Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council on Monday discussed preliminary plans for its Main Street bridge project, with a consensus to remove a public plaza from the bridge sidewalks and place it in front of City Hall.
The council agreed to have Dokken Engineering work on new designs to try to incorporate a public plaza area in front of the City Hall on Main Street, and asked that the rough design illustrations be brought back to the council again, before the Planning Commission works on finer details, such as railing styles.
Councilman Jim Swift said he was not in favor of permanently eliminating parking on the east side of the bridge, which showed in plans that came forward from community meetings on the bridge plans. It also included a “bottleneck” with curbs, to give space on the sidewalk for public booths or a plaza, and guide traffic through in two lanes.
Planning Commissioner Frank Cunha said the idea of putting the plaza area on the bridge was to give visitors a common area to sit and eat a taco or ice cream. He said the only place like that now was two tables in front of Sutter Creek Ice Cream Emporium, which are always filled.
Councilwoman Sandy Anderson said the Visitors Bureau regularly had inquiries from people asking where they can rest in downtown. She said she would gladly give up a few parking spots for a public plaza.
In public comment, one man said he thought “the evolution of the bridge is creating a great amenity for the city.” Ray Brusatori said he did “not want to lose three parking spaces.”
Al Bierce thought they should install temporary barriers of some sort to simulate the design and see if citizens really liked the idea, because once they start the project, they cannot change it. Bierce said: “I don’t particularly care for it.”
Councilman Gary Wooten said he agreed that they need parking, and he wondered how emergency vehicles would be accommodated with the “bottlenecking to 24 feet” on the bridge. He said “we should look at this more closely before we pour a ton of concrete.”
Mayor Tim Murphy agreed, suggesting use of the temporary barriers. He said a gathering place or plaza is very important, and if not on the bridge, then elsewhere. He suggested and the council agreed to have Dokken work up plans to “incorporate the City Hall frontage,” then bring it back to the City Council, before it goes back to the Planning Commission.
Dokken’s Rebecca Neilon said she would probably return in 2 months. Wooten later suggested they have Dokken work on a grant application for a City Hall plaza.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
