By Mary O’KEEFE

Since the implementation of parklets, or Glendale’s al fresco dining program, local restaurants were given a lifeline when restrictions were imposed due to COVID-19 with most people seeming to enjoy outdoor dining.

Recently, though, there has been a difference of opinions between the board of directors of the Montrose Shopping Park Association (MSPA) and many of the Honolulu Avenue restaurant owners. MSPA had wanted the parklets, which are defined by the K-rails that were placed along some of the parking areas on Honolulu Avenue, gone by Sept. 7 – several months earlier than what the Glendale City Council had proposed for downtown Glendale.

But that appeared to change yesterday when, as reported in Julie Butcher’s story on the Glendale City Council meeting, Mayor Paula Devine said the MSPA had asked the City to rescind its request to end al fresco dining while they work on an alternative to encourage sidewalk dining.

“Everybody agrees on the benefit of outdoor dining. It brings a lot more people to Montrose,” said Jim Collins, owner of Town Kitchen and Grill at 2276 Honolulu Ave. “There’s more life on the street.”

Collins has been a supporter of outdoor dining and wants to keep this option available.

“It is all good for business,” he said. “It takes about 22 parking spaces for the parklets program out of the about 600 total spaces in the Montrose area.”

Collins reached out to other restaurants, as well as to retail businesses, especially those located close to his restaurant. The general consensus was that outdoor dining breathed new life into the Montrose Shopping Park, not just for the restaurants but for retail businesses as well, Collins said.

“What I love about [outdoor dining] is during busy nights, which is almost every night now, we watch people sitting at tables connecting, talking and laughing with friends walking by. It is a whole different level of life that we are starting to experience,” he said.

Although some restaurant and retail business owners started out opposite the MSPA board regarding the parklets issue, Collins praised the board for taking another look at the issue.

“The [MSPA] listened to the input of the community and merchants. They stepped up and asked the City Council to include [Montrose] in the al fresco program,” Collins said. “That is the way it is supposed to work. The board gets input from a lot of people, they listened and responded, I think, in the right way.”

Collins said the plan now is for a group to get together with the City of Glendale to see how to make outdoor dining in Montrose and Glendale permanent.

The Council has plans to invest money and time throughout the city to come up with the best way to keep outdoor dining possible.

This is an issue that not only Montrose and Glendale are looking at but also cities nationwide are realizing the importance of outdoor dining to their local businesses, and seeing how customers are feeling about the changes.

A survey conducted by OpenTable in partnership with the James Beard Foundation found that 74% of diners feel eating outdoors is a lower risk for COVID-19 and 82% want restaurants to continue to increase outdoor seating.

Restaurants in Montrose have started their own survey in the form of a petition asking for signatures in favor of supporting the alfresco option with Save the Outdoor Dining Parklets in Montrose. To sign the petition, go to https://tinyurl.com/95eywrfj.

Attempts were made to contact the MSPA board president and executive director and the City of Glendale for this story but CVW did not receive a response as of press time.