Downtown Turlock street closes for outdoor dining, shopping weekend events

Families dined in the middle of a downtown Turlock street Thursday evening as crews set up canopies for an outdoor business event scheduled to continue over the next three weeks.

With a block of West Main Street closed, organizers said restaurants are expanding their outdoor seating areas and providing a safe atmosphere to support local vendors, too.

Running Thursdays at 4 p.m. to Sundays at 11 p.m. through Aug. 9, the Downtown Turlock Street Vibe event also will include a comedy show, DJ background music and acoustic performances, said Devin Hill, general manager of The Udder Place, The Grand Cru and Sushi Garden. Businesses are not throwing a party, Hill said, but came up with the idea to try to stay afloat financially amid restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

“This is by no means going to be making anybody a ton of money,” Hill said. “ This is really just to pay the bills, keep our employees working and save the downtown community.”

The Downtown Turlock Property Owners Association obtained a permit for the event on Tuesday, marking the first road closure under the city’s temporary outdoor operations permit program, said Nathan Bray, city engineer and interim director of development services.

The Turlock City Council passed an urgency ordinance setting up the permit program back on May 12, when dine-in restaurants were still closed for the first time. Since then, the city has approved permits allowing 12 businesses to use sidewalk or parking lot space, Bray said in an email, including Angelini’s Italian Restaurant, Las Casuelas, Shrimpy’s Restaurant and Lulu’s Ice Cream Parlor.

Supporting Turlock local businesses

When it comes to the cost of city employees closing West Main Street between First Street and Broadway Avenue, Bray said Turlock will seek reimbursement from CARES Act funding. Staff are placing concrete blocks donated by Central Valley Concrete and Teichert Construction on Thursday afternoons and removing them Monday mornings, he said.

Michael Camara, president of the Downtown Turlock Property Owners’ Association, said the event is modeled after outdoor dining and retail programs in Walnut Creek, Menlo Park and Monterey. The city of Modesto began issuing permits to expand outdoor dining on July 20, but Modesto businesses have not advertised an event similar to Downtown Turlock Street Vibe.

Calling the next three weeks a trial period, Camara said the association may ask to extend the permit to boost the visibility of and support for local businesses.

“With so little in terms of recreation and socializing options in town, this may be the only option locally for people to come out and assume something that resembles normalcy,” Camara said.

Kelly Hunter and her husband checked out the event Thursday and considered dining out for the first time since March at one of the street tables. A worker at Treasure Hunters and Main Street Antiques, Hunter said she hopes to see more vendors at the event. Intro and Bijou Boutique are both listed on advertisements but were not present by 6 p.m. Thursday.

“I wish it was a little bigger,” Hunter said. “I wish it would go on the other side because there’s all sorts of shops that way, too. But otherwise, I think it’s a great idea and I hope that it does well.”

Face coverings are encouraged, Hill said, and The Udder Place and The Grand Cru are providing security.

Turlock businesses interested in a temporary outdoor operation permit can fill out an application on the city website and send it to engineering@turlock.ca.us. Questions can be directed to 209-668-5520.

This story was originally published July 26, 2020 at 9:59 AM.