Love it or not, Kent motorists have become used to avoiding part of Franklin Avenue for years.
The road has been partially closed from Erie Street to Main Street for almost half the year since 2022, when the city established an Outdoor Seating Area in that space.
Per city ordinance, the closure was effective from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in October. The aim, the ordinance stated, was to “create an outdoor public ‘park’ space” that would provide additional outdoor seating for downtown customers to use. The partial road closure would also “assist downtown businesses,” the ordinance stated.
Each spring the debate would begin anew. Keep the closure? Make it permanent? Reduce the timeframe? Social media posts multiplied and city officials were contacted.
Main Street Kent, which coordinates Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA) activities on behalf of participating businesses, recently polled 36 DORA-affiliated business owners to gauge support for reducing the closure from 23 to 15 weeks: the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to the weekend immediately following Labor Day.
Kent Community Development Director Bridget Susel on May 6 apprised City Council members of the poll results:
Of the 24 business owners who responded, 18 favored a reduced timeframe, four did not and two rated themselves indifferent. Of the six businesses located on Erie Street, inside the Outdoor Seating Area, three favored reducing the timeframe, while three did not.
Responding to the survey anonymously, one business owner stated that the current closure “benefits only a few businesses to the detriment of many.” The respondent also stated that the OSA “confuses people as to what DORA is, who can participate and where it is offered.”
Another stated that the closure does not affect their business except for traffic inconveniences, but echoed the previous respondent’s concerns about Kent’s DORA, which encompass much of downtown Kent, part of the West River neighborhood, part of North Mantua Street and more.
“It does distract people from the idea that DORA is in a bigger area,” the respondent stated.
Others stated that the current closure is “too long and seemed arbitrary,” and that “consistency with set dates may eliminate some confusion.”
An alternative plan could be to open the OSA in early May and close it after Labor Day, Susel and Main Street Kent Executive Director Heather Malarcik told council members. Their next step is that the city of Kent will poll the community for more precise feedback.
Meanwhile, at least for this year, the picnic tables that annually sprout above Franklin Avenue’s brick pavers will remain.
Wendy DiAlesandro
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.