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April 22, 2015
A parklet near Cortona Cafe at 25th and Union in the Central District attracts people who just enjoy sitting and hanging out.
“I see a lot of families there eating a pastry, talking with their neighbors,” said Brian De Place, director of Seattle Department of Transportation's street use division.
That pastry doesn't need to come from the cafe for people to use the parklet, which was made from a few on-street parking spaces.
But now the city is trying a new pilot program that lets bars and restaurants use parklets as sidewalk cafes exclusively for their customers when their business is open. When it is closed, the space functions as a parklet, open to everyone.
In the pilot, nine Seattle bars and restaurants will have these so-called streateries near their establishments.
The city receives a permit fee when a business or group creates a parklet or streatery, but the streateries also pay around $3,000 a year for each parking space they use, said De Place.
“If you have a streatery, you're paying for making money off of the right-of-way,” he said.
The city has approved these businesses to create streateries from scratch this year:
Stoneburner, 5214 Ballard Ave. N.W.
Mamnoon, 1508 Melrose Ave.
Flowers Bar & Restaurant, 4247 University Way N.E.
Bottleneck Lounge, 2328 E. Madison St.
Guild 19th LLC (business not yet named), 600 19th Ave. E.
TnT Taqueria, 2114 N. 45th St.
Three businesses will convert parklets to streateries on Capitol Hill: Montana Bar on East Olive Way, and Comet Tavern and Lost Lake Cafe & Lounge on 10th and East Pike. Elysian Bar will convert part of the Chromer Parklet to a streatery at 1516 Second Ave.
“I think we've heard from a number of businesses that they would be interested in doing such a model,” De Place said.
He said this is a “win-win” because it keeps the sidewalk open for pedestrians while drawing more people to business districts — at no cost to the city.
The city said that although they go by different names in different cities, parklets with cafe seating have become popular in North America. Portland, New York, San Jose and Montreal have successful streatery-type programs, the city said in a press release.
De Place said Seattle will evaluate the streatery program about a year after the first one goes in, including how well they are maintained — which he said is the sponsor's responsibility.
The city also announced that community and business groups are sponsoring three new parklets. They are Community Arts Create at 4248 S. Orcas St.; Mighty-O Donuts at 1550 N.W. Market St.; and Sugar Plum at 324 15th Ave.
Meanwhile, the city said, three previously approved parklets are about to open in Hillman City, Ballard and First Hill. That will bring the total number of completed Seattle parklets to nine — with three of those soon converting to streateries — and another five still in development.
When all these are done, Seattle will have 14 parklets and nine streateries.
Lynn Porter can be
reached by email or by phone
at (206) 622-8272.