On Sept. 16, 2025, the future of “Main Street Moves” was decided in a Ventura City Council meeting at the Wright Event Center that saw a 6-1 vote in favor of maintaining a permanent closure of a portion of Main Street and California Street to cars.
Since the start of the pandemic back in 2020, parts of downtown have been closed under a Special Event Permit that later turned into a Vehicle Code Closure and extended indefinitely in January, creating a car free and pedestrian friendly area for people.
In the meeting, there were four options that the council was voting on: Option A which would terminate the Vehicle Code Closure and re-open the closed area by November 2025, Option B which would keep the streets closed and move forward with collaboration on the Main Street Vision Plan, and Option C which would reopen the streets but have options to close them for certain periods of time (weekends or seasonal closure). Finally, Option D would shrink the boundary lines of the closed area.
There are also two ongoing lawsuits (Open Main Street vs City of Buenaventura) and (XUS, LP v. City of San Buenaventura), the latter which has alleged that the closure has caused various property owners to have financial losses to their properties. This, in turn, has divided Venturans on what to do and has created a prolonged and controversial topic in the community.
At the meeting, the majority of the public comments spoke in favor of keeping Main Street closed, urging the board to vote for keeping Main Street closed, also known as Option B. Many people in the community, along with business and restaurant owners, showed up to voice their support for the pedestrian friendly option.
“It was powerful to see that variety [and] diversity of people come together for a lot of different reasons. Not everybody had the same reason for wanting the street closed, but it was cool to see people build upon other people’s thoughts,” co-owner of Paradise Pantry Tina Thayer said.
One of the benefits that both local residents and shop owners spoke about was that because people have to walk to get from place to place, they discover new stores that they may not have known were there if they didn’t have to walk.
“Because [people] are walking more, a lot of us are being seen more. Because when you’re driving, you’re concentrating about where you’re going, but now they spend the time to look at the windows, to come inside to chat with us,” owner of Ecugreen Martha Cantos said.
A point emphasized by restaurant owners in particular was the benefit of having parklets for outdoor seating, which opened up more seating and business.
“I think it just enhanced the ability to enjoy the weather we have while dining. It made us a lot more dog friendly because our sidewalks were not wide enough [so] we could not put any tables out front,” Thayer said. “It really opened up just a whole other avenue for people who wanted to experience what we do here but not have to be inside our restaurant.”
Other people in favor of the closure of Main Street also said how they felt safer when there are no cars on the street and how the closed area attracts both locals and tourists.
While there were only a couple comments that were for reopening the streets at the meeting, the issue is not totally lopsided as property owners at other meetings and in the community have been wanting Main Street re-opened, saying how vacancy rates and revenue losses point towards an unstable future of Main Street if it remains closed.
Councilmember Jim Duran of District Six, the sole council member who voted against Option B, has expressed concerns over a lack of a plan and data along with the uncertainty the lawsuits carry.
“The city still does not have a finalized plan or cost estimate for maintaining the closure, nor do we know who is ready to invest in improvements,” Duran said in an e-mail interview. “We don’t even have clear data on how many businesses actually want parklets or how much those will cost to install and maintain. To me, it feels like we’re putting the cart before the horse.”
Other issues that need to be addressed now that the closure is permanent includes accessibility and more parking that can allow people with disabilities and mobility issues to readily access downtown.
Ultimately, after hours of debate and discussion, Option B was ratified after a few amendments including one to push the installation of bollards to April and another that allows business owners to not have to build new parklets until the Open Main Street vs City of Buenaventura is resolved.
“I think it’s a very good decision that they should keep it open, and I think that it was probably one of the best decisions the city has made with closing [Main Street] in the first place and continue to keep it open,” senior Olivia McGowan said. “There’s no other place like that around where you can just go and do that.”
As the city moves forward with this decision, the Vision Plan, which details various short-term and long-term renovations and improvements that are planned to be done to the closed area, will be revisited and discussed with the community in the coming month with the final draft brought to council in 2026. There is a short online questionnaire to give feedback to the Vision Plan that goes until Oct. 20.
“Even when we disagree, we all care deeply about Ventura and want what’s best for our city. I remain hopeful that, regardless of the outcome, we’ll continue to listen to each other and work together to make downtown Ventura the best it can be,” Duran said.
