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Board adopts amended outdoor‑dining ordinance after months of debate; compromise keeps two traffic lanes
Summary
After extended public testimony and floor debate, the Board of Aldermen approved an amended ordinance O‑24‑036 that preserves two traffic lanes in each direction on Main Street while permitting sidewalk and limited street dining; the measure passed 11–4 after an earlier committee amendment passed 13–2.
Alderman Melvin Clemens' compromise amendment to the seasonal road‑closure and extended outdoor dining ordinance (O‑24‑036) won final passage on Jan. 14 as amended, keeping two travel lanes in each direction on Main Street while preserving a program of sidewalk and limited street dining.
Nut graf: The Board of Aldermen voted to amend and then adopt the ordinance after hours of public comment — both pro and con — and lengthy floor debate. Supporters said the change balances economic benefits for restaurants with traffic flow and accessibility concerns; opponents cited cost, parking loss, and ADA access questions. The final roll‑call vote on final passage was 11 yays, 4 nays.
Alderman Clemens, the amendment’s sponsor, framed the measure as a compromise that keeps expanded dining while restoring traffic flow: “This is a perfect compromise that really tries to get to the heart of what people complain about the most, which is the reduced lanes,” he told colleagues. He said the amendment aims to provide stability so businesses can plan.
Mayor Jim Donchess, who spoke in favor of the Clemens amendment, cited Placer.ai pedestrian‑count estimates the administration used to calculate economic impact from expanded dining. “When you place it on the outdoor dining, the expanded outdoor dining only, we find that in calendar year 2024, 155,000 people took advantage of it,” Donchess said, and urged support for the compromise proposal.
Opponents pointed to costs and disrupted parking. Alderman Sullivan said the public he represents leaned against continuing the program in its prior form and that the “program benefits pew that aggravates many,” and he announced he would vote against the ordinance. Several aldermen asked about ADA access to street spaces and whether barrier placements prevented city ramps from fitting; Economic Development Director Liz Hannam replied the city is not required to provide ADA ramps for street spaces when sidewalk seating remains an option and that the city would work with restaurants to address accessibility and to replace any lost accessible parking on block faces.
The ordinance underwent two votes on the floor: the committee‑recommended amendment to replace the original ordinance text passed by roll call, 13 yays to 2 nays; the final passage vote on the amended ordinance was 11 yays to 4 nays (recorded by roll call). After the final vote the president announced, “That motion carries and ordinance 2436 is declared duly adopted as amended.”
Ending: The adopted amendment sets the sidewalk and limited street dining rules for the upcoming season and instructs staff to implement parking‑replacement requirements and consider ADA accessibility solutions; aldermen and city staff said they would monitor participation and costs and that future boards may revisit the ordinance.
(For technical details on costs and the fiscal estimate recorded in the hearing, see Votes at a glance.)
