San Clemente design subcommittee refines parklet standards after public safety and maintenance concerns

The San Clemente City Design Review Subcommittee met April 1 to continue work on mandatory design standards for temporary parklets (outdoor dining decks) on Delmare and Avenue Victoria, reviewing a second draft that specifies footprints, barrier materials, planter requirements and limits for umbrellas and heaters.

Staff presented the revised package as mandatory standards rather than guidelines, saying the rules respond to state authorization and to safety and visual-clutter concerns. The draft requires site plans for angle-in and parallel parking configurations; limits dining decks to a measured width equivalent to two parking spaces in front of the serving business; caps deck surface elevation at 12 inches above grade; requires a 3-foot planter buffer with a minimum of four planters per parklet; and narrows furniture and lighting choices to a dark brown or black palette with downward-facing, solar or battery-powered illumination. "These are standards and requirements that every parklet should have to follow," the presenter said during the committee's slideshow.

Committee members pressed staff for enforcement and technical detail. Members and the…