Puyallup council weighs future of downtown parklets, staff: city cost about $1,500 per unit per year

Puyallup city staff told the City Council on Feb. 25 that the city spends an estimated $1,500 per calendar year to install, maintain and remove each downtown parklet and that the total cost for seven parklets would be about $10,500 annually.

The council discussed three broad options: discontinue the program, make it permanent with a cost-recovery fee and defined operating season, or authorize a one-year extension while detailing operating dates, fee structure and geographic limits. Dan, a city staff member, told the council: “the annual cost to the city to deploy the parklets, maintain the parklets while they're in use, and then remove the parklets comes to approximately $1,500 per calendar year.”

Council members said they value the parklets' role in downtown revitalization but disagreed on how much businesses should pay. Councilmember Roy Johnson said the program began as a pandemic-era support for restaurants and has become a contributor to downtown ambiance; he proposed continuing the program and splitting costs with businesses. Deputy Mayor King proposed a three-year staggered fee (Year 1: $500, Year 2: $1,000, Year 3: $1,500) to ease businesses into full cost recovery. Councilmember Gilliam and others highlighted feedback from Puyallup Main Street Association that usage varies by location and sun exposure and urged geographic limits to preserve downtown benefit.

Staff reported outreach to last year's parklet participants and said responses varied: three businesses said they would not continue if the city charged the full estimated cost; three said they would; one business said it could pay $1,500 but preferred a lower fee. Staff also reported one business had a roughly $1,500 insurance premium increase tied to the parklet coverage requirements. The city currently required a WCIA-recommended insurance limit of $2,000,000 per incident.

Council members discussed logistics the city must consider if it begins charging, including payment plans, leasehold excise tax and whether to pass the tax to users. City staff said the city had been paying the leasehold excise tax and provided an estimate for a past quarter: total rent received $1,360.80 and excise tax at 12.84% equal to $174.73 for that quarter. Deputy Mayor King asked staff to factor the tax into any fee proposal.

No formal policy decision was made. The mayor asked staff to compile a written synopsis of the council’s comments—covering extension length, cost options, selection/lottery process, and geographic limits—and return with a clearly written proposal for council consideration.