From: Case
To: City Council
Subject: 9/20 council mtg agenda item 9 SUPPORT
Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2022 8:12:25 AM
Dear all,
I am writing in my support of all Sebastopol parklets be pursued as permanent. I strongly feel their usage has benefited our community in the short time we have been granted the opportunity.
As a co-owner of a Main Street business (Retrograde Coffee Roasters), we have been vocal of the benefit that the spaces can serve to the general public. For transparency, I was not contacted for this informal survey in the staff report.
The temporary parklets were a blessing to see come together so quickly, but more permanent parklets are what we are need; more ambience and structure will amplify their inviting nature.
Finally we have the requirements from CalTrans; paving a process for us to further our ability to design and enliven these parklets. We knew this wouldn't be easy but it is no reason to turn back in any way.
We should take the scope of this project in full and see that not one parklet will serve the entire community. The spacing of the parklets through this Main Street corridor better connects Downtown to Barlow (a long time concern). The Depot street parklet is the most used parklet and would be a misstep to remove. Ice cream cones are meant to be eaten right away and I am concerned by the businesses who think this is not appropriate usage and prefer a parking spot when there is street parking nearby. A survey of this area could be revealing.
If the car accident near that parklet was as bad as some are pointing: I believe any safety concerns would have already been raised by CalTrans.
Again, I strongly support Sebastopol working to make these parklets a stronger feature of our community.
Thank you,
noto Casey Lanski - he/him
Co-Founder, Director of Coffee, Retrograde
Coffee Roasters
www.retrograderoasters.com