By Justin HAGER

Proposed plans to install permanent parklets for outdoor dining and socializing are moving forward with current temporary parklets expected to be removed in mid-October, just prior to the Montrose Shopping Park Association’s Arts and Crafts Fair. New, smaller, permanent parklets will then be installed a few weeks later.

Part of the al fresco Glendale program, the parklets were first installed by the City of Glendale last summer as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The parklets occupied 30 parking spaces in Montrose and helped local restaurants by providing outdoor socializing and dining opportunities. However, the use of the parking spaces also made already limited parking for retail stores even less available. So with the pandemic appearing to subside and vaccination rates climbing in the spring of 2021, the City began exploring whether to remove the parklets or whether to install more permanent structures that include additional amenities such as weather protection and better aesthetics than the concrete and plastic K-rails.

In May, City of Glendale officials surveyed residents and business owners to ask about their al fresco experiences and their thoughts of making the parklets a long-term feature. The survey received 1,145 respondents with 51% of those coming from La Crescenta and Montrose and 14%, or 160, of the responses from business owners.

Of the 160 business owners, only 32 were restaurants/restaurant owners.

With more than 75% of business respondents being retail merchants, officials were surprised to find that more than 74% of business respondents, including more than half of all retail merchants, supported making the parklets a long-term fixture. They were joined by an overwhelming majority of 82% of residents who wanted to see the program extended. The results echoed similar findings in other regional cities, such as Pasadena and Burbank, both of which have extended their parklet programs through the end of the year.

With overwhelming support for extending the program, Glendale City officials began to discuss the budget, timeline and design features for more permanent parklet installations. The temporary parklets were originally scheduled for removal just prior to Labor Day and the Montrose Shopping Park Association Car Show. Outcry from local restauranteurs led the city to delay removal until October; however, the exact timeline has remained a point of conflict and discussion. The city originally proposed removing the temporary parklets at the end of October, putting them on the same timeline as Downtown Glendale. Restaurant owners have advocated for leaving the parklets in place through the conclusion of the MSPA Arts and Crafts Fair while MSPA officials requested the parklets be removed in mid-October, opening the space for vendors and food trucks at the Arts & Crafts Fair.

Complicating the decision, conflict has arisen as restauranteurs have claimed that the MSPA has prioritized the vendors and food trucks that make money for the MSPA over the interests of the local restaurants and businesses that the MSPA is supposed to represent.

Cristal Arguelles, owner of the Thee Elbow Room, cited a specific example from 2019 when an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Truck was parked directly outside of her business, which specializes in giant pretzels. When asked about the truck via email, MSPA Business Administrator and Events Coordinator Dale Dawson noted that the Auntie Anne’s food truck would not be returning in 2021 but did not apologize for the direct competition or offer any assurances against future competitors.

When asked about those concerns and the issue of the parklets in general, Gigi Garcia, the vice president of the Montrose Shopping Park Association, explained that the MSPA represents 180 businesses and must balance the needs of all of them to help them all thrive. Andre Ordubegian, the president of the Montrose Shopping Park Association, has not responded to repeated requests for comment from the Crescenta Valley Weekly.

Despite the ongoing interpersonal conflicts, the MSPA has created a task force and, according to Bradley Calvert, Glendale assistant director of Community Development, plans are moving forward to remove the temporary parklets in mid-October with new, smaller, but permanent structures put in place over the next two-to-three weeks following the Arts & Crafts Fair. He anticipates that each new structure will occupy only two parking spaces, cutting the number of total spaces occupied in Montrose significantly. He said that the prototype designs would be presented to the Glendale City Council in late September or early October. The success and efficiency of the project moving forward may have implications beyond just the parklets themselves. Restauranteurs say they will likely need to lay off staff during the construction of the new permanent parklets – a major concern since their industry, like others, has been hit hard due to COVID-19.

Elections for the Montrose Shopping Park Association board of directors occur in the fall of odd numbered years.