by Rachel Swan : sfchronicle – excerpt
A group of merchants on San Francisco’s Valencia Street abruptly canceled this weekend’s “Shared Spaces” road closure and outdoor festivities due to rainy forecasts — and a growing contention that banning cars is bad for business.
Among them is Valencia Cyclery bike shop owner Paul Olszewski, who sent a mass email to his neighbors late Thursday. Cutting off motorists from using the street lessens the chance of making a sale in inclement weather, Olszewski said…
“It is my belief that prospective customers who drive to our neighborhood are discouraged by the congestion and increased lack of parking,” Olszewski continued…
Several shop owners on the email thread echoed Olszewski’s frustrations, prompting restaurateur and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board director Manny Yekutiel to take action. He sent a text to a subcommittee of the Valencia Corridor Merchants Association board that handles road closures, and by noon Friday, a Shared Spaces event set for the following day had been called off. It will still happen on Friday night..
Olszewski, the owner of Valencia Cyclery, is often a figure in these fights, usually siding with the motorists that he considers an important customer base. In February 2020 he tried to torpedo plans for a barricaded bike lane that would remove roughly half the parking spaces on his block. The plan, rolled out right before COVID, never came to fruition. A different iteration is now in the works, with support from the merchants association…(more)