Name: San Francisco Mayor Breed moves to make restaurant parklets permanent
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San Francisco Mayor Breed moves to make restaurant parklets permanent

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This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe elaborate parklets and outdoor restaurant spaces that have popped up around San Francisco during the pandemic could become a permanent fixture under new legislation announced by Mayor London Breed and several supervisors Friday.The current Shared Spaces program, which enables parklets throughout the city, is tied to an emergency measure. Now Breed is proposing a permanent version of Shared Spaces that would come with additional regulations — intended to balance restaurant needs with accessibility to sidewalks and parking.There will be permitting fees, which did not previously exist, though costs have yet to be determined and they would not be due until June 2022. And while the current program approves applications for parklets within 72 hours, the permanent program would return approvals within 30 days.Restaurants, bars and other business interests hailed the development despite the added regulation.Shirley Tan, who added a sidewalk parklet to her Bottoms Up Bar &amp; Lounge in August, said the additional outdoor space has been a positive development.“I really want to keep the parklet,” she said.The legislation will be introduced at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. If it passes, businesses that already have parklets would have until Dec. 31 to submit a permit application and to prove that their sites comply with safety and federal Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Applications for new parklets could begin in June.As the pandemic forced much of restaurant and bar business outside, more than 2,000 establishments — from coffee shops in the Sunset to breweries in Dogpatch — have been allowed to move chairs, tables and heat lamps into parking spots and sidewalks. Before the pandemic, San Francisco had just 75 parklets.There’s been wide support for the outdoor spaces. State Senator Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, in February that would loosen certain alcohol regulations throughout California, making it easier for cities and counties to allow sales and consumption in areas like sidewalks, alleys and parking lots. It still would be up to cities and counties to implement the rules through programs like Shared Spaces.In a recent Shared Spaces survey, 84% of respondents said the program allowed them to reopen this year, and 80% said the program allowed them to avoid permanent closure. Nearly 100% of the operators surveyed said they would operate an outdoor space even if they’re allowed to operate indoorsBut the program hasn’t pleased everyone. worry that the explosion of such spaces is impacting accessibility by making it more difficult for people with vision or mobility impairments to navigate the sidewalk and by eliminating parking spaces.Breed’s legislation — which she is co-sponsoring with Supervisors Ahsha Safaí, Catherine Stefani, Matt Haney and Rafael Mandelman — is attempting to fix some of these issues.“We’re going to provide the opportunity for some of the spaces that were done hastily to get up to code,” Safaí said.The addition of familiar bureaucracy and fees could frustrate businesses that have grown used to the relatively simple program over the past year. But Breed said she still wants the process to be as easy as possible. She said her legislation will be in line with Proposition H, a successful 2020 ballot measure, which sought to streamline the city’s arduous permitting processes.Along with the 30-day deadline, the legislation says the city will create “a single, one-stop permit portal,” to make it easier for businesses to navigate the process. The legislation would also create a new provision called the Just Add Music permit, which would allow bands and other artists to use the outdoor spaces.Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.“We have empty storefronts all over the city, and the only way we’re going to get our city up and running again,” Breed said at the Friday news conference, is by “making it easier for people to have these shared spaces so that they can conduct business.”Breed crafted the proposal with several city agencies, including the Planning Department, the Municipal Transportation Agency, the Entertainment Commission and the Economic Recovery Task Force, which last year proposed keeping the patios and parklets through 2023. Some public space and mobility advocates were consulted on the legislation, according to the mayor’s office.More for youThe legislation likely won’t solve all of the restaurant industry’s woes. Even before the pandemic, popular neighborhoods like the Haight and Richmond were dotted with empty storefronts as businesses struggled to survive under the city’s arduous permitting and high cost of doing business.Meanwhile, many establishments, from revered fine-dining institutions like to dim sum destinations like , have during the pandemic.The parklets have been one of the few bright spots for restaurants and their customers.“They add a phenomenal vibrancy to our commercial corridors,” Safaí said. “It’s something that’s very San Franciscan. I think this is going to be one of the more positive unintended consequences of the pandemic.”Esther Mobley and Trisha Thadani are a San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: , Twitter: ,Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateThe elaborate parklets and outdoor restaurant spaces that have popped up around San Francisco during the pandemic could become a permanent fixture under new legislation announced by Mayor London Breed and several supervisors Friday.The current Shared Spaces program, which enables parklets throughout the city, is tied to an emergency measure. Now Breed is proposing a permanent version of Shared Spaces that would come with additional regulations — intended to balance restaurant needs with accessibility to sidewalks and parking.There...

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Trisha Thadani is a City Hall reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. She previously covered work-based immigration and local startups for the paper’s business section.  Thadani graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism. Before joining The Chronicle, she held internships at The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and was a Statehouse correspondent for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/author/trisha-thadani/

Trisha Thadani

Esther Mobley

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San Francisco Mayor Breed moves to make restaurant parklets permanent

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