Santa Rosa council studies temporary Fourth Street closures, asks staff for targeted pilots and analyses

City of Santa Rosa staff presented a study-session briefing Sept. 9 on options for temporarily closing portions of Fourth Street to vehicle traffic to create pedestrianized space, and council directed staff to continue analysis and return with formal recommendations.

The presentation, led by Gabe Osborne, director of planning and economic development, and Scott Adair, the city’s chief economic development officer, said the work responds to a council request from April 2024 and builds on roughly 12 months of targeted outreach. “The purpose of today’s study session is to discuss impacts associated with a temporary closure to portions of Fourth Street,” Osborne said.

Adair told council staff reviewed peer cities and conducted door-to-door outreach, business surveys and more than 1,300 resident surveys. “The feedback was, in many respects, very mixed,” he said, describing broad resident interest in “walkable downtown spaces” and stronger caution from downtown merchants about logistics such as deliveries, loading, garbage collection and parking.

The economic-development presentation summarized two dominant themes: supporters who see closures as a way to reactivate downtown for dining, performance and cultural activity, and downtown merchants who worry closures could impede customers and supply access. Staff recommended a deliberate approach — including possible pilots and paired investments in infrastructure and programming — rather than a “plug-and-play” rollout.

Council members emphasized the need for more precise study boundaries, operational details and data. Director Osborne said staff would treat the corridor between E Street and B Street (the area that included COVID-era temporary closures near the square) as the initial study area unless council directed otherwise. He outlined next steps including traffic and parking studies, infrastructure reviews for fire and utilities, cost/revenue analysis, and scheduling analysis for deliveries and garbage collection.

Public comments reflected the same split staff reported. Cadence Henkel Allinson, representing the Downtown Action Organization, urged that any pedestrianization be paired with infrastructure, programming and careful traffic circulation planning. “The DAO believes there are 4 key points that need to be addressed for a successful pedestrianization effort,” she said, listing business buy-in, infrastructure improvements, city investment in programming and clear traffic impact analysis.

Local merchants cautioned caution. A longtime downtown merchant, speaking as Bernie of California Luggage, said he has seen event closures succeed when well marketed but fail when not, and told council “most of the people that come downtown, over 80% come by car.” Adrian Covert of Santa Rosa YIMBY urged the city to “be bold” and said outreach showed strong resident support, while acknowledging the importance of design and programming.

Council response leaned toward study and careful piloting. Several council members said they would support targeted pilots (Ross Street and Montgomery Village were explicitly discussed) or a summer/seasonal closure, but wanted more precise evidence on impacts, staffing needs and funding sources. Mayor Mark Stapp and other members asked staff to return with the technical analyses and potential funding approaches so the council could consider a formal recommendation later.

Osborne summarized the council’s direction at the meeting’s end: staff will advance analyses for the E-to-B Street corridor, work with adjacent businesses on pilot proposals for Ross Street and Montgomery Village if requested, continue outreach, and prepare traffic, parking, infrastructure and cost studies before returning with a formal recommendation.

City staff and council did not adopt any closure at the meeting; the item remained a study-session discussion and next steps were limited to developing the analyses described above.