Sonoma’s restaurant ‘parklets’ win extension

In what at times sounded more like a lovefest than a public meeting, the Sonoma City Council voted unanimously Monday to extend the Sonoma Al Fresco’s “parklet” program through Oct. 31, 2022.

The council doesn’t always agree, but every member praised the program, whose key component is 11 “parklets,” most of which are outdoor dining facilities on parking spaces outside downtown restaurants. The council developed the program to help businesses comply with COVID-19 restrictions on indoor dining and stay open.

“This was a huge team effort. I’m honored to have been a part of it. We saved a lot of businesses,” said Mayor Logan Harvey, who went on to thank a long list of city staffers, state and local officials, businesses and community members who worked together on the program.

“I’m super-excited you are on board. It’s been a rough year. Thank you, councilmembers,” said B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille restaurant co-owner Codi Binkley, one of the first business owners to create a parklet outside its space at 400 First St. E. Before the meeting, Binkley said in an interview, “I’m praying that we get to keep the program,” estimating that most businesses spent around $15,000 to establish their parklets.

The council at the May 3 meeting also directed city staffers to develop a program making it possible for businesses to keep the parklets open even past the October 2022 cutoff, perhaps as long as two more years.

The council directed staffers to develop aesthetic guidelines for the parklets that would kick in after October 2022, as well as a selection process to determine which businesses could have a parklet, and a parking strategy reflecting the concerns of all businesses on the Plaza.

These additions to the Al Fresco program would be established over the next year and developed in concert with the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, the city’s Planning Commission, business owners and the public.

The City Council has spent about $100,000 to help businesses with COVID-19 recovery measures. Out of those funds, $85,500 was allocated for the parklet reimbursement program, the First Street East beautification project, and public safety items associated with the installation of the parklets and sidewalk extensions. The city also waived fees associated with the parklets.

Sonoma Al Fresco includes 63 spaces used for parklets, street closures and sidewalk extensions. The reduced parking has been an issue for some downtown retail businesses, councilmembers said.

Madolyn Agrimonti was the first councilmember Monday to mention complaints about how the parklets affect retail businesses, saying, “I’ve had people say they couldn’t find parking in town.”

Councilmembers Kelso Barnett and Jack Ding chimed in next, saying that the free Casa Grande parking lot on First Street East consistently has open parking spots and visitors need to be directed there.

“We have to focus people to park at Casa Grande,” Harvey agreed.

Councilmember Amy Harrington suggested that the city’s parking committee “take a first stab” at addressing the longstanding downtown parking woes exacerbated by the parklets.

In another consensus, councilmembers agreed about what Harvey called the “jack o’ lantern, pumpkin orange” water wall barricades outside the parklets: “I never want to see them again,” in the words of Councilmember Barnett.

The Al Fresco program also includes the closure of the section of First Street East between East Napa Street and Nathanson Creek Lane, and councilmembers agreed to keep it closed through October 2022.

As for the final ingredient of the program, allowing restaurants to stage dining areas on the Plaza, the council agreed to allow only restaurants without parking spaces in which to open parklets, such as West Napa Street businesses Sigh and Tasca Tasca, to do so. The dining areas on the Plaza lawns will continue only until October 2021.

“This was a really wonderful thing that the community has been so supportive of all these local businesses,” Harvey said. “At the beginning of the pandemic we really did think we would lose all these businesses. It was our community that saved them.”