When Marshall Powell had a wild idea, the city listened.

In normal times, the long-term closure of an entire section of city street to allow for alfresco dining likely wouldn’t get much traction.

But when Powell, general manager of The Elk Public House, pitched the idea to rope off a section of Cannon Street and line it with restaurant tables, it was the city, not the business, jumping through hoops to make it happen,

Unfortunately for those hoping to see Powell’s proposal come to fruition, The Elk and its neighboring restaurants dropped their permit application for the road closure, Powell told The Spokesman-Review on Thursday.

The concept was simple: As Spokane County entered Phase 2 of Gov. Jay Inslee’s Safe Start Washington reopening plan, restaurants would be allowed to open, but at only 50% capacity. By expanding onto a shut-down street, eateries would be able to serve something closer to the normal, prepandemic flow of customers.

The city was eager to oblige, offering restaurants the opportunity to apply for a special events benefits.

The restaurant would have had to add staff just to manage the street tables, and costs would also have increased because of the need to rent equipment, Powell said. Plus, business has been better than anticipated, even at 50% capacity. El Que, The Elk’s sister restaurant next door, has been “gangbusters” since reopening, even with the state’s limitations in place, according to Powell.

The original goal was for The Elk, El Que, Italia Trattoria, Caffe Capri and Pacific Pizza to pool their resources and share a single communal space on the street. But the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board would have required each restaurant to apply for its own permit and fence off its own space.

It wasn’t a “huge deal,” Powell said, but it was “a little more involved than we originally thought.”

And even if the plan succeeded, it could be upended on any given day by wet weather.

The Elk is still serving customers on its sidewalk, however, and the city is hoping more restaurants and retailers expand in a similar fashion.

Last month, Mayor Nadine Woodward signed an executive order establishing the Restaurant and Retail Program, which temporarily loosens restrictions on businesses that want to set up shop on an adjacent sidewalk or parking spaces.

To date, the city has received 15 applications to the program, which are currently in their public comment period and under review by city officials. Two are for special events, two are for parklets, and the remainder are for sidewalk cafés.

But The Elk stops here.

Although the Cannon Street closure didn’t become a reality, Powell credited the city with being quick and responsive.

“The city was extremely helpful, it was really just our decision as the businesses here – it just didn’t make sense,” Powell said.