San Anselmo parklet plan faces criticism from retailers

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A proposal to allow permanent parklets for outdoor dining in San Anselmo has been put on hold after a faction of downtown retailers said it would be damaging to business.

The city council did not vote in its Tuesday meeting. Instead, the council asked staff to rewrite the proposal to address concerns about parking, safety, whether the parklets would be for private or public use, and limits on how many should be allowed, if any. appropriate.

“I think what we should do is say we’re not going to have them,” said City Councilor Eileen Burke. “I mean I’m for alfresco dining in public space but not for turning it into private space.”

Burke and several merchants have said they would prefer the council to take another approach, such as an expansion of the Weekend Slow Streets program, which closes San Anselmo Avenue to vehicular traffic to allow dining and commerce in. outdoors.

Parklets are patios built over the street parking lot. The town of San Anselmo became one of the first municipalities in Le Marin to allow parklets at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to allow local restaurants to remain in operation when indoor dining was not available. not allowed.

Sean Condry, director of public works, said a city survey of the program garnered more than 500 responses. Over 90% of residents want to see long-term parklets, compared to 53% of business owners and 79% of visitors. The survey found that 80% of residents, 51% of businesses and 71% of visitors did not think parking was a concern.

Now that indoor dining has resumed and business is back to normal, traders have complained that the parklets only benefit restaurants. A major sticking point in the proposed ordinance was that it allowed an unlimited number of parklets.

Staysea Colteaux, owner of Dogville, said the parklets are not used 24 hours a day, but occupy a valued parking space 100% of the time. In rainy or cold weather, the parklets appear to sit unused, she said.

“You can’t clutter our whole street with parklets,” she told council. “There will be no more downtown and I really, really love this city. Thank you for making the right choice. “

Traders also reported that customers have had difficulty finding parking because of the parklets, and if they can’t find parking, they move on.

“If you allow this proliferation of landless parklets, how are people going to shop,” said Laurie Berliner, owner of Madge & Me Hats on San Anselmo Avenue. “I know parking was not a problem when the pandemic started, but it is now. “

The board was torn on the issue.

“For me, where I see the value of parklets is that they revitalize the streetscape,” said City Councilor Alexis Fineman.

Ford Councilor Greene said while he thought parklets were a good thing for San Anselmo, it wasn’t ready for prime time.

“There is an inherent value judgment that marketers have called it, and that value judgment favors restaurants over retail,” he said. “And that bothers me a lot.”

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