Business & Tech
Walnut Creek Businesses Continue To Open For Outside Customers
Five such pop-ups opened last weekend, four more are set to open soon, and there's a waiting list for more to be permitted.
WALNUT CREEK, CA — Sidewalk dining and walk-up windows are now allowed on some downtown Walnut Creek streets as a city program to help businesses recover from COVID-19-driven restrictions and closures ramps up.
The Walnut Creek Rebound program was designed to help local businesses bounce back, incrementally, from the county health officer-mandated shelter-in-place orders.
The program includes expedited city approvals for creative measures — extending dining and retail onto sidewalks, curbside parking spaces and other open areas — to expand their businesses ahead of complete reopenings.
Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Assistant City Manager Teri Killgore said Walnut Creek is in Phase II of its Rebound plan, in which restaurants and retail citywide are being allowed to reopen, with restrictions.
At Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Killgore touted the "pop-ups" — parking spaces used for outdoor dining and retail display.
Find out what's happening in Walnut Creekfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Five such pop-ups opened last weekend, four more are set to open soon, and there's a waiting list for more to be permitted.
Plans are afoot for downtown street closures to accommodate more pop-ups, but the streets to be closed haven't been decided yet, she said.
Walnut Creek is among many Bay Area cities that have enacted, or are discussing, using vacant outside space around restaurants and other businesses to help businesses open up amid COVID-19 restrictions.
Martinez will close off two downtown streets starting this weekend for restaurants and retail; Berkeley, San Francisco, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Livermore, Los Altos, Redwood City, San Carlos and San Mateo are all planning something similar.
Killgore said all the measures envisioned will be temporary. And they may not all work perfectly.
"We've opted for fast, not perfect, and it will require continual refinement," Killgore told the City Council.
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