Making parklets permanent in Redwood City

The aim, Economic Development Manager Simon Vuong said during a virtual question and answer session held Thursday, March 31, would be to create a simple and easy program to maintain that fosters an airy outdoor dining and shopping feel.

Program details are still being fleshed out, Vuong said, who noted the city does not want to add additional burdens to small businesses still recovering from the pandemic-induced economic crisis.

“We don’t want to have such an exorbitant cost involved that it becomes too much strain on our businesses,” Vuong said. “We want [businesses] to be able to succeed, and if it’s too expensive for you that’s not going to help anyone.”

Businesses wanting to participate in the program, including those established in the city before the pandemic or those participating in the city’s Sidewalk Cafe Program, would be charged an outdoor business activity permit or encroachment permit fee, a use of city property fee, a processing fee, building permit fee and contractor’s fees.

With payment, businesses would have access to at least two parking stalls but could access more depending on demand, agreement from neighboring businesses, and the style of street parking fronting their business.

Officials do not currently plan to propose additional parking stalls be added across the city to make up for those being used for the parklets, Vuong said. He pointed to a community survey, which showed strong support for keeping the parklets, however, to do that, he said residents would have to make tradeoffs like not being able to park directly in front of their destinations.

The number of handicap parking spaces and their locations will likely have to remain as they are today, though, Vuong said the city may be able to work with a business owner to accommodate both the parklet and the handicap stall. Staff will also try to work with businesses that have colored parking fronting their business, such as a white loading zone or a red emergency zone.

“It’s going to be a balancing act. We have to weigh what we think is going to be the highest priority for our business community with what we understand is still an issue with some of our members of the community who want to have parking,” he said.

The temporary closure of Broadway between Theatre Way and Jefferson Avenue will also remain in place. Street closures were implemented around the same time as the parklet program but have been adjusted over time.

Eventually, Vuong said the city could consider making the closure permanent but to do so would be costly. Vuong shared hope the Broadway closure would be cheaper and easier done than that of Theatre Way.

The city and Chamber San Mateo County recently invested $300,000 each to purchase a complex street closure system for the street that did not require drilling given that a parking garage exists underneath.

“It’s definitely a long term goal but, like Simon said, they are very expensive so we keep saving our pennies to get more,” Amy Buckmaster, president and CEO of Chamber San Mateo County, said. “That is something we would like, I think all groups would like for downtown, it’s the way cities are going.”

Vuong said staff expects to bring the draft parklet program proposal to the council in May and depending on council action, the program could go into effect by late June, just before the temporary program expires in July.

Vuong said staff would likely look to extend the temporary program to ensure businesses have enough time to apply for permits under the new program without having to immediately remove their existing parklets. The old parklets would have to be removed by the end of the new still undetermined expiration date.

“We understand that we’re still not back to normal, we’re still in the pandemic and people are still uneasy about dining inside,” Vuong said. “And we know that it’s impacted our small businesses pretty significantly.”

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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