The Police Commission voted 3-0 Tuesday to close parts of Elm and Forest Streets to motor vehicle traffic for two days in August so that downtown merchants can set up tables and racks in the roadway for bargain-hunting shoppers.
The modified “Sidewalk Sale” would take place on Friday Aug. 21 and Saturday Aug. 22, contingent on state guidance for retailers, spikes in COVID-19 virus here and approval from an administrative team that approves special events in New Canaan.
Unlike the traditional Sidewalk Sale of summers past, there would be no food vendors or entertainers at the August event, no nonlocal businesses would be allowed to set up tables in the road, nonprofit organizations would not have displays out in the accustomed way, and Main Street would remain open to vehicular traffic, according to Tucker Murphy, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce.
“This is not a Sidewalk Sale here,” she told the Commission during a special meeting, held via videoconference. “In fact, I don’t even want the name ‘Sidewalk Sale’ involved with anything to do with this. The Sidewalk Sale this year is not happening, period end of story. It’s nothing like the Sidewalk Sale. It’s not going to be that. And the entire proposal of what we are trying to work towards is entirely COVID-contingent, and by that I mean everything is subject to change with evolving rules, if the governor’s orders change, certainly, the timeline all of that. And also where we are as a community when it gets closer to that time in terms of community spread.”
She added, “We really were trying to think of something, some way to allow our local merchants to move their inventory, open up space for fall, and also it happens to be back-to-school time, shopping time, so we thought that was kind of interesting, as well as tax-free week, and really the whole focus of this would be on our downtown retailers.”
Chair Paul Foley, Secretary Jim McLaughlin and Commissioner Shekaiba Bennett voted 3-0 to allow for the closures of the one-way stretches of Elm and Forest Streets, as well as the former “Pop-Up Park” area.
Regarding mask-wearing, Murphy said they will be “strongly encouraged.”
“We will use every language that is available to us to say ‘required,’ ” she said. “We will have volunteers and signage out there, handing out masks or asking people to wear masks.”
Bennett said wearing masks “is a big deal and people have to comply.”
“So if there is any kind of sign that says’ no mask, no participation’ that would be helpful,” she said.
Murphy responded that guidance from New Canaan’s health director, Jenn Eielson, is that organizers of the event “require masks as much as you can”
“ It’s not enforceable outside,” Murphy said. “It’s that maintaining the six-foot social distancing.”
She added that the Chamber plans to “have volunteers handing out masks and just really asking everybody in the strongest language we can use to request and beg people to wear masks, we will.”
The Chamber typically hires two or three police officers for the Sidewalk Sale, so one or two would be hired to oversee the modified event, officials said. Police Chief Leon Krolikowski said one could be sufficient depending on how busy it is. Murphy said a picture of participation should come into focus as merchants sign up.
The event would run from about 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days, and the streets likely would need to be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to allow merchants to safely set up and break down, Murphy said. The Department of Public Works would be able to help with cleaning and sweeping up afterwards.
Krolikowski asked whether shoppers would use restrooms in the businesses themselves. Murphy said the former Outback building and Playhouse may be able allow people to use their bathrooms.
Krolikowski responded that the “challenge is cleaning.”
“It’s not like last year,” he said. “You would have to have somebody designated to actually clean.”
Murphy said that retailers right now can get a permit to sell their goods outside, as per the governor, though she’s not encouraging merchants to do that because “I just think it’s going to make things more problematic.”
“What we were hoping to do is just have an event where we would still close down Elm and Forest, and if you have got the proposal in front of you, we would reduce our capacity by 50%,” she said. “So none of the out-of-towners would be coming in. Our first priority and are only priority is to our New Canaan storefront businesses.”
A possible “kickoff event” for the night of Thursday, Aug. 20, is still being fleshed out, Murphy said. A survey of merchants in New Canaan showed support for the event, she said.
In responding to McLaughlin’s question about this summer’s event running two days instead of the traditional one day of the Sidewalk Sale, the Chamber’s Laura Budd said the idea was to decrease density by spreading it out over a greater period of time.