New Rules For Parklets Established At Summit Council Meeting

SUMMIT, NJ — During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Summit expanded its outdoor dining options by using parking spaces as restaurant extensions — also known as parklets.

As pandemic restrictions are now lifting, the Common Council passed an ordinance to make changes to the parklet program, as a lack of parking spaces continues to be an issue that the downtown faces.

Councilman Andy Minegar explained that the ordinance includes three main changes to parklets:

1. There will be a fee for each parking space used for a parklet.
2. Parklets will be operational from May 15 to Oct. 15.
3. Only restaurants without room for a sidewalk café will be able to have a parklet. Therefore, Union Place will now have sidewalk cafés only, freeing up many parking spaces.

"Excluding Maple Street, sidewalk cafés made up over 70 percent of outdoor dining seats this past year, so outdoor dining will continue to thrive under this balanced approach to parklets," Minegar said.

Councilman Greg Vartan said he supports the new ordinance because it corrects the fact that "almost all the parklets [the city] had were in the most valuable parking spaces" and it also corrects for lost parking revenue.

Minegar confirmed that restaurants who want a parklet would have to pay $2,500 per space between May and October. This is approximately $500 per month.

Vartan added that a total of 16 parking spaces were transformed into parklets this year, and at least half of these parking spaces were on Union Place. With the new ordinance, Vartan said a maximum of six parking spaces would be eliminated because of parklets.

Minegar said that Bank Street and Springfield Avenue are likely candidates for parklets.

Councilwoman Lisa Allen expressed concerns about a lack of parking, and noted that the council was also voting to set aside $120,000 for the rideshare program.

Read more: Lyft/Uber Rideshare Program Renewed By Summit Council Despite Debate

Council President Marjorie Fox, however, clarified that the $120,000 for the Uber/Lyft rideshare program is not coming from the city's operating budget, but rather the Parking Utility budget. This program is also funded by user fees, Fox said.

Allen suggested that the parklet program should only last until mid-September, and Fox said the ordinance can be adjusted if need be.

Resident Rosemary Zotti said she is against parklets and argued that the council is neglecting other businesses in Summit that are not restaurants.

"It seems like you're only catering to the restaurants," Zotti said. "What about the other businesses in town? The other businesses need parking for their clients and their customers, and it seems like the common complaint about Summit for many years is the lack of parking. "

Zotti argued that parklets take away parking spaces away that the jewelry and hardware stores could use.

Fox reiterated that outdoor dining has "animated the downtown" and that many businesses have said that outdoor dining has encouraged more people to come into their businesses — particularly with the closure of Maple Street.

"This idea that [parklets] only benefits restaurants isn't entirely accurate," Fox said.

You can watch the full Summit Council meeting from last week on YouTube.