JACKSON, Wyo. — Parklets will return this summer as an option for local restaurants, but specific details still need to be ironed out.
The Town Council discussed the possibility of another summer of parklets at a meeting Monday.
Parklets were created amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2020 to offer restaurants the opportunity to expand seating outside, especially when there were capacity limits for dine-in customers.
Parklets extend onto private/public property, mainly sidewalk and parking spaces. The town capped the parking space allotment per restaurant to a maximum of three spaces.
According to the town, in the summer of 2021, 27 businesses applied to have Parklets, 23 were approved, and 20 parklets were activated.
Gather and Palate owner Graeme Swain spoke during the meeting. He stressed that the parklets are key to him keeping his businesses open. “We are not out of this mess [COVID-19] yet,” Swain said. “I come to you just saying, can we get another year?”
The council weighed implementing a fee for parklets, based on the number of parking spaces the restaurant uses. Councilor Jim Rooks suggested $900 per space for a 180 day use. The council ultimately decided to edit the motion to not include a specific fee amount.
In the first two years of the program, the town did not collect fees.
Rooks said that any fees collected would be only to mitigate impacts. “I don’t see this as a revenue stream or from a standpoint of offsetting housing costs or anything like that,” Rooks said.
Councilor Jonathan Schechter agreed, saying fees would be more symbolic.
“$60,000 is not a huge revenue stream,” he said, and that any fees would just make restaurants have “skin in the game.”
While the council approved parklets for the 2022 summer season, some details still need to be hashed out. The council directed staff to identify and explore alternative funding sources and to negotiate with the Chamber of Commerce and other community partners to share the costs and work associated with the program. Management of the program is also a key issue. One option would be hiring an additional town employee.
Town and state ordinances related to alcohol service also needs to be reviewed as well as sidewalk leasing and encroachment options. Staff will bring back more information at a future meeting. A discussion on flex spaces around the Town Square was also continued to another meeting.
