Parklets plan faces criticism from retailers

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 detrimental to business.

The Town Council took no vote at its meeting Tuesday. Instead, the council directed staff to rewrite the proposal so that they address concerns about parking, safety, whether parklets would be private or public use and the limits on how many should be allowed, if any at all.

“I think what we should do is say we’re not going to have them,” Councilwoman Eileen Burke said. “I want to say I’m for outdoor dining in the public space but not turning it into a private space.”

Burke and several merchants said they would prefer that the council take another approach, such as an expansion of the weekend slow streets program, which closes San Anselmo Avenue to vehicle traffic to allow outdoor dining and commerce.

Parklets are patios built on top of street parking. The town of San Anselmo became one of the first municipalities in Marin to allow parklets at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to allow local restaurants to stay in business while indoor dining was not allowed.

Sean Condry, director of public works, said a town survey on the program garnered more than 500 responses. More than 90% of residents want to see parklets long term, compared to 53% of business owners and 79% of visitors. The survey found that 80% of residents, 51% of businesses and 71% of visitors didn’t think parking is a concern.

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

Staysea Colteaux, owner of Dogville, said parklets are not used 24-hours a day, but they are taking up valued parking space 100% of the time. During rainy or cold weather the parklets appear to go on unused, she said.

Merchants also reported customers have had problems finding parking because of parklets, and if they don’t find parking, they move on.

“If you allow this proliferation of parklets with no fixed number, how are people going to come to shop,” said Laurie Berliner, owner of Madge & Me Hats on San Anselmo Avenue. “I know parking wasn’t an issue at the beginning of the pandemic but it is now.”

The council was torn on the issue.

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

Councilman Ford Greene said although he thinks parklets are a good thing for San Anselmo, it wasn’t ready for primetime.

“There’s an inherent value judgement that merchants called out, and that value judgement is preferring restaurants over retail,” he said. “And that troubles me a lot.”