Council allows existing Monterey Street parklet to remain with conditions; downtown committee had recommended removal

The City Council narrowly approved a motion 4–3 to permit the existing parklet on Monterey Street (in front of the restaurant commonly referenced as Temple/Tempo) to remain under conditions, despite a downtown committee recommendation that the parklet be demolished.

Staff presented the downtown committee’s recommendation: after reviewing other cities’ parklet rules (City of Campbell was a primary model) and the existing parklet’s configuration, the committee voted 7–3 to recommend no new parklets on Monterey Street between First and Tenth Streets and on side streets between Railroad and Eagleberry Streets, and to require existing parklets to comply with Campbell‑style standards. The committee concluded the parklet at the Temple location would need a complete rebuild to meet those standards and therefore recommended demolition rather than reconstruction.

At the council meeting property owner and downtown business proponents argued the parklet had helped drive foot traffic and economic activity and that demolishing it would remove a driver of downtown vitality. Opponents cited neighborhood complaints, potential encroachment on adjacent storefront frontage, and the committee’s findings that the existing structure does not meet the recommended standards.

A motion offered by Council member Bracco, seconded by Council member Fugazi, allowed the parklet to remain while adding conditions: it must not encroach on an adjacent business’s frontage, it must comply with any reasonable modifications identified by city inspection, and it may remain only while the current tenant remains in operation (if the tenant leaves or the property is sold, the parklet must be removed unless otherwise authorized). The motion also required staff inspection and a remediation plan if modifications are needed; council asked staff to explore whether alteration is feasible without full demolition given existing utilities and structural attachments.

The final vote was 4 in favor (Bracco, Fugazi, Hilton, Mayor) and 3 opposed (Klein, Marks, Ramirez). Council members who voted to keep the parklet said the structure had contributed to activity downtown and expressed reluctance to force demolition after the owner built the feature. Members supporting demolition said downtown guidance and safety/consistency standards recommended by the downtown committee should apply and that reworking the parklet to meet Campbell‑style standards would in practice be a new parklet on Monterey Street, contrary to the committee’s policy recommendation.

What’s next: staff will perform an inspection to determine whether the parklet can be altered to remove any encroachment and to identify needed repairs or safety upgrades; if modifications are not feasible, the council’s motion makes removal the fallback if the current tenant changes. Separately, staff will implement the downtown committee’s broader recommendation to prohibit new parklets on specified Monterey Street blocks and side streets and to adopt parklet requirements modeled on Campbell’s ordinance.