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Home My WebLink About4B Public CommentMonique Lomeli From: Christy Holstege Sent: Sunday, September 12, 2021 4:16 PM To: City Clerk Subject: Fwd: Parklets Christy Gilbert Holstege, Esq. Mayor City of Palm Springs Begin forwarded message: From: smd002@comcast.net Date: September 12, 2021 at 12:50:32 PM PDT To: Christy Holstege <Christy.Holstege@palmspringsca.gov> Subject: Parklets Fa CE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open ttachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Hello .... while I'm not a year round Palm Springs resident, my husband and I own a home here and so issues such as the restaurant parklets concern us. Eating out is a very important part of our life in Palm Springs which is where we spend several months each year. I understand why you want to develop standards for the parklets that cropped up during the pandemic.... some do look a bit shabby, to say the least. What I don't think is a good idea is charging a monthly per square foot "rental" fee for the outdoor parklets. Restaurants have been badly hurt financially during the pandemic. Without the parklets lifeline many more would have gone out of business. We are still in the middle of the pandemic with no end in sight so it's too soon to put added costs onto these fragile businesses. Without these restaurants life in Palm Springs would not be very appealing. I urge you to rethink the idea of charging monthly fees for the parklets. Let's not kick these businesses while they're down. Thank you for listening. Regards, Sylvia D'Angelo 612-741-4910 Get Outlook for iOS °I )c) I-2-02-k �In/b 1 k �. Co w nvleA�- ITEM NO. — Monique Lomeli From: john shimek <bishobb@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 8:48 AM To: City Clerk Subject: No Parklets NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Palm Springs has managed without Parklets until the pandemic. When the pandemic passes, get rid of them. They are unnecessary and are detrimental to the charm and beauty of our downtown. John Shimek 401 S El Cielo Road. Sent from my iPhone Ct1.112 Imp" ITEM NO. Monique Lomeli From: john shimek <bishobb@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 8:42 AM To: City Clerk Subject: No Parklets NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Palm Springs City Council, I understand the need for Parklets during the pandemic. To have them in our beautiful downtown on a permanent basis, however, is unacceptable. No design could justify keeping them permanently Please do not permit parklets after the pandemic. John Shimek 401 S El Cielo Road Sent from my iPhone C1 ICA 1 Uz( f ub b (- Ca mm�rt� ITEM NO. Anthony Mejia From: Dean Lavine <dean@blackbookbar.com> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 3:10 PM To: Christy Holstege; Dennis Woods; Geoff Kors; Grace Garner; Lisa Middleton Cc: Llubi Rios; Flinn Fagg; Liz Ostoich; Jeffrey B.; Rob Giesecke; Justin Clifton; City Clerk Subject: Parklets Workgroup Document Attachments: Workshop Group Parklets Meeting.docx NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Mayor Holstege and Councilmembers Woods, Middleton, Kors and Garner, Attached is a follow-up document from our meeting with Mayor Holstege and Councilmember Woods on Tuesday. Hopefully, this will help as you discuss and review plans in tonight's meeting. Thanks for listening and we are here to help. Merchant Workshop Members Liz Ostoich Farm and Tac/Quila Jeffrey Bernstein Destination PSP Rob Giesecke Chill and Reforma Dean Lavine Blackbook and The Evening Citizen I1.11 z0&I fspl'c; Comn%rq, ITiF.M NO. Here is a quick review on what we discussed on Tuesday. Again, we think the actual report compiled by city staff is comprehensive and doesn't need to be amended. We are grateful to their hard work and expediency in drafting these guidelines. The most important thing we want to highlight is the fluid nature of the pandemic and that these may have to be viewed through two different lenses. 1. Suggest a two -prong approach that accounts for unexpected changes in the pandemic recovery: A. Allow for parklets to remain through the end of the year (as previously promised by the city). This will give time to see whether new variants will pose a challenge to those who are vaccinated. B. Simultaneously focus on new design guidelines (effective January 1) for those that wish to extend parklet usage. 2. If new design guidelines go into effect January 1, the city should still address issues with poorly maintained or intrusive parklets now. The guidelines are clear on how parklets are to be maintained and managed — those can be implemented before any new construction and permitting goes into effect. 3. We wanted the council to be fully aware that there are substantial costs for restaurateurs. These costs will play a large factor in addressing return on investment on whether to move forward with 12-month parklet. Parklets will most likely exceed $30,000 in construction costs plus rent. We support the city rent proposal of $1.50 per SF. For example, a 1000 SF parklet would generate $18,000 in revenue to the city over the course of 12 months. 4. We want to remind council that parklets were created for restaurants to help survive the pandemic. Currently, restaurants are seeing a substantial dip in business. Much of it can be attributed to the Delta variant. Vaccinated people are requesting outdoor seating (even in the heat) out of fear for being indoors amongst unmasked people. There is a lot of unknown as to how vaccines will hold up against newer variants. However, based on the pattern of pandemic related data, we should have a much better understanding before the end of the year. We strongly urge the city to take this into consideration as there is a possibility that parklets will be necessary for survival over the course of the next year. The worst thing that could happen is parklets are removed because they became cost prohibitive only to be needed for survival a few months later. Again, we are grateful to the merchants, the restaurateurs, the volunteers, and most of all Flinn and the city team for working hard to come up with a solution that will address the needs of all parties, as well as creating something that can be exciting and beautiful to our great city. Anthony Mejia From: john shimek <bishobb@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 8:42 AM To: City Clerk Subject: No Parklets NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Palm Springs City Council, I understand the need for Parklets during the pandemic. To have them in our beautiful downtown on a permanent basis, however, is unacceptable. No design could justify keeping them permanently Please do not permit parklets after the pandemic. John Shimek 401 S El Cielo Road Sent from my iPhone I loll U-0 rrEM NO. Anthony Mejia From: john shimek <bishobb@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, September 9, 2021 8:48 AM To: City Clerk Subject: No Parklets NOTICE: This message originated outside of The City of Palm Springs -- DO NOT CLICK on links or open attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. Palm Springs has managed without Parklets until the pandemic. When the pandemic passes, get rid of them. They are unnecessary and are detrimental to the charm and beauty of our downtown. John Shimek 401 S El Cielo Road. Sent from my iPhone ITEM NO. �� cl J Gj 1 Z-O Zk