Will ‘parklets’ remain in the valley post-pandemic?
There are questions over the future of outdoor dining and "parklets" in the valley – those temporary setups outside restaurants.
They're the pandemic perk that allowed restaurants to keep serving customers through indoor shutdowns. Now, as restrictions are rolled back, will restaurants be allowed to keep them to increase their capacity? There's a heated discussion over the plans.
In Palm Springs, Council Member Dennis Woods said the parklets elevate the city, creating a festive feel for residents and tourists to enjoy.
"We've decided to keep the parklets," Woods said. "It's a way to highlight the street, liven the street, get people out and use the street."
Woods said the city is looking into permits and fees for restaurants to continue using the public right of way.
And then there's the design.
Local artist Lauri Svedberg said the look of certain parklets is detracting from the city's appeal.
"It's sort of looking like – words like 'shanty town' come to mind, a war zone with the concrete barriers," Svedberg said. "It's so haphazard. I mean, some places have done a marvelous job and other places just threw out some tarps and chairs and said, 'OK, this is it."
With the onset of summer, some restaurant owners said there are improvements to the parklets they'd still like to make. Reed said she hopes to add misters for the hot summer months, an additional $20,000 expense that she said she's not ready to spend if the city is on the fence about keeping them.
Reed said she's still trying to earn back her investment on the parklets. "Some people spent more than others, but there was a lot of money invested and that money hasn't even begun to be recuperated yet," she said.
In La Quinta, Mayor Linda Evans said new outdoor dining spaces don't take up much street space, and have become a new staple in the city.
"There's this wellbeing feeling about being outdoors because its a clean city, a safe city, a beautiful city that people are embracing and preferring that," Evans said.
