Watch: Ventura launches ‘Main Street Moves’ initiative
In June 2020, several blocks of Main Street in downtown Ventura were closed to vehicle traffic for the next 30 days as part of a plan to help businesses recover.
- Ventura City Council voted 7-0, effectively ending the pedestrian mall process.
- The road has been closed to vehicles since the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A majority of affected downtown property owners opposed the closure, saying it negatively affects their business.
(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the action taken by the City Council and its next steps and to correct the percent of those objecting to the pedestrian mall.)
Ventura’s Main Street is set to reopen to vehicles in November, bringing an end to the pedestrian friendly area that many residents and visitors have enjoyed since the pandemic.
Ventura’s effort to make the road closure permanent failed July 8, after a majority of property owners in the downtown area expressed opposition citing revenue losses. The City Council voted unanimously to terminate the initiative.
“It sickens me to think that we’re giving up what I think is a good opportunity to lead in a way that obviously a lot of people, especially the younger generation, … see as the future of their downtown,” Councilmember Doug Halter told the audience.
A portion of the city’s downtown corridor has been closed to vehicles since June 2020, when the council sought to accommodate social distancing and assist struggling businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The emergency order was extended multiple times and modified to include bicycles, e-bikes, skateboards and scooters in addition to cars.
Known as Main Street Moves, the closure encompasses five blocks of Main Street from Mission Basilica San Buenaventura to Fir Street as well as one block of California Street from Main Street to Santa Clara Street.
Council members voted Jan. 28 to prohibit vehicles on the road long term by directing staff to begin the process of establishing a pedestrian mall. Under California Streets and Highways Code, a pedestrian mall is one or more city streets where vehicle traffic is restricted.
On April 8, the council adopted a resolution of intention, the first step in the process to achieve the designation, to notify the community of the city’s goal.
The city held the required public hearing to receive input on the possibility of a pedestrian mall during the July 8 council meeting. Owners of properties affected by the designation had the opportunity to submit claims and objections.
The city received 45 claims totaling just over $230 million in losses due to the ongoing closure as well as 49 objections, Community Development Director Rachel Dimond said.
Because the objections accounted for 56% — more than half — of buildings in the closed area, the pedestrian mall process was legally required to be terminated for at least one year.
As a result, the city did not need to take action on the claims.
Five of the 11 people who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting said they enjoyed the pedestrian-friendly area. Restricting vehicles, they said, attracts customers and creates a strong sense of community.
“Main Street Moves is what transformed me from a disengaged resident taking for granted the spoils of this amazing beach town into a passionate advocate for common sense improvements to the public square that make all of our lives better,” said resident Nick Herson, a member of Venturans for People Oriented Places.
Most of the six speakers who opposed the closure were business owners. They argued the lack of traffic and parking resulted in revenue loss.
Debbie Fox, owner of Fox Fine Jewelry, told the council that she has watched vacancy rates in the area climb from 5% to 20% since the closure.
“Many of the people who want Main Street to stay closed don’t have a financial stake,” she said. “We won’t have a downtown left if it continues this way because as a business owner and a property owner I have seen the change, and it is dramatic.”
Representatives from the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Ventura did not immediately respond to interview requests.
Council members agreed that while they had hoped to see a pedestrian mall create a vibrant, walkable downtown, the input from business owners was concerning especially because they invest so much in the area.
“I think we need to take care of our business owners and property owners in order for us to have a vital downtown,” Councilmember Jim Duran said.
Legal action, they said, was another factor.
The city is currently fighting two lawsuits from downtown business owners who oppose the closure of Main Street.
In March 2024, a group of owners calling themselves Open Main Street asserted that the agency has a legally mandated duty to keep its streets open to the public and that they were entitled to compensation for damage that resulted from the closure. A Ventura County Superior Court judge ruled in the city’s favor, but the group appealed.
In December 2024, a group referred to as XUS, LLP filed a similar lawsuit. That case is awaiting trial date.
“As much as I know that the Main Street closure has brought vibrancy and outdoor life and renewed energy throughout our downtown, I also can’t ignore that unfortunately these claims are a legal burden to our city,” Mayor Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios said, referring to the $230 million in alleged revenue losses.
The City Council will vote on the future of Main Street on Sept. 16.
If it reopens, staff may then remove the parklets and barricades, repair the road and replace the parking meters and signs. The reopening would be scheduled for Nov. 3.Makena Huey is an investigative and watchdog reporter for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at makena.huey@vcstar.com. This story was made possible by a grant from the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Fund to Support Local Journalism.