SAN FRANCISCO -- Eating outdoors in parklets has become a big part of the Bay Area dining scene. It's one of the many ways the pandemic has changed our lifestyle, and in San Francisco, that change is now coming with a price.
Starting next month, a new permit system will put a hefty price on those parklets. Business owners will need to cough up $2,000 a year for every parking spot taken up by a parklet.
Parklets were a lifeline for David Alexander's restaurant during the pandemic.
"Oh yeah, we wouldn't have made it. It pretty much saved us," said Alexander, owner of Papito Hayes in Hayes Valley.
Alexander, like hundreds of other restaurant owners in San Francisco, built the outdoor pods back in 2020 after the city launched its Shared Spaces program allowing businesses to use curb space for outdoor seating. Nearly three years later, Alexander says customers can't get enough of the parklets.
"Oh they love them," said Alexander. "Even after COVID, I'd say, except for the cold days, 80% of the customers like sitting outside."
Because of that success, the city is now transitioning the program to a more permanent version.
"The pandemic program will end on March 31st and this new permanent program will take over on April 1st," said Robin Abad Ocubillo, director of Shared Spaces.
The new permanent program will be essentially the same as the pandemic program with just a few more safety measures in place, according to Abad Ocubillo.
"We need to provide ways for our paramedics and our firefighters and law enforcement and other first responders to get easily from the street to the sidewalk, to maybe service an emergency or a fire in a building," he said.
Abad Ocubillo added that the amount of parklets on any given street will depend on the unique layout and location of that street.
He says they're working to accommodate as many businesses as possible.
But that can bring other problems. Parking is already notoriously difficult to find in the city. Often the parklets take up two or three spaces.
"I live in a suburban area so, for me, I do think parking is a concern," said restaurant customer Richard Weng.
Abad Ocubillo says his team is doing what they can to balance out the needs of both the businesses and drivers. One way of doing that is by limiting the amount of parklets each business can have.
Alexander says he's been told he's only allowed to have two moving forward at Papito Hayes.
"So that's one of the major ones, is I'm going to have to take one down but I still get to keep a few," said Alexander.
Even so, Alexander said he's thankful to be able to keep the extra square footage.
"You know a lot of spaces are tiny, so you get all these extra tables, it's good for everybody I think," said Alexander.
It's a program he hopes will stay long into the future and become another part of what makes the city special.
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