Third Street lessons for downtown Huntington

Main Street may finally become more pedestrian-friendly if all goes well on a city visit to Santa Monica to study its transformation of the Third Street Promenade. City officials and downtown business people are attending a workshop by Santa Monica city planners to share their experiences of closing Third Street and learn about the challenges involved.

The city aborted an attempt to close Main Street in 2004 when members of the Business Improvement District in downtown questioned the move. This year, about seven improvement district members are set to join City Council members and city officials from the Economic Development department in Santa Monica on May 3.

“Nobody is against it [closing Main Street], we just want to do it right,” said Stephen Daniel, president of the Downtown Huntington Beach Business Assn., which oversees the downtown improvement district.

City officials are quick to point out that Santa Monica has strong ties to its business community, with a downtown street closure that’s been in operation for 20 years. “It’s a critical time for Main Street,” said city development specialist Nova Punongbayan.

New development projects coming up on both sides of Main Street ? Pacific City and the Strand ? is pushing city officials to make sure Main Street is not left behind.

“We want a downtown that’s revitalized and benefit those that live near the area and make Huntington Beach more of a tourist destination all year along,” Punongbayan added.

But closing off Main Street without extra parking could harm their trade, say downtown business owners.

“This can’t be done unless we can find additional parking, and it’s a major thing that Santa Monica had indicated,” said Stanley Smalewitz, the city’s economic development director.

Daniel, owner of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory on Main Street, is skeptical of replacing two blocks of parking to make Main Street pedestrian only. He also points to lost revenue from parking meters; handling homeless and panhandlers; and the length of redevelopment as potential problems.

Santa Monica gradually closed Third Street by using bollards on weekends and pulling them up on weekdays to allow traffic, said City Councilman Keith Bohr.

“During the winter, downtown could get ghostly when you don’t have so many tourists and the street is closed,” Bohr said.

Not having convenient parking in winter months could hurt businesses significantly, as customers wouldn’t be inclined to make a trip to just one store, he added.

Harder than closing off the street is creating an ambience, Smalewitz said, adding that he has worked on similar projects. It could take about seven years before a closed-off Main Street is a prime destination.

Daniel wants the city to take the help of a professional firm such as Minnesota-based Main Street USA, before making the jump. According to his research, only 25% of attempted street closures have been successful.

“As a businessman, I try to eliminate the risks as much as possible,” he said.

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