Downtown Fullerton’s Walk on Wilshire set to expire at end of month

Hopes for the future of Walk on Wilshire, a popular outdoor dining street closure in downtown Fullerton, met a political dead end this week.

After extending a temporary lifeline in October for the 200-foot stretch of Wilshire Avenue, Fullerton City Council failed to make the pandemic-era pedestrian zone permanent, much less expand it.

On Tuesday, the council considered investing an initial $50,000 to keep Walk on Wilshire going, with council members Ahmad Zahra and Shana Charles supporting the move.

“When I look at the wonderful businesses that we have on Walk on Wilshire, I don’t see a lot of empty storefronts,” Charles said. “It has done well; it has thrived.”

Mayor Fred Jung and Councilwoman Jamie Valencia voted against the proposal.

Councilman Nick Dunlap recused himself, as he has in previous votes due to familial financial interests in the area.

The pedestrian zone is home to several businesses, including cafes, restaurants and a brewery. Without a firm future for Walk on Wilshire in place, some businesses had been hesitant to fully commit to the concept.

Only Mulberry Street Ristorante had built a permitted parklet for outdoor dining since the street closure.

A city staff report noted that an analysis done after the temporary extension could not “definitively conclude” that the closed off segment of Wilshire Avenue was no longer needed for vehicle traffic.

Further review would be needed to address outstanding issues like emergency vehicle access and trash collection before such a conclusion could be reached.

“We’ve had swings at this,” Jung said. “This is the third time that we’ve gotten this go around in a year.”

The city estimated that the cost of permanently closing the thoroughfare would cost $250,000.

Instead of keeping Walk on Wilshire permanent, city staff proposed reopening the street while encouraging downtown businesses to participate in a parklet program as a compromise.

Chris Presta, owner of the Back Alley Bar & Grill, claimed to the council that foot traffic is busy elsewhere in downtown Fullerton but comes to a drag on Wilshire Avenue west of Harbor Boulevard.

“The Walk on Wilshire’s dark at night,” he said. “It’s unappealing. People don’t want to walk there.”

As in past council meetings, dozens of supporters of the street closure made impassioned pleas to preserve it as a beacon of walkability in the city.

Allison Ritto, a business owner near Walk on Wilshire, helped organize an art walk in December along the street closure and hoped to make it a monthly event.

She claimed that opponents have unfairly blamed the pedestrian street for economic woes.

“[Walk on Wilshire] has become a scapegoat,” Ritto said. “Those who are most vocal against it have no tangible evidence that it is negative economically.”

Another supporter accused Councilwoman Valencia of falling under the influence of pay to play politics in opposing Walk on Wilshire.

According to campaign finance documents, Wilshire Avenue property owner Tony Bushala contributed $2,500 to Valencia’s election campaign last year. She also received $500 from the 8 Eighty Cigar Lounge, a Wilshire Avenue business.

During his comments before council, Bushala mentioned 8 Eighty Cigar Lounge as one business being impacted by the street closure in arguing against it.

Valencia noted that she returned campaign contributions in order to discuss and vote on the issue.

According to Fullerton’s city attorney, her actions were in complete accordance with a cure offered under the Levine Act, which aims to restrict the influence of pay-0to-play politics.

The city is also considering a pedestrian zone within its plans to redevelop the Fox Theater area in downtown.

Walk on Wilshire supporters argued that their street closure community came about organically and that any other plans for pedestrian zones shouldn’t come at the expense of it.

But that’s what happened after council members debated its future.

The deadlock vote that followed was met with some applause from the audience. A louder chorus of boos echoed as Walk on Wilshire supporters walked out of the meeting in disappointment afterward.

Walk on Wilshire’s temporary extension will expire on Jan. 31.

In February, the street will reopen to vehicle traffic.