The Walnut Creek City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to extend its pandemic-era outdoor dining program into the summer while city officials continue developing a permanent program.
The city launched the Walnut Creek Rebound program in May 2020 in an effort to support local businesses in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when indoor dining was still prohibited.
Since then, the city has extended the program in six-month increments, allowing restaurants to maintain their outdoor dining spaces in areas like former street parking spaces.
The council last approved a Rebound extension in November, which would keep the program in place through June.
“We’re now approaching that June timeframe,” said Jeanine Cavalli, a senior planner with the city. “And we understand that the City Council has an interest in continuing to assist our businesses by allowing them to continue to operate outdoors while COVID is still ongoing.”
The council approved the extension as an urgency ordinance, meaning it will take effect immediately. The council will be required to adopt a subsequent urgency ordinance at its June 6 meeting, because a second public hearing is required to extend an urgency ordinance beyond 45 days, according to city officials.
While the program has drawn widespread support from local businesses and from residents — in a survey last summer, 82 percent of residents wanted to make the outdoor dining parklets permanent — some businesses have argued that the current parklets can obstruct their storefronts.
The city received a letter this week from a law firm representing Vitality Bowls, a cafe on Locust Street, calling for an end to the Rebound program because tented parklets operated by the cafe’s neighboring restaurants, Limon and Broderick Roadhouse, partially block Vitality Bowls.
Scott Jenny, an attorney with the law firm Jenny and Jenny representing Vitality Bowls, argued that the cafe is the chain’s only location that did not perform well financially during 2021 and that no other Vitality Bowls location has been obstructed by outdoor dining spaces.
“The Rebound Program is selecting and promoting Limon and Broderick Roadhouse, and is financially destroying this Vitality Bowls location,” Jenny said.
Jenny also threatened legal action if the city extended Rebound, arguing in the letter that the city is violating the cafe’s due process under the Fifth Amendment and that “Vitality Bowls has a legal right to the street system and a legal right to a view of its business by the traveling public.”
City Attorney Steve Mattas told the council Tuesday that the city is attempting to address Vitality Bowls’ concerns and similar issues in its permanent extension of the outdoor dining program.
Mattas also argued that Walnut Creek has followed proper legal and due process procedures in implementing Rebound and the city can alter the city’s street system as it sees fit.
“While we all use the streets, the streets are actually owned by the city,” Mattas said. “The city can decide how they wish to use the streets and businesses that are adjacent to a street don’t have a property interest in the street itself.”
Assistant City Manager Teri Kilgore also said that the city has a history of working with local businesses to realign their operating space to ensure they are not blocking adjacent businesses.
The council plans to consider a long-term outdoor dining program at its June 21 meeting, which would be implemented over the next year if approved.
If you need to call Jenny and Jenny law firm the number is “867-5309….867-5309….”
Wow the 80’s. So long ago. How are you still alive?
No wonder there is never a place to park in downtown Walnut Creek.
The outdoor seating is not all good, many times I have come to find the sidewalk blocked by people waiting for a table. I have also had to dodge servers carrying plates from the restaurant to the outside seating. The outside seating can also partially block the sidewalks where it’s much too narrow for pedestrian traffic.
+1 .. it’s so bad now I avoid the downtown area …. parking is terrible and the outside seating congestion is just too much hassle … I’ll take my $$ elsewhere
With gas prices and food costs skyrocketing, who can afford to eat out?
The government fails at everything but breaking the American ecomony.
Look at Venezuela to see your future.
VIVA +1 Fearless, Jobless, Beholden.
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If the outdoor dining space occupies public metered parking stalls, the business should pay a large proportion of the expected annual income of those stalls to compensate the public.
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How’s that for “fair share”?!
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They pay a small annual fee of about $200 – far less revenue than what a metered stall generates.
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Some of these “Parklets” are larger than the regular restaurant! See Havana, Broderick’s, and Capullo Cocina Mexicana. They should pay more for sure!!!
THe shut off streets are a nuisance. When a car rams into an outside table……
who will be at fault?
The ugliest outdoor dining is Tomatina…that place has gone so far downhill from the original concept that had great food and service.
When’s Taco Bell getting outdoor dining? That’s about all people will be able to afford pretty soon.
Always love a little summer blend with my food and ambiance.
Pay extra at the pump and pay for it again at dinner.
I’m surprised more people haven’t mentioned gasoline fumes. Friday and Saturday evening traffic on Main and Locust is extremely heavy. I’d be willing to bet if they measured the carbon monoxide during those times it would not be a healthy number. This is likely exacerbated by signal timing that ensures traffic moves at a crawl.
They’ve closed off some side-streets in downtown Walnut Creek to facilitate the outdoor dining.
But what they haven’t done is reprogram the traffic lights.
Almost every morning a particular traffic light turns red (must be on a timer) so the traffic from the side-street can turn on Broadway. But there is no traffic because that side-street has been closed off. I sit and wait for non-existent traffic to cross, then the light turns green again.
So, Walnut Creek traffic engineer: how about reprogramming such traffic lights until the side-streets are open again?
+1 .. if you talk to the city they tell you it’s the most sophisticated system available & try to paint a rosy picture of it all…. I did and that’s what I got 🙁
“Most sophisticated system..”
Randy +1 – that’s hilarious! They’re just a bunch of lazy a$$es. Time to vote them out and fire the lazy city employees.
Streets are “owned” by the city?
Who paid for them? And who pays for the repairs?
Another victim of outdoor dining is the Walnut Festival Parade. There is no place for people to sit and watch along the sidewalks. The local school marching bands no longer have a local competition. One of the great local traditions is gone.
If they do this to us…parking meters should be taken away.!
All they do is suck up your money and most don’t even work.correctly..
Well, some of the businesses are in favor of it. But with reduced parking, they’ll have fewer customers.
Cutting off their noses to spite their collective faces.
If you think Walnut Creek is bad Orinda just approved Juneteenth as a paid holiday. Following the lead of a couple of other CCC towns. If we get any dumber I don’t know what will become of our once rational civilization.