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A downtown plaza proposal would mean rerouted traffic affecting Pacific Avenue between Locust and Cooper streets. Sentinel photo by Dan Coyro

With plans for a Pacific Avenue plaza scuttled by a reluctant landowner, one plaza backer is looking to the street itself.

Robert Fish, who helped design the plaza between the new Cooper House and the McPherson Center for Art and History, proposes to close off Pacific Avenue between Locust and Cooper streets for use as a plaza. Fish says his plan could be tried temporarily by just closing off the street with planters. If made permanent, it could be paved with cobblestones and include a fountain and landscaping.

"A plaza will be a focal element to the downtown, and it will have real character, which is lacking now," said Fish, who presented his plan to the City Council last week. "Pacific is now sort of a more successful business street, but it lacks the sense of place it had before (the earthquake). It used to be smaller, quaint and funky, and now it’s just a business street with some interesting buildings."

The vacant lot at Pacific and Church Street was the preferred plaza location among some residents, but that plan appears dead. Landowner Louis Rittenhouse says the land is not for sale — he recently unveiled development plans — and the council does not have the four votes needed to force Rittenhouse to sell.

Mayor Tim Fitzmaurice directed city planners to review Fish’s proposal, including cost and possible traffic impacts.

Bruce Bratton, a member of the Downtown Plaza Committee, founded after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, said his group hasn’t given up on the Rittenhouse site, but is looking at other locations.

Fish calls for one-way traffic on Locust Street from Pacific to Cedar Street. Two-way traffic would continue on Pacific between Cooper and Church streets.

The proposed plaza would be 8,600 square feet, about half the size of the Rittenhouse property.

Councilman Mark Primack, an architect who proposed a downtown plaza immediately after the quake, said Fish’s is the best proposal he’s seen and would lobby for it.

"Not only is it doable, but you could set it up this weekend and see if it works," Primack said. "He’s chosen a very effective place. ... That area is already so packed with people on the weekends that they are hanging off the sidewalks."

But business owners may not be so keen on the street closure. Candi Moise, co-owner of Jackson Shoes on Pacific Avenue and president of the Downtown Association, said she has seen the plan but is wary of anything that could affect traffic.

"From a business standpoint, having parking in front of your store and access to cars is very important," she said, adding that downtown parking and driving is "already challenging enough."

Residents asked about the plan were more supportive.

"This area’s been overrun by pedestrians anyway," said Ethan Clarke, a teen who was resting outside Noah’s Bagels with friend Dante Branciforte Saturday morning. "It would be kind of cool to have something like that here. If they could do it without spending too much money, I think it would be great."

Contact Heather Boerner at hboerner@santa-cruz.com.

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