For much of the spring, the council of Elmwood has been divided over a single proposal: a plan to close the two central blocks of Maple Street to vehicle traffic and turn them into a pedestrian plaza. Put forward by a group of downtown residents, the scheme would remove the street's parking and driving lanes altogether, replacing them with a landscaped promenade of benches, planters, and outdoor café seating. Its supporters regard the change as a way of restoring vitality to a commercial core that has grown noticeably quieter over the past decade, while its opponents are convinced it would accomplish the opposite.

Among the plan's most vocal champions is Amrit Basra, who has run a café on the affected block for nearly ten years. Pointing to comparable towns whose downtowns swelled with visitors after similar conversions, Basra maintains that removing the automobiles would encourage passers-by to slow their pace and remain in the district, lingering over an afternoon rather than departing within minutes. The plaza, in his estimation, would attract the families and tourists who currently have little reason to stop, and the businesses lining the block would be the earliest to benefit.