The Long Beach City Council unanimously voted to receive and file a presentation by Public Works with an update on temporary parklets on 2nd Street Tuesday night.
Some of the proposed recommendations include barring parklets on side streets when multiple violations have been documented and coordinating with businesses to remove temporary parklets when possible.
Temporary parklets were introduced to the city as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in an effort to support the economic recovery of businesses. The program is set to expire at the end of June 2022.
Temporary parklets differ from the City’s permanent parklet program, which has been in place since 2018.
According to the presentation, there are currently 25 temporary parklet locations in Belmont Shore (2nd Street, Livingston Drive to Bay Shore Avenue) and 30 participating businesses.
Since September, eight parklets have been removed in the area.
There have been 584 total responses to outreach from District 3 businesses, residents and customers—with 12 of those responses being from businesses.
Out of the 584 responses, 38% said they support the temporary parklet program, while 11% support it with restrictions.
So far, 10 out of the 12 responding businesses have expressed interest in keeping their temporary parklet through June 30, 2022, and 10 out of 12 responding businesses expressed interest in applying for a permanent parklet permit.
Existing temporary parklets are not designed to be permanent, City Traffic Engineer Carl Hickman said, noting that any modifications to a permanent status would call for a major redo.
No existing temporary parklets have been approved to be permanent, nor will any be in the future.
Hickman estimated that the cost of permanent parklet installation could be in excess of $40,000 to $50,000, depending on design, construction and installation of safety elements.
According to responses from outreach, 83% of businesses agree that their temporary parklet helped their business recover amid health orders.
“Many guests still do not feel comfortable dining indoors but want to support local restaurants. The outdoor dining option has allowed those people an option to still spend local,” the presentation quoted a Belmont Shore business owner saying.
Out of the 584 responses, 19% of outreach respondents said they use the Open Streets parklets once a month while 30% said they never use them.
Some of the positive feedback during outreach includes appreciation for having an outdoor dining option.
One of the issues that has come up often, Hickman said, is parklet impacts on parking in Belmont Shore. 12% of outreach respondents cited parking impacts as a concern.
In the area, there are 517 total metered spaces, according to the presentation, with 56 stalls converted to temporary parklets, leaving 461 stalls available for parking.
One of the new proposed recommendations includes maintaining a goal to allocate no more than 3 to 7% of parking stalls to permanent parklet installations in the future.
Hickman noted that there have been many communication efforts with the public including a virtual Belmont Shore community meeting and public and business surveys.
Other concerns that were cited during outreach include sidewalk access, driver sightlines, noise (especially on side streets) and quality of life.
Citing quality of life issues, Long Beach resident Brian Cochran urged council members to end the temporary parklet program on 2nd Street or enforce rules in the high-density neighborhood.
“It’s essential that [businesses] act as good neighbors and accept responsibility for the impact of their money-making endeavors that have cost residents so much of their quality of life,” Cochran said.
Councilmember Suzie Price suggested the creation of a written process that clearly identifies a threshold for complaints and violations for the public.
Hickman said that since the beginning of the program, the City has worked to do ongoing adjustments and address each issue on a case-by-case basis.
Some of the adjustments include removing parklets by request, making sure parklets are in the correct footprint (in front of the business) and reaffirming consent from businesses neighboring a temporary parklet—these are all also part of the newest proposed recommendations.
Businesses interested in applying for a permanent parklet must communicate intent to do so by Jan. 31 of next year.
“This is a business-friendly initiative, but it’s also an initiative that we’re trying to make resident-friendly as well,” Price said of the temporary parklets.
