Posted on 04/13/2022 2:28:24 PM PDT by nickcarraway
City council has decided to enforce the removal of parklets despite strong disapproval by some restaurants in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Carmel declared an emergency proclamation on March 13, 2020, calling for the construction of parklets despite the violation of zoning laws.
City council voted to remove the parklets, arguing it was no longer an emergency situation. But according to businesses in favor of parklets, it still is.
"It was actually very sad and frustrating that the city does not understand to extend this until we get really out of the COVID era where like, as you see right now, China is locking down again. Shanghai shut down again," Bashar Sneeh said.
Sneeh owns three restaurants in downtown Carmel: Portabella, Catch and Dametra Cafe.
Each restaurant was given two parking spots to construct parklets. All costs were shouldered by the restaurants. In addition, the city charged about $800 per parking spot.
"The city has charged a lot of money and they justified it, saying, 'well, it helps pay for the enforcement of having it,' while there's only one guy who walks around town and enforces. And I'm pretty sure that 42 restaurants who are paying $7,500 each every month more than pays for his salary," said Ashley Wolff, the general manager of Pangea Grill.
While businesses had to meet certain guidelines, most of the design and material of construction were left to the restaurant's discretion.
Some restaurants in downtown Carmel invested more money than needed, adding raised decks, roofs and landscaping.
Sneeh, the owner of three restaurants, spent about $60,000.
Sneeh and other Carmel restaurant owners have to remove their parklets by 5 p.m. on April 20.
"Imagine having to break this down now for me, how much it's going to cost?" Sneeh said.
The city sent out a survey, asking residents, businesses and visitors, "how consistent is the dining type with the character of Carmel-by-the Sea if allowed in the future?"
On a scale of one to five, five being the most favorable of parklets, 47% of 1,391 respondents noted a five.
"This brought so much vibrant vibe and positive energy," said Sneeh. "You walk around people like dining, having a glass of wine. You like laughing. It's so much good energy in town. So it was an amazing addition. So there was a change, but it was a great change forward."
In an interview with Action News 8, Mayor Dave Potter explained the reason for removing the parklets.
"They've been there for quite a while honestly. Some of them are looking a little dilapidated. There seems to be major interest now in inside dining," said Potter. "We are going to bring it back to council for further deliberations for what the future of dining is. It's not as if it's going to go away permanently. We're going to refer it to the planning commission. In 30 days we're going to have a recommendation from the council what the process is going to look like when we refer it to the planning commission. In 90 days we want recommendation from the planning commission," Potter said.
Still many restaurants in Carmel are pessimistic that parklets will become permanent.
"Not only did business owners and managers push hard, but the residents of not just Carmel-by-the-Sea, but Monterey and Pacific Grove. Everyone pushed hard," Wolff said. "They said that they were going to come up with a long-term solution, but they only said that so that there was going to be no pushback."
"Let's get back to respecting the general plan," said Councilmember Bobby Richards in a statement to Action News 8. "We respectfully recognize outdoor dining is a possible part of our future. Let's work together, with retail, restaurants and residents considering safety and health. All of these are important parts of our community."
Some towns buy up empty lots between old buildings, maybe 50’ wide and make them parks instead of leaving them as empty lots.
Carmel is a nice place to visit, but it must be insufferable to live there with all the rules and regulations.
Sounds better than sidewalk seating I guess. And the gov’t gets a higher cut?
Parklet => Combination park and toilet - very in thing in Cali.
sticky situation...
The parklets have served to increase their seating capacity giving them more revenue.
I personally do not like them.
You have to physically negotiate around waiters, dogs and those waiting for a table.
As a Californian who prefers outdoor dining anyway, I love the parklets and especially the ones in Carmel—they are charming and well decorated (as is everything in Carmel).
But once in a while a heat lamp is hit by a passing car I understand; it’s a bit dangerous to be eating right on the street actually.
I live on the edge. In dreamy Carmel, anyway.
What makes you think that a writer must educate you?
The writer should get a real job. Why are you defending the idiot?
I donât know the writer. He might be a jerk, but at least I learned a new word because I looked it up.
“Didnât these restaurants get a lot of Restaurant Recovery Fund bailout money?
You can even download the data file and scroll through the info. A hyooj Excel file. Very interesting.”
This is a very informative website:
https://www.federalpay.org/paycheck-protection-program
I imagine it was not enough increase even to cover the losses from having to space people out or shut down completely during the waves of pandemic mandates, pay to construct them, and pay the fees to the city.
Explaining things clearly used to be one of the prime features of journalism, which is meant to convey information quickly; and it's what the article fails to do in spite of adoring its precious new word.
The article is not a novel, which one may read at leisure, dictionary in hand.
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