This is such a shame, the restaurant parklets that I visited in SF were quite nice, it'll be a shame to see them go just because of poorly thought out policies that were supposed to make them permanent.
"This is such a shame, the restaurant parklets that I visited in SF were quite nice, it'll be a shame to see them go just because of poorly thought out policies that were supposed to make them permanent."
I think the truth is somewhere in between. Some of the restaurants I've visited have parklets of highly questionable build quality, along with a number of electrical safety violations.
Moreover, I would not trust any of them to do much more than completely collapse in the event of even a low-speed collision by a vehicle. A few out here didn't even withstand the storms that came through, collapsing due to high winds. I would like to see them made permanent as well, but with a few additional safety measures including embedded posts streetside.
That said, a more gradual and guided shift to better-built and safer parklets would have been the constructive option.
One part confuses me. "Roofs aren't allowed if the sidewalk is less than 10 feet wide." Do they mean _more_ than 10 feet wide? So as to be able to run a ladder from a fire engine parked on the street?
I thought that as one alternative but surely there are too many random obstructions on most sidewalks like planters in front of businesses and tree branches overhanging. The only places I can think of with such wide sidewalks is the Embarcadero and Market.
"This is such a shame, the restaurant parklets that I visited in SF were quite nice, it'll be a shame to see them go just because of poorly thought out policies that were supposed to make them permanent."
I think the truth is somewhere in between. Some of the restaurants I've visited have parklets of highly questionable build quality, along with a number of electrical safety violations.
Moreover, I would not trust any of them to do much more than completely collapse in the event of even a low-speed collision by a vehicle. A few out here didn't even withstand the storms that came through, collapsing due to high winds. I would like to see them made permanent as well, but with a few additional safety measures including embedded posts streetside.
That said, a more gradual and guided shift to better-built and safer parklets would have been the constructive option.
I think I agree with you on their stability vs vehicle collisions, but I don't think it ran 60 pages because of durability requirements:
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/23/06/65/21785926/18/1200x0.jpg
The ones they're pointing out seem to mostly involve emergency vehicle access.
One part confuses me. "Roofs aren't allowed if the sidewalk is less than 10 feet wide." Do they mean _more_ than 10 feet wide? So as to be able to run a ladder from a fire engine parked on the street?
Maybe less, and they plan to drive the fire engine on the sidewalk?
I thought that as one alternative but surely there are too many random obstructions on most sidewalks like planters in front of businesses and tree branches overhanging. The only places I can think of with such wide sidewalks is the Embarcadero and Market.