The City of Dallas has made permanent a program that allows restaurants to have a “parklet” on the street in front of their building for additional seating.
The “Street Seats” program was launched in 2021 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to allow restaurant patrons more ventilated space to sit. Business owners placed additional tables and chairs in spots formerly used for street parking.
Parklet permits were scheduled to expire on July 31, but last week, the Dallas City Council unanimously voted to make the program permanent, and the City will now issue two-year licenses for street seating.
The City of Dallas Department of Convention and Event Services (DCES) is responsible for issuing the licenses.
Department Director Rosa Fleming said street seating has been “something that businesses particularly like.”
“They enjoyed it because it lets people sit outside in different types of weather, and we haven’t really seen a bad impact to traffic control or parking situation, so we opted to make it a permanent program and Council agreed,” she told The Dallas Morning News.
During last week’s council meeting, Fleming said three businesses currently operated with street seat licenses, and DCES had approved construction permits for five others.
“It was exciting to see them pop up all over the City,” said Council Member Chad West. However, he added that the steep fees associated with the program dissuaded some business owners from participating.
According to the Dallas Street Seats Guidebook, the initial construction permit is $500, with another $500 due when occupancy is approved. In addition, the construction costs of a street parklet can range between $5,000 and $13,000 before furniture costs.
West offered an idea to help offset some of those costs.
“We provide small business grants all the time,” he said. “If we could consider a reimbursement for some of these operators who go through the engineering review … We’re usually dealing with small mom-and-pop restaurants, and those are the ones that are doing this.”
Eno’s Pizza in the Bishop Arts District utilizes street seating, and manager Aaron Crawford said he “couldn’t be happier about [the arrangement] being made permanent,” per the DMN.
“It’s just been really good for us as an extension of our patio and kind of adding to the aesthetic of the neighborhood, allowing people to enjoy the atmosphere of the neighborhood,” he continued.
City staff will review possible changes and recommendations from the council, according to Fleming, and revisit the matter at a later date. Still, since the main rules of the program will stay intact, businesses can begin applying now since approval could take as long as 90 days.
Such long turnaround times for permits have earned Dallas criticism from small businesses, whose growth is hindered by the City’s drawn-out processes. City Manager T.C. Broadnax has yet to meaningfully address this inefficiency, especially within the Development Services Department — responsible for issuing most building permits — allowing the problem to continue costing Dallas businesses.
More information about the Dallas Street Seats program, including application instructions, can be found here.
