Wake Up, Santa Barbarans: Which Way State Street?
City Hall Wants to Know: Should Parklets Be Continued or Abolished?
Outdoor diners of the world unite! You have nothing to lose but your crumbs. Or words to that effect.
With the emergency ordinance that gave rise to the proliferation of outdoor parklets on State Steet — and some of downtown Santa Barbara’s side streets — soon to expire, the Powers-that-Be at City Hall have selected a notably peculiar time and date to plumb the depths of public sentiment on outdoor dining: this coming Tuesday, June 20 at 8:30 a.m.
Everyone seems to have an emphatic opinion on the subject: Parklets are either the next best thing since sliced bread or perhaps just so much lipstick on a very dead pig. While we’re mixing our metaphors here, parklets, it should be acknowledged, also qualify as the camel’s nose under the tent for what has become the State Street Pedestrian Promenade.
