The City of Bend is increasing fees for businesses with outdoor seating areas on the streets, otherwise known as parklets. As of July, with approval by the City Council, the fees associated with both renewing a commercial parklet and applying for one went up significantly.
The current price to apply for a parklet is $1,000 per application. For businesses looking to renew their parklet, the fee can be $250 or $750 if the parklet has undergone major changes requiring inspection.
The prices before the increase were $205 for an application and $105 to $155 for parklet renewals. The monthly fee of $60 will not be changing, according to Lorelei Williams, the senior program manager for the City’s licensing division.
Several restaurants in downtown Bend utilize parklets, which increased during the pandemic to allow for outdoor options. “This program really was birthed through necessity during the pandemic because businesses had such severe indoor dining limitations through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Williams told the Source Weekly.
Parklets can sit adjacent to a business in on-street parking spaces, loading zones or alley spaces. There are currently 10 businesses that have parklets in downtown Bend and two in Tin Pan Alley.
Commercial parklets generally take up one or two parking spaces but can be longer depending on the size of the building. Five percent of all on-street parking spaces in downtown Bend can have parklets built onto them.
Currently, approximately 25 out of the 60 available spaces allotted for parklets downtown are being utilized by a commercial parklet, with approximately 24 out of the total 1,800 parking spaces downtown in use by a parklet. Licenses are issued on a first-come, first-serve basis.
“When we discussed making the parklet program permanent with Council in 2021, there was an interest in looking at raising the per month fee if or when paid parking was introduced downtown,” said Ben Hemson, the economic development manager. Shifting to paid parking in the downtown district is a strategy listed in the Downtown Parking Strategic Plan, but does not appear to be imminent just yet.
This article appears in Source Weekly October 19, 2023.
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So it costs the City of Bend $1,000 to process a form? All in favor for increasing monthly fees as this is part of doing business, but raising an application fee (which could be rejected) by over 4 fold makes zero sense. What the city needs to do is contract with a developer to build a two/three story underground parking facility with a single story business facility on the present location of the Mirror Pond Plaza parking. Set the lease for 99 years in return for the construction/operation of businesses on the site and then close down driving in the area bordered by Oregon Ave, NW Lava, Franklin Avenue and Wall Street (access to new parking facility on Franklin street only). Hundreds of these style underground parking operations dot the landscape in European cities with no-car downtowns.
I wonder what happened to the idea to close Minnesota between Bond and Wall for pedestrian walkway? Downtown has so much more potential however it’s looking a little tired and needs a makeover in certain areas.