City OKS downtown parklet project

Additions would be built between Second Ave., Ninth St.

The Upland City Council has voted to move forward with a parklets in the historic downtown area that will convert parking into community spaces.

In a unanimous vote on Dec. 12, the council approved a revised design and increase in the cost estimate for a revitalization project which would add parklets in four locations between Second Avenue and Ninth Street.

The council approved the design for the project and $125,000 in federal coronavirus relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act in November 2021, according to Development Services Director Robert Dalquest.

“If you look at successful downtowns they have urban spaces where people can congregate and enjoy the downtown environment and our downtown doesn’t have something like that,” said Dalquest.

The project is part of a strategy to revitalize downtown by creating urban public spaces to encourage people to hang out in those areas to eat or just enjoy the downtown environment.

Under the revised design approved by the council this week, two individual parklets will be connected in each location by a grid-patterned sidewalk, creating the appearance of one large space.

“We thought it would be a much better project, a much better urban space if we were to get rid of the block walls and just have one area, one connected area,” Dalquest said.

After on-site visits there were questions about American Disability Act compliance and the disturbance of mature jacaranda trees in the area.

To adjust for ADA compliance the project added ramps within the sidewalks for more access.

The original cost for the project was estimated at $180,000. The project will need an additional $291,633,