WALNUT CREEK — Not like some cities, Walnut Creek intends to maintain its outside eating scene, which bloomed throughout a pandemic that proved a scourge for a lot of eating places.
Metropolis council members, residents and restaurant homeowners look like on the identical web page: downtown is livelier and extra interesting when individuals can eat and drink within the open air, and be seen doing it.
However these parklets and patios don’t come low cost, and between sustaining them and ultimately paying for outside permits, some eating places would possibly determine the expertise isn’t definitely worth the worth.
That places town in a fragile balancing act of encouraging a everlasting outside eating scene whereas making an attempt to recoup a few of the parking meter income it’s misplaced by offering free house.
“The monetary factor is certainly a priority,” mentioned Kathy Hemmenway, govt director of the Walnut Creek Downtown enterprise enchancment district. “And a few companies are ready on the small print (of allowing) to see in the event that they’d make that funding.”
When the pandemic reached its peak, town allowed eating places to increase their outside eating setups onto public parking areas without cost. The gesture allowed struggling eating places to offset a few of their losses from having to deal with non permanent closures or indoor restrictions.
In all, about 120 areas are nonetheless getting used for that objective, at an annual loss to town of $7,000 per parking meter, Hemmenway estimated.
Because of this, the 35 or so eating places nonetheless taking part within the metropolis’s “rebound” program could ultimately have to pay the equal quantity for a allow.
Walnut Creek Downtown figures if that occurs solely about 20 eating places ultimately will select to get permits to proceed the outside eating.
If the Metropolis Council can’t determine find out how to make the transition work for sufficient eating places by June, it might lengthen the free permits till the autumn so companies can not less than keep open air throughout the important thing summer season months.
Even with the free parking areas, the prices of outside eating are beginning to add up, mentioned Darryl Wong, supervisor of Burma 2, particularly these of outside heaters in patios in the course of the winter.
However metropolis officers are assured sufficient eating places will need to keep on with the present outdoors preparations.
“Nearly all of eating places are all for persevering with,” mentioned Collette Hanna, town’s financial improvement director. “It provides to the general atmosphere of downtown, and so they see it as including worth to their restaurant model.”
Joelle Scimia, a co-owner of Havana on Bonanza Avenue, acknowledged the misplaced parking income throughout a March 15 Metropolis Council assembly, however famous that Walnut Creek’s dedication to outside eating made downtown stand out amongst different East Bay cities competing for enterprise.
“Once I have a look at it from town’s perspective, we now have generated numerous extra income and tax dollars due to it, way over what I believe the parking areas might result in,” Scimia mentioned.
“Extra so, I really feel like we now have undoubtedly aided in the best way that Walnut Creek is checked out now, with all these outdoor-dining eating places,” she mentioned. “It’s put us again on the map as a spot that individuals need to come to — not simply individuals who stay near Walnut Creek.”
Town began contemplating an enlargement of outside eating even earlier than the pandemic hit, and its reputation satisfied council members they had been heading in the right direction. By final spring, Councilwoman Loella Haskew declared she didn’t need to return to the outdated regular, saying “the world is a unique place.”
Daniel Greenberg, supervisor of Primary Avenue Kitchen and Bar, shares that sentiment after seeing the general public get hooked on outside eating in the course of the pandemic. His restaurant’s lunch hour enterprise tells the story.
“I believe it opened the eyes of most people to being extra comfy with the skin patio,” Greenberg mentioned. “I'd say it’s 70/30 between open air and indoors now. When the skin patio is full however there are a number of tables inside, individuals determine they’d slightly await it than dine indoors. It was the entire reverse earlier than the pandemic.”