Pacific Grove City Council decides to sunset Parklet Program, pushes toward sidewalk dining

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KION-TV) - Pacific Grove's City Council voted to end the city's Parklet Program that helped restaurants stay afloat during the pandemic, Voting 5-1-1 in favor of ending the program at their meeting Wednesday night.

“it does get back to safety, because backing out around them can be really dicey. If you're parked on the other side of one, you're just backing up praying that nobody's going to come and run into you, " Pacific Grove City Councilmember Lori McDonnell said.

Council hoping for the parklets to be transitioned to the new sidewalk dining program that is being promoted by the city.

Just recently, the sidewalk was extended for some businesses on Lighthouse Avenue near Fountain Avenue.

The program is now set to be sunset by Oct. 31st, 2025, but council is offering restaurants incentives to take down the parklets earlier, setting that date at June 30th, 2025. If restaurant owners decide to tear down their parklets, all sidewalk dining fees will be waived by the city, and city crews will tear down the structures for owners, once they clear them to do so.

A city report shows that there are six parklets still in the city, at varying levels of deterioration. Two of those parklets are excluded from this decision with council needing more time to discuss how to deal with parklets at The Happy Girl Kitchen Company and Pepper's.

These discussions will be happening at future Pacific Grove City Council meetings.