Why and How you should implement a parklet in front of your business

By Veronica Foster, Communications Manager

5 min read COVID-19 has put us in a situation to rethink how people engage with local businesses. To encourage social distancing, parklets are popping up all over the United States, but could this be something to stick around after the pandemic? This blog gives examples of benefits for implementing a parklet beyond socially distancing.

Envision Broadway Pilot Parklet Project in Nashville

All over the country, municipalities are giving businesses access to temporary permits that will expand their retail and dining areas into public right-of-way, like parking spaces, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots. Cities, large and small, are creating guidelines that outline exactly how far apart tables and chairs must be situated and how much buffer space there must be between those spaces and the general public. Other cities like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago have gone even further, creating “restaurant blocks” that only leave access for emergency vehicles and provide ample room for restaurants to socially distance. 

The rise of more creatively designed and placed public spaces fulfills one of the Civic Design Center’s focus areas, Reclaiming Public Space. Under this theme, the Design Center has been organizing PARK(ing) Day in Nashville for nearly 10 years. PARK(ing) Day is one global day of advocacy where metered parking spaces become mini-parks, art installations, bike lanes, concert stages, and so much more. 

Especially now, when cities are making large-scale organized decisions to promote the use of public right-of-way for something other than cars, the Design Center fully believes that parklets will become a vital part of communities’ public space.

How temporary are these permits?

Some cities like Springfield, Oregon and Raleigh, North Carolina are only committed to parklets and other temporary use permits as long as there is deemed to be a COVID-19 emergency. Knoxville, TN is also issuing permits with the intention that anything implemented in the right-of-way will not become permanent. 

Design for Distancing Baltimore Parklet Rendering

Nashville, TN is taking a different approach.

While Nashville hasn’t seen the same temporary extension of outdoor restaurant service areas, the city has been committed to the idea of extending restaurant and public space into parking spaces on a more permanent scale. 

During PARK(ing) Day 2018, Former Mayor Briley announced a Pilot Parklet Program using the Sidewalk Cafe permit offered within the limits of Downtown Nashville. The first parklet implemented within the program was built as a partnership project between Mars Petcare, Civic Design Center and Nashville Downtown Partnership. It was installed in October 2019 in front of Mike’s Ice Cream on 2nd Avenue North. This first, designed with pets in mind parklet, or “barklet,” has been profiled in People Magazine and featured in the Better Cities for Pets™ Annual Report. 

Civic Design Center mascot, Lotti, waits excitedly to enter the “barklet” on 2nd Ave N in Downtown Nashville

Metro Nashville City Council just passed legislation on September 15th expanding the Sidewalk Cafe Permit beyond the limits of downtown into all of Davidson County until January 1, 2021 as a pilot for a more permanent Parklet Program. Permits are available for an entire year, waive fees for the first year, and offer the chance for renewal beyond that. 

This isn’t only for businesses to extend their service space - it’s for the whole community. The neighborhood benefits of a privately maintained public space far exceed the economic ones.

Benefits of Applying for a Sidewalk Cafe Permit in Front of Your Business 

Increases Service Areas for Traditional Restaurants

If a restaurant chooses to obtain a Sidewalk Cafe Permit for extended service, they will be able to increase the number of safe spaces in which they can provide food and beer table service. They could make the choice to design the outdoor space so it could be converted into public space outside of business hours, or they could simply bring in their own tables and chairs that could only be used during service. More service means more money.

Diana Budds of Curbed photographs creative restaurant parklet solutions in Brooklyn, NY

Increases Pedestrian Time Spent near Business

Coffee and ice cream shops as well as fast casual dining could reopen seating outdoors so patrons spend more time near their businesses. During COVID, the business could supply wipes and hand sanitizer on tables so pedestrians may feel more comfortable spending time there. When people spend more time in a place, they often buy more. If a pedestrian stops to sit down while walking past a public parklet, they may also feel compelled to enter the adjacent businesses.

Increases Corporate Citizenship by Becoming a Community Asset

Ground Play SF Map of San Francisco Seniors that live near parklets—seniors enjoy parklets for rest on walks

Studies have been done that show that in public spaces, people are drawn to comfortable, social places of rest. By providing a space for this purpose, businesses drive traffic directly in front of their space, but they also become an asset to passersby. People may start to redirect their walking route just to pass by the parklet. People may promote your business on social media if you offer wifi in exchange for a post. Since the users of parklets typically live in the neighborhood, hyperlocal public space ambassadors could be heroes for your business.

Increases Eyes on the Street

Studies show that people are drawn to other people; they feel safer when there are more eyes on the street. By adding more public space in front of your business, people want to spend more time in the area. People are drawn to medium to high density spaces, which creates a schooling effect, where people gather closer to others instead of on the opposite side of a public space.

Improves Community-Led Quality of Life

New park spaces, art installations and murals, or micromobility parking are often signs of gentrification, which can cause community distress if these spaces are not managed by the local community. When you create a space in front of your own business that improves quality of life in the area as outlined above, you could be contributing to self-gentrification by driving positive traffic into the local economy. You get to control how the space is managed, and anyone who comes into the neighborhood to support your business is also supporting the local economy.

Students in South Nashville brainstorm a parklet project for their community

How to Implement a Parklet in Davidson County

Creating a Design Proposal

• Quick Build

  • Using the Design Center’s Tactical Urbanism Catalog, you will be able to determine the upfront cost of building an experimental parklet in front of your business. 

• Long Term

  • If you would like to have something more permanent and professional in front of your business, take a look at Dero Prefab Parklets, which offer something sturdy, curb-ready, and ADA accessible. 

  • Otherwise, you can contact us, and we can help with your project!

Submitting a Permit Application

• Tactical Urbanism Pilot Permit 

  • The Civic Design Center designed this application to help with low cost, temporary and experimental installations. Please submit a TURBO Work Order if you intend to pursue this route and the Tactical URBanism Organizers will help you realize your ideas.

  • Shorter Term (1 day - 6 months)

  • No Fee (Right Of Way Permit Fees Still Apply if necessary)

• Sidewalk Cafe Permit

  • Long Term (1 Year with Option to Renew)

  • Fees Waived until February 15th, 2021

How to Pay for the Parklet

Okay, so you are convinced: a parklet in front of your business will be good for you and your neighborhood, but now what? A great way to get community buy-in to an idea is to invite the community to get involved. Host a meeting asking for ideas, start a fundraising page, call for volunteers, and ask your neighbors what they think. Not everyone will be 100% ready for this idea, but you may be surprised by the support you will receive if you just ask for it. 

There are other ways to get this kind of amazing community resource subsidized: if you want to incorporate an art installation into your parklet, call for artists and apply for a public art grant. If you are open to having scooter parking as a part of your parklet to encourage more micromobility (bike riding and scootering) in your neighborhood, let us know, and we may be able to connect you to the funds.

Help Lead a Public Space Transformation

The Design Center was founded by community members to stop an unwanted highway in Downtown Nashville, but we have gone on to actively promote better community connections, public transportation, and pedestrian-forward spaces. Don’t wait for something to be planned in your neighborhood that you don’t want; help shape your community the way you want it to be shaped. 

Parklets are assets to the hyperlocal community, transforming public space diversity and quality, increasing safety and eyes on the street, and enhancing the local economy. They are flexible, experimental, and adaptable to the growth of your business and the overall community’s needs. 

COVID-19 may not last forever, but you can take its effects and create lasting change for the future of public space.