to provide indoor dining services due to state restrictions.
During the June 28 City Council meeting, council members agreed that a split exists between business owners and residents who either appreciated the street closure or believed it hindered business.
Currently, the street remains closed through Oct. 31.
Councilmember Jim Thomas said that he believed the closure benefitted restaurants but wasn’t popular among retail businesses. During the meeting, he suggested the city conduct a confidential survey of all business owners so everyone could comfortably give their opinion without fear of starting a conflict due to differing opinions.
“A poll shouldn’t be determining what we should do, but I think it’s something that we should take into account from the people who bought those businesses or started those businesses when Copenhagen was open, and then it was closed, and that wasn’t their choice,” Thomas said.
As part of the discussion, Councilmember Mark Infanti questioned whether the encroachment permits that allowed businesses to set up parklets would end along with the street closure.
City Manager Xenia Bradford said the permits don’t have an expiration date, however, the city has the right to withdraw the permits at any time.
Mayor Charlie Uhrig and Councilmember Robert Clarke both agreed that they would like to see Copenhagen stay closed because it resembles certain European areas where individuals can walk freely on closed streets.
During public comment, Solvang Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tracy Beard said the chamber has previously asked to work with the city in conducting a business community survey. Beard said she believes the street should be closed through the month of December, during the Christmas season.
“I say that because we need a real business improvement district. We put so much money into what we call tourism, but we have to have business improvement money spent in that direction,” she said.
The money, she claimed, is often used to analyze how many tourists are visiting the area and where they stay specifically, but the city already knows that people have been and continue to visit the city.
“It’s now time to revitalize our city and improve our city,” Beard said.
The council unanimously approved directing staff to conduct a confidential survey about the current Copenhagen Drive closure and bring the results back to the council in a month.
This article appears in Jul 8-15, 2021.