HomeMy WebLinkAbout100824-03.2 HARVEST ET AL LETTERSept 26, 2024
Mr. David Crompton
Chief of Planning, Town of Danville
500 La Gonda Way
Danville, CA 94526
Re: Downtown Danville Parklets
The parklet program for downtown restaurants has been a resounding success. Danville residents
overwhelmingly want the added options of Outdoor Dining. A poll conducted by downtown
businesses in June 2021 showed 92% of the 2,700 respondents wanting Outdoor Dining to be
made permanent. The Town sponsored their own poll in February 2022 with almost 1,500
respondents which also showed Outdoor Dining was the highest ranked of 8 choices for the
community's preference of "Outdoor Programs". These results are consistent with what local
restaurant owners have been hearing from our customers over the past 4 years.
Major communities across the Bay Area have approved more permanent Parklet and/or Outdoor
Dining Programs including San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Vallejo,
Napa, Pleasanton, Berkeley, Rockridge, Burlingame, San Mateo, Menlo Park, Palo Alto,
Sunnyvale, Campbell and Los Gatos. Many of these local governments provided grants toward
the construction costs, recognizing the economic ripple effect of a vibrant downtown. Others are
working on a pay -per -use system to "level the playing field" with restaurants that may not have
the desire or ability to create a parklet. These communities are embracing the benefits of
Parklets. Walnut Creek created an Outdoor Dining Program giving restaurants an interim 5 -year
use of public space as it looks to a more permanent solution - "boundaries have been expanded
in a new Outdoor Dining Overlay District — allowing for more restaurants in the downtown and
adjacent areas to take advantage of this exciting opportunity."
With so many reference points across different communities and business groups and most
importantly Danville residents, the benefits of "Parklets" are no longer debatable. At this time,
the question should be how to transition to a more permanent plan for parklets in downtown
Danville.
On behalf of our five downtown restaurants, we ask that the Town create a semi-permanent
parklet program. All five parklets are already in compliance with guidelines created by the Town
from 2022. If additional guidelines are required to make these semi-permanent, we welcome a
constructive discussion to meet those needs.
Thank you for your consideration,
Harvest, Cocina Hermanas, Danville Brewing, Pete's Brass Rail, Bungalow on Rose, Primo's
Enclosed: Images of permanent parklets downtown Walnut Creek and Los Gatos