More sidewalk dining in Pacific Grove? The council is set to consider its options.

Pam Marino here, a few days after Sunday brunch in downtown Pacific Grove, where my friends and I contemplated sitting outside in one of the new sidewalk dining areas at the corner of Lighthouse and Fountain avenues. There used to be a parklet there, but a few months ago the city replaced it and two others with an extended sidewalk and black metal fencing enclosing a dining space in front of each restaurant.

I’ve heard people say these new “corrals” constructed at taxpayers’ expense are attractive. To me they are a bit sterile at the moment, save for a few potted plants just outside the fences and three young street trees planted by the city. Restaurant owners haven’t been able to add any amenities like additional shade coverings or windbreaks yet, or other features that would give the spaces more personality. It’s an out-of-pocket expense not easy to afford when they’re probably already operating on razor-thin margins.

As my friends and I considered our table options, one friend suggested sitting outside. We hit a snag when I said I needed to be out of the sun and another friend only wanted to be in the sun. We took a table inside.

Tonight the Pacific Grove City Council is scheduled to consider whether to continue phasing out the handful of parklets still left in town and bring on more sidewalk dining. There are two parklets on Central Avenue—Vivolo’s Chowder House and Il Vecchio—and four on Lighthouse—PG Meeting House (formerly Juice ’n Java), Nuri Sushi, Red House Cafe and International Cuisine.

(Two restaurants with parklets have special circumstances: Happy Girl Kitchen, also on Central, was part of an initiative from 2014 and has an entitled permit not part of the ones issued during the pandemic; Pepper’s, which has a parklet on a city parking lot “will need a unique solution to be brought by staff at a later date,” according to a staff report.)

The annual renewal deadline for the parklet permits is June 30, so City Manager Matthew Mogensen is asking councilmembers for direction: Do they renew the old parklet permits, or ditch them in favor of sidewalk dining?

With the construction of the sidewalk dining areas, the city introduced a sidewalk dining permit for participating restaurants, which costs $905 for a new permit and $300 to renew each year. Mogensen is recommending that the council waive the $905 fee to encourage existing restaurants to transition to sidewalk dining. 

It’ll be interesting to see tonight what the restaurant owners want. Do they want to give up their parklets? Do they even want sidewalk dining areas? 

As far as patrons go, outdoor dining in whatever form continues to be popular. In a February survey of readers of the magazine Restaurant Development + Design—mostly restaurant developers, architects and designers—70 percent said outdoor dining remains a “hot trend” among their clients.

If you’re interested, the meeting begins at 6pm. The sidewalk dining item is currently at the end of the agenda. The council meets inside City Hall, 300 Forest Ave., Pacific Grove. Instructions on how to participate virtually can be found on the agenda. You can also watch the meeting on YouTube.