New Bellingham rule could help businesses use outside spaces to aid social distancing
Bellingham officials made it easier last week to close city streets for recreation or other reasons during the new coronavirus pandemic.
It’s an idea that’s taking hold among several U.S. cities, Public Works Director Eric Johnston wrote in a memo to the City Council.
“During the COVID ‘Stay Home, Stay Healthy’ period, some communities across the country have chosen to restrict access to some streets, not for a block party, but rather to allow for social distancing, outdoor recreation and non-motorized movement,” Johnston said.
That includes Seattle, where 23 miles of residential streets were closed to create park-like spaces where neighbors can walk and mingle but still keep the recommended 6 feet of social distancing to avoid spreading COVID-19, according to the city’s Transportation Department.
“There’s been an interest among several members of our community to do larger widespread closures of local streets during COVID,” Johnston told the City Council during a committee hearing Monday afternoon, June 8.
“With more than 80 miles of trails and 40 public parks, we did not have some of the limitations that some of these other communities have had in terms of access. We’ve also been looking forward for ways to improve access to those trails and to those parks in a way that can be durable and lasting,” Johnston said.
Johnston said the ordinance is intended to fill a gap in city codes between temporary street closures for business and a special event permit for a neighborhood street.
Because it was an emergency ordinance and approved unanimously, it takes effect immediately.
“We are working on one request for a one-block section of 19th in Happy Valley between Larabee and McKenzie,” Johnston told The Bellingham Herald in an email. “We have also responded to a couple of general inquiries at other places in the city.”
Monday’s ordinance was aimed at neighborhoods, but the city has been assisting businesses that are opening after being closed for more than two months.
City planner Darby Cowles told the City Council at its meeting on Monday night that such projects include the green cones program to identify businesses that are open.
“The occupancy restrictions associated with Phase 2 (of the state’s Safe Start plan) are very challenging for some of our business owners,” Cowles said. “Summer is coming so there is an extraordinary opportunity to work with businesses to facilitate expanded operations in underused areas of our city right of way.”
She mentioned the idea of “parklets” or “streateries” for outdoor sales and dining as a temporary measure to help businesses use the space outside their shops and facilitate social distancing.
“It’s the idea of operating a sidewalk cafe in a parking stall and/or a portion of the drive lane,” Cowles said.
Cowles said many businesses are asking about block-wide street closures, including 10th Street adjacent to the Fairhaven Village Green.
She said both the Fairhaven Association and the Downtown Business Partnership were working with the city and local business owners to develop plans that would help them thrive through the pandemic.
“I think it’s going to be a wonderful experiment,” she said.
