Pacific Grove's parklets days are numbered after a council vote to replace with sidewalk dining.

Two of the most popular parklets in Pacific Grove could be demolished by the end of this year, replaced with extended sidewalks creating a smaller footprint for outdoor dining, after the P.G. City Council voted 4-2 in favor of the sidewalk project on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Councilmembers voting in favor said safety and creating downtown design standards were their main concerns.

The vote was not unexpected, since a council majority last year said they were interested enough to have a parklet subcommittee develop a sidewalk dining plan. That majority included Councilmember Debby Beck, who was absent on Wednesday.

Parklet supporters continued to fight for keeping parklets as is, at least for the time being, arguing that the structures remain popular with residents and contribute to the health of businesses and the vitality of downtown. They also argued the cost to the city of demolition and sidewalk construction will likely be in the millions.

Wild Fish and Rudolfo's are the first of 10 restaurants that will be impacted by the decision. Located near the intersection of Lighthouse and Fountain avenues, residents and city officials contended their parklets lowered visibility for pedestrians and drivers, creating a serious safety hazard.

(A third parklet at that location belonging to Victorian Corner was due to be removed by the end of the year due to Assembly Bill 413, which prohibits parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk.)

Initially the council's parklets subcommittee, made up of councilmembers Luke Coletti and Lori McDonnell, wanted the Lighthouse/Fountain parklets demolished in June, but they recognized that it was a tight deadline that the city would be hard-pressed to meet, Coletti said Wednesday. 

The new date for demolition and construction is sometime in November, although before the vote, Mayor Bill Peake said he wanted to see a fully developed parklet program and design standards in place "before anything happens." He suggested the city would replicate the process with the city's other parklets over time.

Liz Jacobs, co-owner of Wild Fish, said her main concern was that if the council went ahead with the plan to replace a few parklets first "you'd be targeting some businesses to their detriment." 

In his comments later, Peake said they aren't targeting anyone, "except for the fact that it seemed to be a poster child for an intersection that needed reworking for safety."

The four councilmembers who voted yes—Coletti, McDonnell, Peake and Nick Smith—agreed that the city should pay for the demolition of the parklets that restaurant owners financed. In the case of Wild Fish, Jacobs said they invested approximately $60,000 in their parklet.

Public Works Director Dan Gho said the estimate for pouring the concrete sidewalks for that section of Lighthouse is $250,000, however the estimate did not include other expenses like a suggested fence around dining areas, the moving of streetlights, or other related expenses. The cost would be carried by the city.

Councilmember Chaps Poduri, who voted no, along with Councilmember Joe Amelio, said he wouldn't be surprised if any costs involved didn't double, "and in fact even if it goes higher I wouldn't be surprised."

Poduri noted that the city has a list of deferred capital improvement projects and said that nothing the subcommittee had proposed had changed his mind about supporting the plan.

"This is going to be a very costly exercise for the city. This needs to be considered in terms of all the projects we have going on right now and to me this goes to the bottom of the list," Poduri said. 

Jacobs told the council she was glad any demolition will not take place in June since Wild Fish is about to be featured in two television programs this spring. The restaurant will be featured on "Check, Please!" on KQED, and in a documentary about sustainable fishing.

Wild Fish has won "Best Parklet" three years in a row in the Weekly's annual "Best Of" readers' poll. A recent online petition to save Wild Fish's and other restaurant parklets started by a supporter had 276 signatures by Feb. 22.