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Pacific Grove Council to sunset most street parklets; offers removal, fee waiver for businesses that opt out early
Summary
The city council voted to end most street parklets by Oct. 31, 2025, while offering a time-limited incentive — a planning/inspection fee waiver and city removal — to businesses that self-terminate their parklets by June 30. Peppers and Happy Girl Kitchen were left out of the general sunset and the city manager was directed to return with options.
The Pacific Grove City Council voted to end most street parklet encroachment permits on Oct. 31, 2025, while offering restaurants an incentive to remove their parklets sooner: a waiver of sidewalk-dining planning and inspection fees and city-assisted removal if the business self‑terminates the parklet by June 30.
City Manager Mogensen told the council that staff favors moving outdoor dining to sidewalks where feasible and has a new sidewalk-dining permit process ready to launch. Mogensen said the city is prepared to work with businesses that want to transition and noted site-specific constraints such as storm drains and narrow property frontages.
The council’s action responds to safety, drainage and parking concerns raised during a months‑long review of legacy parklets installed early in the pandemic. Council members and public commenters cited close calls while motorists back out of drive aisles and repeated flooding and debris accumulation in parklets set in older gutters. Councilmember McDonald said the move supports safety and the city’s long‑term goal of shifting dining to sidewalks and away from the street.
Staff had presented each existing parklet’s location and constraints. Council heard that sidewalk dining permits would cost $905 for the first year and $300 annually thereafter, and that staff proposed a short fee-waiver incentive to encourage merchants to move off the street before the summer season. The council’s motion lets operators choose: they may keep a parklet through the tourist season and remove it later, or they may remove it before June 30 and receive the fee waiver plus city removal assistance.
Councilmember Garfield moved the main motion, seconded by Councilmember WalkingStick. On a roll-call vote the motion carried (5 yes, 0 no, 1 absent). The approved terms apply to the parklets that occupy street spaces; the council explicitly excluded two locations from tonight’s sunset motion—Peppers and Happy Girl Kitchen—and directed the city manager to return with specific options for Peppers because that installation sits in a city parking area and raises distinct safety and parking questions.
The council also approved a directive asking the city manager to consult with the Peppers’ owner and report back with proposed alternatives and potential incentives. Mogensen said removal work can be done with city crews and equipment but cautioned that disposal of pressure-treated materials may add modest cost; Director Goh said the labor and equipment needed would be manageable and likely far less than the $5,000 per-site figure cited during debate.
The vote clears the way for a staged transition: businesses that opt in to the early removal program would avoid the planning/inspection fees and have the city remove their parklet structures; those that do not opt for early removal may retain their parklet through Oct. 31, 2025, after which the city intends the program to end unless the council later votes otherwise.
The council instructed staff to implement the fee-waiver and removal process, to continue outreach to affected businesses, and to return with options for addressing the Peppers site, including possible temporary leasing or other arrangements to restore parking and address public-safety concerns.
