Photos and Story By Jondi Gumz
With the tourist economy in a tailspin due to COVID-19, Capitola is giving a green light to streetside dining as soon as the state and the county allow it.
By a unanimous vote May 28, the Capitola City Council endorsed the outdoor dining plan put forward by the Capitola Village and Wharf Business Improvement Association to help local businesses recover from the shelter-in-place shutdown ordered March 16 to slow the spread of the contagious coronavirus COVID-19.
Christian Plata, server at Margaritaville on the Esplanade, is masked up to write up takeout orders.
The city of Capitola has projected a $2.4 million loss in sales tax and hotel room tax revenues due to the shutdown. Countywide, the hospitality sector has taken a huge hit, with restaurants and hotels losing 9,900 jobs in April compared to a year ago.
Restaurants have been allowed to do takeout, but gathering and nonessential travel are prohibited.
At Margaritaville on Capitola’s Esplanade, the takeout window is open but much of the premises sits empty. Once Santa Cruz County’s request to the state, made Friday, for a variance to allow dining in restaurants is approved, Margaritaville could offer service inside – but the capacity of 100 would have to be downsized to comply with the six-foot social distancing rule. Christian Plata, a server who has worked there for a year, estimated this would allow 20-25 people inside.
“The solution businesses want is to move outdoors,” said Councilman Ed Bottorff, who suggested waiving permit fees usually required.
Mayor Kristen Pedersen called the business group’s proposal “quite brilliant.”
She said she had gotten 64 emails on the topic.
“I want us to open safely and productively,” she said, noting the limits on people allowed in shops and the 8-page guidance restaurants must follow.
Artist Stephanie Rapisardo paints the store window at Lumen Gallery in Capitola Village.
She did not want to postpone action until the council’s next meeting June 11, saying, “A lot of business owners and a lot of our restaurants have waited a really long time to get some kind of relief. It’s our duty to help them find that relief.”
On May 18, Gov. Newsom began relaxing restrictions faster than county health officials expected.
As more businesses reopen, health officials expect the COVID-19 case count to increase. On Friday, there were 206 cases including six in Capitola and 91 in Watsonville where health officials found that unauthorized Mother’s Day weekend gatherings led to an upward spike. There have been two deaths and 7,848 negative test results. Most cases have been mild; as of Friday, three confirmed cases were hospitalized, including one person in intensive care.
The approved plan calls for allowing streetside dining from June to September, monthly check-ins, waiving fees, allowing up to three hours for parking in the village, opening the Cliff Drive and parking lots behind City Hall and providing parking for the guests of the Capitola Hotel, which will lose spots.
“We have a real opportunity to save our businesses,” said Councilman Jacques Bertrand, noting alfresco dining is common in Europe. “I think it’s going to be an amazing experience.”
Mask Up
“Thank you for that vote,” said Carin Hanna, owner of the Craft Gallery and BIA membership secretary.
She said visitors to her shop arrive with a mask, but she added, “In the street, they need reminders.”
Councilman Sam Storey said he noticed most people in the village are not wearing masks.
City Manager Jamie Goldstein said banners are planned, providing a visual nudge.
Hanna said the new dining option will offer curbside parking clustered throughout the village, which means new signs, new stanchions for crowd control and new ramps for handicapped access, which the BIA will fund so the business owners can invest in their own properties. All this will take some time, so patrons must be patient.
“These things are coming, we can’t tell them when,” Hanna said.
The al fresco trend is being adopted nationwide as a safer alternative to eating indoors, according to Studio One Eleven in Long Beach.
Capitola Village is chockfull of small, locally owned shops, some of which have thrown in the towel due to the shutdown.
Cotton & Rye and Carmel Bay Co., two boutiques, and Sea Change Design & Studio, a home goods store, will not reopen; neither will Gaia Earth Treasures, which is shifting to sales from its websites and on Instagram.
Paradise Beach Grille on the Esplanade, for 22 years owned by Gary and Leslie Wetsel, announced it would close but streetside dining may lure them back.
Rodney Wartzok, for three years the owner of Capitola Candy Co., said he can’t reopen because his shop featured self-serve sales from bulk containers, which are not allowed. This is due to concern that COVID-19 can persist on surfaces.
He said to operate, he’d have to invest $50,000 in display cases, an investment he’s not sure would pay off.
“I’m waiting for the beach to open,” he said.
Hanna said two new businesses are remodeling spaces to open: British Ales, a tasting room for ale made in Marina, and Capitola Tap House, serving kombucha on tap with a membership model.
Going Online
Cierra Ryczek, owner of Lumen Gallery, hired Soquel artist Stephanie Rapisardo, owner of Line & Paper Design Studio, to paint her window to help catch the eye of passersby.
Ryczek is covering her bases by putting everything in her collection, from jewelry and beauty products to kitchen and home décor, on her website store, lumengal.com.
Bhavana Patel, the new owner of the Capitola Hotel, has reopened, putting Katey Fry back to work at the front desk but with the ban on nonessential travel, business is “very slow,” Fry said.
Dennis Norton, a planning commissioner and former councilman, put forth an alternative proposal to create a pedestrian-friendly Esplanade by closing it to cars, but Police Chief Terry McManus and Central Fire Chief Steven Hall had qualms.
Without lifeguards on the beach, if firefighters got an ocean rescue call, “we couldn’t do our jobs,” said Hall.
Capitola’s newly formed Business Recovery Committee includes: Carrie Arnone, Capitola Chamber of Commerce, Brittany Barrett, Total Fitness, Kent Berman, Santa Cruz Hotel Group, Police Capt. Andy Dally, Jill Ealy of Zelda’s and Sotola, Anthony Guajardo, Mijo’s Taqueria and BIA president, Katie Herlihy, community development director, Brian Kirk, Capitola Mall, Benjamin Ow, Ow Properties, with Richard Hill business liaison.