Committee To Look At Outdoor Dining Road Closure, Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — The Long Term Business Solutions ad hoc committee of the Manhattan Beach City Council will meet today [Monday, Feb. 22] to reexamine how the Downtown Manhattan Avenue road closure is working out. A one-block stretch of the street has been closed since February 11 to accommodate more outdoor dining in Downtown.

Said ad hoc committee and City Council member Steve Napolitano, "We look at how this weekend went and whether to continue with the closure and other actions to fix anything that needs to be fixed."

"All items related to closures are open for discussion," City Council and ad hoc committee member Richard Montgomery told Manhattan Beach Patch. "We really want to hear from restaurants and retail businesses in the Fowntown area along with residents about this past weekend. It was not a holiday weekend and I would ask: 'Was the closure successful? If not, why not? Any problems?'"

The road closure has not been without its opposition. Downtown Manhattan Beach residents say it has impacted and congested traffic in an untenable way. Other restaurant owners have said they, too, wish they could have extra outdoor dining seating adjacent their restaurants. The restaurants that have been able to expand into the additional space the road closure brings have been Manhattan Beach Post and Fishing With Dynamite. Nando Trattoria, a relatively new restaurant which had zero outdoor seating prior to the road closure, now also has outdoor dining space.