Edhat Staff
The Santa Barbara City Council approved new dees for outdoor dining parklets on Tuesday. Specifically those located on city streets but not on the State Street Promenade or two lane roads in one direction.
Santa Barbara restaurant owners voiced their concerns about the cost, especially $5,000 fee to move the K-rail traffic barriers on top of the monthly $500 fee. The deadline for installing such traffic barriers is March 14.
Ultimately, the council voted 6-1 to move forward with implementing the new fees, although they did delay the timing of payment.
Councilman Oscar Gutierrez voted “no” stating he wanted to postpone the vote until the city could come up with official design guidelines for the new parklets.
However, the City Council decided to proceed with the new fee structure. An initial $150 goes towards the preliminary license review while the remaining $2,350 would be owed after the design review, but before engineering and traffic reviews. The annual $24 per square foot fee would remain.
During the meeting, Councilwoman Meagan Harmon acknowledged the importance of prioritizing safety while also considering the design and long-term assurance for the parklets. Mayor Randy Rowse expressed support for the fees, emphasizing that they were fair given the challenging economic circumstances faced by many businesses.
Absurd. $24 a square foot per year? Some agency helping the homeless might pay that to keep a few sidewalks in play for their needs. Not like the restaurant structures are much more pleasing.