Pacific Grove City Council votes to replace three parklets with sidewalk dining.

One of the most popular outdoor dining parklets in Pacific Grove and two of its neighbors will be dismantled later this year, to be replaced by extended sidewalks and "light footprint" structures at an estimated cost of $400,000, the P.G. City Council decided on a 5-2 vote, on Wednesday, June 19. 

Owners of Wild Fish, a favorite dining spot on weekend evenings for its comfortable parklet space and live jazz quartet, along with Rudolfo's Cafe and Victorian Corner, will be required to remove their parklets eventually to make way for sidewalk dining.

A staff timeline suggested November for when construction might take place, but the exact timing depends on how quickly the city can create a policy manual and hire a contractor to build the extended sidewalks and new structures.

Wild Fish owner Liz Jacobs protested the decision, arguing that the council was singling out the three restaurants, because the plan did not encompass all parklets in the city. (There are currently 11 parklets; one, Peppers, is in a city-owned parking lot.)

"I see that we're being targeted—I don't want to use inflammatory language but I don't know how else to put this," Jacobs said.

She said she is excited for the prospect of European-style sidewalk dining across the entire downtown, but she disagreed starting with just the one corner, at Fountain and Lighthouse avenues.

Mayor Bill Peake asked City Attorney Brian Pierik if the city was running into any legal issues by starting with the one corner. Pierik answered that because the intersection has issues with visibility for pedestrians and drivers there is a "public purpose" for making changes at the intersection.

Councilmembers Chaps Poduri and Joe Amelio voted against the proposal, citing other deferred projects in need of attention.

"I don't see the need to fast track this, number one," Poduri said. He wanted to see the manual first, and most importantly to him, he wanted to review all needed projects in during a budget review in September before making a decision.

Poduri estimated that construction of similar sidewalk bulb outs for dining across the city could come to approximately $2 million.

Earlier in the meeting the council discussed a need to obtain coastal development permits for the three parklets on Central Avenue near the border with Monterey—Il Vecchio, Vivolo's Chowder House and Happy Girl Kitchen—after a resident pointed out that none of the restaurants had the permits, per California Coastal Commission rules.

Happy Girl Kitchen constructed its parklet in 2014 as part of a city initiative to test out parklets—Happy Girl was the only restaurant that expressed interest. The other two restaurants constructed their parklets during the early part of the pandemic, when permitting was waived.

The cost of the fee to apply for the permit was estimated at $6,500 per restaurant. The council voted 7-0 to waive the fees.

Originally it was thought Vivolo's and Happy Girl weren't in the coastal zone, because their street addresses put them just over the line. It turns out the restaurants themselves aren't in the zone, but the parking spaces in front of each restaurant are, Community Development Director Karen Vaughn said. The zone ends right at the southern curb of Central Avenue.