By Theresa-Marie Wilson

Pismo Beach’s first parklet will stay and more could be on the way. The city council unanimously approved making the pilot mini park a done deal, at least for several more months.
Last March, city staff installed a beach themed space with palm trees and surfboard décor as well as benches, tables, a checkerboard tabletop and a planter filled with flowers on the corner of Cypress and Hinds in a former curbside parking space in front of Esquire News.
“I’m in favor of keeping it through the summer, and seeing if it is used,” said Mayor Shelly Higginbotham during a recent meeting. “I think it is worthy of more time in that location. I think the location that you found had the least impact of any other place in the downtown core.”
Although staff said the park was placed in a parking space that was underutilized, Linda Collison, whose family has owned Esquire News since 1951, told Coast News that she would rather have the parking space back.
“A lot of my customers swing in, grab their papers or grab a magazine and leave,” she said. “Several of them were upset because the parklet was there. During the week, I hardly ever see anyone sitting there.  When I first heard about it, I thought that maybe some of the old guys who sit on the benches out by the pier might come sit here, but I haven’t found that to be.”
Collison said there hasn’t been a drop in sales at her business since the parklet was installed, but thinks it would be better suited at another location.
“It would probably do wonderful in front of a restaurant, but not for a newsstand,” she said. “They could probably put it down by the beach and it would be appreciated more.”
On the other side of the coin, the owners of Chipwrecked, a small popular eatery located around the block on Pomeroy, are clamoring for a parklet in front of their business.
“I love the parklet,” said Sarah Paddack. “I think it looks great. I think it helps attract people to hang out at our shops up here. We have some really cool stuff going on in Pismo. There are a lot of adorable little shops that are locally owned. To me something they create that is an environment where people can hang out helps all of us on this street.”
As far as losing a parking space in front of her business should a parklet be installed, Paddack is unfazed.
“I’m not real worried about it,” she said. “Honestly, most of the time people that park in front of us aren’t in our shop anyway. It is not a huge impact to lose one or two parking spaces. There are so many more aspects to the parking issue, that the parklets are a drop in the pan. It would be sacrificing two spaces to create a prettier environment. For the business, it would be fantastic to have extra seating for our customers.”
Although $30,000 was allocated for the demonstration parklet, it came in at a cost of approximately $5,000, not including staff time to construct and install it. Staff anticipates that other parklets in the downtown area would be privately funded and maintained.
Several people also sent their opinions to the city expressing their views on the parklet. Five people were in favor of the project while two were against it. An additional nine people loved the idea and wanted to see one placed in front of Chipwrecked.
The parklet, part of the downtown revitalization efforts, aims to increase foot traffic downtown and is part of the greater effort to make streets more bike and pedestrian-friendly.
Future parklets could be installed on Price Street, in a city parking lot, or near businesses that have limited seating.
The Parking Advisory Committee, in conjunction with the Parks, Recreation, and Beautification Commission, is expected to present parklet design and site standards to the council at a later date.