Edhat Staff
Outdoor dining structures, also known as parklets, have been removed throughout the Santa Barbara city limits due to new guidelines for 2024.
Late last year the Santa Barbara City Council voted to ban parklets on streets with two lanes of traffic going one direction and on all of Coast Village Road.
Business owners along Montecito’s thoroughfare as well as Haley Street, Milpas Street, and Cabrillo Boulevard were required to remove all outdoor dining structures along the street and within street parking areas.
Some of the restaurants affected are Twenty-four blackbirds and Apertivo wine bar on Haley Street, and Chad’s on Cabrillo Boulevard. On Coast Village Road several restaurants removed their parklets including: Lucky’s, Bree’osh, Coast and Olive, Renaud’s, Tre Lune, and Jeannine’s.
In October the Santa Barbara City Council voted 5-2 to approve a “Citywide Parklet Program” that discussed a variety of rules and safety measures.
During the meeting President of the Coast Village Association, Trey Pinner, stated his association advocated for removing parklets altogether on Coast Village Road.
“Every time we have this conversation at the association, it’s not about whether we like outdoor dining or not… it’s more about aesthetics, safety, and equity of use of the public right of way,” said Pinner.
Isn’t it interesting that the Administrators of this City will immediately enforce this new rule, but will look the other way when a business violates many ordinances and codes and nothing is done for that? Smells a lot like bad fish to me.
“Some parklets removed” means “some progress in restoring civility.”