Sumner adds ‘parklets’ to try to help restaurants suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic
Sumner’s downtown street parking spots are becoming outdoor seating for restaurants that want to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.
The City of Sumner has built “parklets” for additional seating. They sit on one-and-a-half parking stalls to add eight socially distant outdoor seats.
Hometown Charm Cafe is the first business to add the additional seating, and co-owner Teresa Maycumber said since adding the parklet last week, business has increased by 20 percent.
The 7-by-22-foot platform has increased her outdoor capacity to 18 people, which helped make up the lost indoor seating.
“We lost a lot of our tables throughout this, so it has been really helpful for us,” she said.
Business at Maycumber’s and her best friend and business partner April McLean’s 3-year-old cafe dropped by half during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic when state orders closed all “non-essential” businesses.
“Breakfast is a hard take-out meal. How long can you keep eggs and gravy hot?” Maycumber said.
The City of Sumner spent $16,000 in constructing two parklets, one at Hometown Charm Cafe and another at CRAFT.19 coffee shop on Main Street.
The parklets are constructed with tube steel framing and wood for the decking, then powder coated, Community Services manager Derek Barry said.
Maycumber said the city added a cement barrier between the parklet and the road with a reflective strip.
The parklet seating is open to the general public even if you aren’t eating at the restaurant, said Ryan Windish, Sumner’s director of Community Development. The historic downtown area was prioritized because of its density of restaurants, slow vehicle speeds and walkability.
Windish said the city recognizes restaurants are a key economic driver in downtown and wants to create interest that draws in people.
“We want them to thrive, and the Phase 2 restrictions are impacting them more than retail and other service businesses,” he said in an email.
The City of Sumner started working on the project two years ago after seeing similar structures in Seattle and other cities. Recently, the city opened a permitting process for businesses to apply.
Restaurants were not charged a permit fee to apply for the pilot project, but they are providing liability insurance. In the future, the city will lease parklets to restaurants during warmer months.
“At this time, we are doing what we can to ease the economic impacts of COVID-19,” Windish said.
Mayor Bill Pugh commended the parklets in a community newsletter on Wednesday.
“We’ll keep finding ways to serve you as best we can and set the standard of excellence, even when “thinking outside the box” involves building one,” Pugh said.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
