Venice council pauses Bayshore sidewalk design, orders broader study and community workshops

Mayor Nick Pashoda and the Venice City Council on Feb. 25 directed city staff to pause the current design for a proposed sidewalk on the 300 block of Bayshore Drive and to convene community workshops and a consultant-led review of options for the entire Bayshore–Laguna corridor.

The council’s action, proposed by Mayor Nick Pashoda and seconded by Vice Mayor Bolt, follows more than two hours of public comment in which residents on both sides of Bayshore Drive described safety concerns, drainage and property impacts. The motion asked staff to develop a conceptual plan for the whole corridor and to return to council with a schedule; council members narrowed a return-status date to the March 11 meeting.

Why this matters: The city has counted pedestrian-safety warnings and traffic complaints since 2017 and earlier, and staff materials and residents’ testimony said the corridor funnels local, tourist and commercial traffic into a narrow section of road with little or no shoulder. Opponents of the city’s current plan said a sidewalk on the west side would intrude into front yards, disrupt functioning drainage systems and reduce property values; supporters said the road’s narrow cross-section and repeated near-misses create a real safety hazard…