Should Palm Springs keep outdoor dining 'parklets' as COVID restrictions lift?
At the Palm Springs restaurantThai Smile, manager Dean Presnal says the eatery's parklet, which expands outdoor dining onto street parking spaces on Indian Canyon Drive, has helped boost business and provide additional seating since the coronavirus pandemic set in. "This has been doing pretty good for us and it gives us a little bit more seating space, he said. Presnal said Thai Smile would like to keep the parklet for at least a little while after COVID-19 emergency orders are lifted. The state is planning to drop most coronavirus-related restrictions on June 15. But two doors down at the furniture store PS Homeboys, store owners Jeremy Taylor and Niels Kosman say the parklet blocks the visibility of their storefront and has reduced foot traffic. It is a complete eye-sore and directly blocks the view of our business, said Taylor. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Palm Springs and other cities allowed restaurants to develop parklets, or outdoor dining areas in on-street parking spaces. This allowed restaurants to expand their outdoor dining capacity amid restrictions on indoor dining. Now, Palm Springs officials will decide whether the outdoor on-street dining should continue as pandemic restrictions ease. The city council will discuss the possible extension of the parklet program at its meeting on Thursday night. The city's temporary permits allow commercial parklets until the state lifts COVID-19 emergency orders. City staff are recommending that parklets continue for an additional 12 months to help restaurants recoup the funds they spent to install the parklets. In some cases, restaurateurs have spent thousands of dollars on the parklets. More:California is reopening soon. Here's what changes on June 15  In March 2020, the city began issuing temporary permits for outdoor dining on private property and on public sidewalks in response to COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining. In August, the City Council directed staff to temporarily close a three-block area of Palm Canyon Drive to allow outdoor dining in the street. Palm Canyon Drive was later reopened, but the city continued to allow outdoor dining in parklets in on-street parking spaces. Proposed state legislation would also allow commercial parklet use to be extended permanently. Senate Bill 314 focuses on extending the permits that allow restaurants to serve alcohol in parklets,which the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has allowed temporarily during the pandemic through catering permits. If passed, Senate Bill 314 would allow the extension of these permits for an additional 365 days after the COVID-19 state of emergency order is lifted. Applicants could then apply for the permanent expansion of their premises to include the parklet area. The city staff report notes that the bill would only apply to commercial parklets where alcohol is served, and the bill wouldnt restrict the city's ability to approve parklets for other uses. City staff is recommending that Palm Springs allow all businesses with an existing permit to continue the parklet use for an additional 12 months, with the option to apply for a new permit to extend their parklet use beyond that date. Staff is also recommending that the city allow applications for new commercial and public use parklets. There currently aren't any public use parklets in Palm Springs, but these spaces typically provide free outdoor seating that isn't connected to a restaurant and is open to the public. At Trio, owner Tony Marchese estimates the restaurant spent between $25,000 and $30,000 on its parklet, and they plan on spending about $10,000 more on misters and more shade for the summer months. He said the city should extend the parklet permits to help restaurants recoup these costs. The parklets and outdoor seating have been a blessing. They need to extend it  it is very important for all of us. Some of us spent a lot of money out there to make it look nice; we had to buy extra tables and other things, so I believe it should be extended for a minimum of a year or two, said Marchese. A public comment letter from Jennifer Seymour, vice president of Hunters Palm Springs, a bar located on Arenas Road, makes a similar argument. "Removal of Hunters' private parking parklet will severely impact our ability to fully recover from an entire year of lost revenue... For a large nightclub like Hunters with estimated losses of $3,000,000 with the back parklet accounting for $20,000 in additional sales per weekend, it will take 150 good weekends to recover the 2020 lost sales," Seymour wrote. Mario Escobar, a server at Inka on Palm Canyon Drive, said the parklets have made downtown Palm Springs look more alive.  The extension of the parklets would be the best thing for us; its been really really good on the weekends and has helped with business during the pandemic. With the extension onto the street you can also see smaller restaurants you might not see without the parklet, restaurants have more space and it just changes the ambiance downtown, said Escobar. Luis Reyna, who was visiting Palm Springs from Los Angeles, said Monday that he ate at the parklets throughout his weekend in Palm Springs, and that he plans to continue dining outdoors until the risk of COVID is zero.  If businesses are investing in outdoor dining, its fair to let them keep it. And I feel like it enhances the Palm Springs experience. If someone wants to sit outside and enjoy the sun, then let them, said Reyna. Next door at Las Casuelas, Dean Cannon and Brad Marton, visiting from Ventura, said they also appreciated the additional outdoor dining options that parklets provide. "I think they should let restaurants keep these even after COVID, it would help boost them a lot and really help them recover," said Cannon, adding that they personally like the outdoor options because it allows them to take their dog with them to restaurants. The parklets have created some tension between restaurants and their neighbors. Some downtown businesses say the parklets have caused traffic and parking issues and reduced the visibility of storefronts. "The city has basically discriminated against all other merchants in order to help a few restaurants. This has created an unfair burden, economic as well as environmental hardship on all but the restaurants," Ken Shearn with Rare Coins and Precious Metals Palm Springs said in a comment letter submitted to the city council. To create more space for parklets, Palm Canyon Drive was reduced from three lanes to two between Tahquitz Canyon Way and Baristo Road, and Arenas Road was closed to traffic between Palm Canyon Drive and Indian Canyon Drive. Some Arenas Road businesses are now requesting that Arenas Road be reopened. "The Arenas District would like to see the street reopened at Palm Canyon. This doesn't mean we don't support our neighbors continuing to have access to their parklets. It just means we are now disconnected from Downtown with it blocked off," states a comment letter from Dean Lavine at Black Book Bar on Arenas Road. City staff recommends reopening Arenas Road starting July 1, but continuing the lane reduction on Palm Canyon Drive. To address the loss of on-street parking spaces, city staff recommend looking into the possible creation of additional street parking and a signage program that would direct people to the public parking lots in the downtown area. Others have criticized the aesthetics of the parklets. "This looks raggedy; this does not look like Palm Springs," said Taylor of PS Homeboys about Thai Smile's parklet. Because the parklet program was implemented quickly during the pandemic, staff was unable to prepare design standards for parklets. The staff report notes that the temporary parklet permits have some rules on the aesthetics of the parklets, but these mostly havent been enforced. If parklets are allowed permanently, staff would then develop design standards for new parklets. The design standards would include rules on the permitted dimensions of the parklet, permitted materials and colors, the allowed height of shade devices like umbrellas and tents, and compliance with ADA accessibility standards. For existing parklets, staff recommends that a more limited list of design standards be imposed due to the challenges business owners face in recovering the costs of changing their parklets. Staff is also recommending a monthly rental fee for the parklets. The city currently isn't charging any fees for the use of public space for parklets. Erin Rode covers the western Coachella Valley cities of Palm Springs, Cathedral City and Desert Hot Springs. Reach her at erin.rode@desertsun.com.