Puyallup Launches Parklet Pilot Program

PUYALLUP, WA — The City of Puyallup has launched a new parklet pilot program to help local businesses that have been struggling to stay afloat during the pandemic.

The pilot program is allowing seven downtown Puyallup restaurants to set up curbside seating in front of their businesses. The restaurants are:

1. Anthem Coffee & Tea
2. CasCades
3. The Forum
4. Mingle
5. Perry's
6. The Rose Restaurant
7. Wicked Pie Pizza

The parklets have been delivered to all seven businesses and most are now up and running, the city said. All seven were built by the city, at no cost to the businesses.

The program is part of a greater effort to help support local businesses during the pandemic. Restaurants in particular have been hit hard by the state's COVID-19 regulations, and local leaders say they hope that letting these businesses seat more customers outdoors will help boost sales.

"The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on our local business community," said Puyallup Mayor Julie Door. "As vehicle traffic and downtown parking usage decreased, we looked at our empty street and sidewalk spaces as an opportunity to help our businesses. That is when the idea of a Pilot Program came to fruition. Not only does it help our downtown businesses, but it also creates an opportunity for residents to continue enjoying these businesses while adhering to social distancing requirements."

Currently, Pierce County is in Phase 2 of the state's Healthy Washington - Roadmap to Recovery plan, meaning that indoor dining has been capped at 25 percent maximum capacity. Outdoor dining at parklets and curbside cafés, however, have no such restrictions.

All seven parklets were designed and built using CARES Act funding, and each takes up the size of about one parking space.

"This entire process was a learning experience for everyone," comments Meredith Neal, City Economic Development Manager. "When we received CARES Act funding, part of which we could use for economic recovery, we realized it just made more sense for the City to use these funds to assist with the parklets. Now, downtown businesses can apply for this program at little to no cost to them. By having one standardized design, it streamlined the permitting process, which in turn sped up the overall process of getting them built and installed in the community."

All seven restaurants were required to submit a Right-of-Way Permit application with the City. The city says many restaurants were interested in receiving a parklet, so the seven restaurants were selected with a lottery system to ensure fairness.