Request For Applications Issued For City's First Parklets
September 28, 2015 12:00 AM
Santa Monica released today a request for applications to operate at least two new “parklets” – an outdoor public space designed to bring activity to neighborhood commercial districts by providing residents, visitors and customers a place to sit, relax, and meet for conversation. The City is seeking “parklet partners” to operate at least two pilot parkletson Main Street at the request of the Main Street Merchants Association.
A parklet is created by building a platform to extend an existing sidewalk into one or more on-street parking spaces. Benches, tables, chairs, landscaping, bike parking stalls, and other amenities can be placed on the platform resulting in an outdoor patio-type gathering space. The City will design and fund the parklet infrastructure (“the shell”) while allowing local operators, typically an adjacent business, to exercise creative control over several design aspects such as furniture, landscaping, and paint or decorative materials.
The selected operators of the Main Street parklets will enter into a partnership with the City, and agree to provide day-to-day maintenance of the space. If successful, the lessons learned from the pilot program will inform the creation of a Parklet program for the City that would enable the potential expansion to additional locations and provide a process for organizations to initiate, implement and maintain future parklets.
The introduction of parklets in Santa Monica is an effort to realize the vision of the City’s General Plan for rebalancing the use of space so that walking, cycling and taking public transportation are as comfortable and convenient as driving a car.
Cities across the United States have been successful in implementing parklet programs. In 2010, San Francisco was the first US city to install a parklet and now boasts a total of 57 citywide. Other major US cities with parklets include Los Angeles, New york, Seattle and Chicago.
Applications for potential parklet operators can be downloaded from the City’s Planning and Community Development Department website at www.smgov.net/parklets.
Media Contact
Salvador Valles
Chief Operations Officer
Salvador.Valles@SMGOV.NET