FALMOUTH – Falmouth officials have backed off of a plan that called for a partial closure of Main Street for outdoor dining purposes.
After the approval last week, the Falmouth Select Board recently voted to rescind the temporary plan that aimed to provide more outdoor dining capacity after local retail owners spoke out.
“This is just too complicated, and obviously we don’t have a groundswell of consensus on whether this is a good idea; to shut down Main Street and turn it into more of a pedestrian and restaurant seating area,” Select Board member Sam Patterson said during a recent meeting.
As outdoor dining was included in the second phase of the state’s reopening plan, the proposal to close part of the street was intended to allow for more patrons at eateries while also maintaining social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chairwoman Megan English Braga explained that more input from business owners within Falmouth had been received over the past few days, which eventually played into the decision to retract the original decision.
“For me, the biggest piece is that we just don’t have a lot of restaurants saying that they will make use of this,” English Braga said.
English Braga said that if it appeared more businesses would utilize the closed off portions of the street they would have moved forward with the plan.
More consensus is needed from businesses along Main Street, English Braga added.
The town is welcoming feedback on what to do going forward. A shoulder season event in the fall was briefly mentioned by the chairwoman as another way to bring more people to the area.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
