HomeMy WebLinkAbout050322-08.1 MATTE, DARRENMay 2, 2022
Town of Danville Council Members
510 La Gonda Way
Danville, CA 94526
Re: Church Street Parklets
Dear Councilmembers,
I understand the Town is exploring reopening Church Street to two-way traffic for the second half
of 2022. I am respectively requesting Church Street remain one-way traffic through this latest
extension of the temporary Land Use Permit for the following reasons:
Safety — The Harvest and Cocina Hermanas parklets are both compliant with safety measures
enforced by the Town. The Albatross parklet has 2 issues relating to its proximity to the Railroad
Avenue pedestrian crosswalk and the median of Church Street. Albatross ownership has
committed to a mutually agreeable solution which would address both these issues.
I am downtown almost every day and I would argue that adding two-way traffic to Church Street
and Church Court would make all 3 of these parklets less safe as vehicle traffic will increase and be
in much closer proximity to seated guests.
Fairness — The premise of the currently considered extension through January 3, 2023 is to provide
participating restaurants a clear transition plan as it relates to the potential for a permanent
parklet program as part of the revised Downtown Master Plan. At the beginning of the COVID
pandemic, these 3 restaurants had no ability to expand on private property and were granted
partial closure of their side streets. In good faith, we each invested tens of thousands of dollars in
premium tents, wood cladding, temporary flooring, planters, lighting and other aesthetic
improvements. Had our original parklets only been 8' wide we would have designed parklets to
adhere to that space. There are currently 8 restaurants in the downtown area actively using their
parklets. Forcing our 3 to dramatically reduce the size of our parklets while allowing all others to
remain seems to have unintended consequences.
Financial Hardship — We are hopeful that the Town follows many other Bay Area communities and
implements a permanent parklet program as part of the revised Downtown Master Plan. When
that time comes, we are more than willing to invest in a more permanent solution. However,
asking us to invest in another temporary solution for the last half of 2022 puts an added financial
burden on our 3 restaurants while at the same time limiting our ability to generate revenue.
Thank you for your consideration.
Darren Matte
Danville Harvest & Cocina Hermanas