PALO ALTO, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – Like many Bay Area cities when the pandemic hit, Palo Alto opened up its sidewalks to restaurants so they could continue serving food outside. However, that program is running into pushback, which has led to legislative action.
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Some of the city's retailers have complained the enclosed parklets that have popped up around town are getting in the way of their businesses.
As a result, the Palo Alto City Council earlier this week passed a number of new restrictions, including requiring restaurants that want to keep operating parklets that extend down the street to first get permission from their neighbors.
Restaurant owner Megan Kawkab owns her own parklet, but said she understands where the retailers are coming from.
"It's not right," she told KCBS Radio. "A lot of these businesses down on University Avenue in the beginning were really being blocked and that's not fair. It's just not right."
"I'm not going to name names, but there's a certain jeweler down the street. You can't even see his business. You can't see that it's there, you don't know," she added.
Meanwhile, Nancy Coupal, who owns the Coupa Cafe Chain, said the new order will force her to get rid of her parklet because of the opposition one of her neighbors has to it. She called the situation a major loss because of all the extra business the parklet has brought in.
"Because when it's a nice day and the sun is shining, everybody's outside. Nobody wants to be indoors,” she told KCBS Radio.
"It's super successful, people love it, they want to be outside, this is California," she continued. "We need to take advantage, think of the future, stop looking back."
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