Council directs staff to add community‑built bus benches to sidewalk policy and set permitting path

The Richmond City Council voted on Tuesday to add a community‑led bus‑bench permitting program to the city’s upcoming sidewalk policy so local groups can legally install anchored benches at bus stops.

The council’s action followed a presentation from Carter Lavin of the Transbay Coalition and members of the San Francisco Bay Area Bench Collective about volunteer bench‑building that has already produced more than 80 benches across the East Bay. Advocates said benches improve transit access for seniors, people with disabilities and riders carrying packages.

“Standing is terrible. Sitting is a lot better,” Lavin told the council and showed examples of anchored, ADA‑compliant bench designs volunteers have installed in other Bay Area cities.

Public commenters, including members of community groups and Richmond’s Commission on Aging, urged the city to create a clear process to authorize benches. City staff said a permitting program should include a written agreement that addresses installation standards, liability and maintenance and that public‑works staff would review locations and standards.

City Attorney staff and the public‑works director confirmed the city will need to set engineering/installation standards and an encroachment‑permit process, and the council asked staff to work with the city attorney’s office on the liability, indemnification and maintenance details. Public‑works staff said the sidewalk policy update is already in the work plan and suggested incorporating bench permitting into that update.

The council motion directed staff to include development of a community‑led bus‑stop bench permitting pathway in the sidewalk policy update and to work with the city attorney and public works on design and legal safeguards; the motion passed on a recorded roll call vote.