Parklets arrived in B'game about four years ago as we noted here. They were a good idea at the time and helped keep some of our local eateries in business. That was then, this is now as the city council moves to reign them in. I don't think many people believed they would still be around four years later and that the $250 per month "cleaning fee" would be insufficient to actually keep the areas around the parklet clean. That is just one issue. The impact on street parking, visibility for safe driving (the Rocca parklet being exhibit A) and visibility for storefronts adjacent to the parklets are also drawing council attention. I would add one more. The businesses that didn't cover up the orange hydro barriers are contributing to the Make Burlingame Ugly Again (MBUA) trend along with cheesy plastic bollards, floppy crosswalk signs, perpetually empty newspaper boxes, signage overkill, et al. Add you least favorite street detritus here _____________________. The Daily Journal is reporting on the council meeting where all of this was discussed
Originally, the parklets were a vital function of maintaining restaurant business during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they’ve become overbearing for retailers who make important contributions to the city’s sales tax, Mayor Donna Colson said.
“I don’t want to jeopardize our balance with hard businesses and restaurants, which are also fun, but are frankly destroying the [Avenue] right in front of the restaurants,” she said. “It’s pitch black, filthy, dirty, they’re not covering the cost, we can’t keep it clean. … I think it’s just a matter of balancing it.” Currently, 30 parklets in the Burlingame Avenue downtown and the Broadway Commercial district are occupying 63 parking spaces, with 13 extending beyond their business frontages.
The proposed new rules will likely gut the program.
Under the draft ordinance, roofs, trellises and tent shade structures will not be allowed and structural elements will not be allowed to extend beyond the top of the walls to allow for better visibility to adjacent businesses. Curb gutters must be kept unobstructed and furnishings cannot be stored in the parklet when not in use.
Without roofs, the heaters will be much less effective on cold days and diners will be much warmer on sunny lunch hours. Moving everything out and back in each day probably will motivate restaurants to pull the parklet plug. We will know by October when the new rules kick in. It's fun to see the DJ use Bgame in a headline though I prefer it with the apostrophe.
August 2024 Update: The new rules went into effect at the end of July and many parklets have been removed. The city notes that we are down to 14 active parklets complying with the new rules. In other news, the FLiRT variant of Covid is increasing to seriously high levels in the Bay Area at this moment. Here is a photo of a parklet being disassembled.
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