Pacific Grove City Council extends parklets and live music for at least one year.

Fans of Pacific Grove's restaurant parklets rejoice: The City Council voted unanimously last night to keep the parklets—including live music—on an urgency outdoor dining ordinance that went into effect immediately.

In a belt-and-suspenders move, the council also voted 7-0 on a regular ordinance that accomplished the same thing but goes into effect in about a month and a half. Both ordinances last for one year.

"I absolutely support this 100 percent. I like everything about it," said Councilmember Amy Tomlinson.

Councilmembers said they fully supported keeping the parklets going as restaurants continue to struggle through the pandemic. 

"It's giving [downtown] a different life and a different feel that we've desperately needed for a long time," said Councilmember Jenny McAdams. "The parklet program is really the lifeline the our restaurants need." The parklets also "trickle down" to other businesses because they bring people downtown, she said. Getting tourists downtown has long been a challenge for the city since many stick to Lovers Point and the shoreline.

A new element added to the ordinances is allowing live music on the sidewalks from 10am-10pm, seven days a week. Previously the city's code did not allow it. Only one downtown resident called into the meeting to complain, calling the music on Friday and Saturday nights "unbearable." She and her spouse wear noise cancelling headphones those nights.

In the months since live music was added to Wild Fish restaurant on Lighthouse Avenue on weekends only one person has called the city to report a code violation. McAdams said one complaint speaks for itself. "The music that has been offered has been tasteful and accommodating to understanding that there is mixed use on Lighthouse," she said.

The vote came after two days after the Monterey Peninsula Water Management Board voted 7-0 in favor of extending an urgency ordinance by one year to waive fees for restaurant outdoor seating. The board waived the fees last year at the start of the pandemic to help restaurants reeling from the impacts of losing indoor dining.