Attachment 2ATTACHMENT 2
Sue Farwell
113 Edelen Avenue
Los Gatos, CA, 95030
To our esteemed Town Council,
Marico Sayoc
Barbara Spector
Marcia Jenson
Rob Rennie
Steve Leonardis
I have read the draft for the parklet pilot program and I feel there are serious flaws
with the proposed use of the parklets, unless the Town of Los Gatos is paying for the
construction, insurance and maintenance of the parklets.
I am a big proponent of the parklets. I feel that they will serve the town well by
bringing a greater awareness of dining opportunities and will increase retail
business at the same time as more people stop to enjoy our wonderful downtown.
As traffic slowly moves thru Los Gatos the parklets serve as a visual reminder and
an attraction for both new and old patrons of our downtown. Nothing is better for
business than more business; a full vibrant outdoor dining parklet will do just that,
entice people to stop and stay.
The parklets can provide a benefit to the town, the property owners and their
respective tenants that want to participate in the program. There are still several
issues/factors that need further consideration to include: design and construction,
insurance and indemnification, maintenance and the permitted use.
If you want the parklets to work as an attraction and benefit for the town, and you
want a private/public partnership to build these you need to change the usage of the
parklet to allow 100% use of the parklet for outdoor dining during business hours.
By allowing unsupervised public use of the parklet it is an insurance question, I do
not have a cost from my insurance broker yet, but I would be interested in the
town’s policy on insurance for these parklets. This is not insurmountable, but the
cost for the property owner and the restaurant are a major consideration.
The usage for outdoor dining is a combination of physical space directly adjacent to
the restaurant and control of that space. The Heath Department and the ABC will
have to sign off on the parklet, and one of those requirements is control and access
for alcohol service. If you require the parklet to be open to the public at all times it
will likely cause the ABC and perhaps even the Health Department to deny the
outdoor table service. You would essentially be building a parklet for “take-away”
food instead of creating an enticement to stop and enjoy the downtown.
The other glaring issue is the 2 parklet maximum during the pilot program. It will
be years before we have the opportunity to widen our sidewalks even if the decision
is made this summer after the trial one-way street. The vision of the parklet
program should be the more the merrier. Multiple parklets full with patrons and
the public will create a new energy, vibrancy that is currently lacking in town.
Please be a proponent of parklets for the downtown. Allow as many parklets as
there are applications. Allow public use, but allow only private use during the
restaurants hours of operation. Be an advocate for our downtown of vitality and
vibrancy, reward our current restaurants and provide an opportunity for them to
offer outdoor dining. With the current closures of retail and restaurant spaces
downtown as well as the summer beach traffic, it make sense for the Town Council,
to provide this opportunity to the business community and support their efforts to
thrive, not just survive.
Sincerely,
Sue Farwell