Santa Barbara paves the way for permanent parklet program outside of State Street

SANTA BARBARA, Calif.- The city of Santa Barbara is paving the way for permanent parklets.

Santa Barbara City Councilmembers gave city staff the green light to come up with a plan to make parklets outside of State Street permanent.

Parklets were created to help businesses stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the main focus is on the safety of outdoor customers.

There are currently 42 parklets in Santa Barbara.

The city has decided parklets in high traffic areas won't be part of the permanent plan.

Parklets on Coast Village Road and in other areas with two lanes of busy traffic in each direction will be removed by the end of the year.

Downtown Plaza and Parking Manager Sarah Clark said there have been accidents with no reports of injuries.

"Unfortunately we have had four parklets that have been destroyed in vehicle collisions since the program began in 2020, so that is a big concern moving forward with having anything permanent in the Street," said Clark, "So, going forward, when they do become permanent they are going to be required to have substantial barriers around them to protect the parklet and anyone who is dining in their from a vehicle collision."

City staff will present an ordinance with program details in early December.

That's when the city will open pre-applications for businesses that want to make their parklets permanent and businesses that want to create new parklets.

"They will come in, they will have a consultation with us, and we will determine how we move forward from there," said Clark.

City staff members have looked at other cities to get ideas.

"We have looked at what a bunch of other cities have done, particularly San Diego, we are looking at Los Angeles, a number of different cities, and we are sort of trying to crib some of the best ideas from them," said Clark.

Parklet supporters are looking forward to a sense of parklet certainty.

"During the summer, it is going to be a game changer. So even just having an outdoor space that you can hang out in allows people to come in and enjoy themselves a little bit better," said Fess Parker Funk Zone Wines Manager Graham Hadidian " Enjoy the sunshine, enjoy the wine as well."

Restaurant worker and customer Xavier Grace agrees.

"It makes it a lot more Santa Barbarian to be able to be outside," said Grace.

Parklet customers are now used to dining outdoors.