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Chuck’s Central District to add E Union parklet

Inside Chuck's -- we're guessing there will not be a giant refrigerated case in the new parklet (Image: CHS)

Inside Chuck’s — we’re guessing there will not be a giant refrigerated case in the new parklet (Image: CHS)

Chuck’s Central District is already a bottle and mug-filled playground for beer lovers on E Union. This summer, it should add a new place to hang out along the street as the beer shop will join the roster of businesses participating in the city’s growing parklet program.

The new location is one of three new parklets added to the program including a Madison Valley spot in front of Harbour Pointe Coffeehouse.

Earlier, the new owners of the Comet and Lost Lake also jumped into the expanding program with a plan to exchange a few parking spots at 10th and E Pike with a street park.

In 2013, Capitol Hill became home to the first parklet in the city as Montana’s management financed a small deck and hangout space in front of the E Olive Way bar.

The program, which works with neighborhood businesses to trade street parking to create public park spaces, will add a wave of new locations in 2014. Though privately financed, parklets are considered public space and people do not need to be customers to enjoy them. Liquor also cannot be consumed in the parklet — though some of the projects include adjacent sidewalk cafes permitted by the city for outside service.

Three More Parklets Added to Seattle’s Pilot Parklet Program

SEATTLE – The Seattle Department of Transportation is pleased to announce the inclusion of three additional parklets in the 2014 Pilot Parklet Program:

  • ·         Equilibrium Fitness in West Seattle (3270 California Ave SW)
  • ·         Harbour Pointe Coffeehouse in Madison Valley (2818 E Madison St)
  • ·         Chuck’s Hop Shop in the Central District (2001 E Union St)

This brings the total for the pilot program extension to 13 new installations, joining three parklet locations that were approved in 2013 as part of the initial phase of the program. The parklet hosts will work with SDOT over the next several months to design, permit, and construct their parklets with the goal of opening this summer.

Parklets, which convert a small number of on-street parking spaces to public space, serve Seattle communities by activating streets and promoting economic vitality. After selecting 10 of 14 parklet applications in late March, SDOT received additional information and statements of community support for the applications that initially were not chosen for the program. Staff met with applicants to reconsider their parklet proposals and determined that the newly presented ideas for their parklets would make them excellent candidates for the program.

Expanding the Pilot Parklet Program to 13 parklets provides SDOT with additional opportunities to evaluate parklets in neighborhoods throughout the city before making a recommendation on a permanent program later this year.

For more information about parklets or SDOT’s Pilot Parklet Program, please visithttp://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parklets.htm.

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23 Comments
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Dana Belkholm
Dana Belkholm
9 years ago

NO! NO! There is already a lack of parking for the existing business in this area. Very, very bad idea. Why can’t he just put a park in his parking lot that he already has?!

20+ years in the CD
20+ years in the CD
9 years ago

Ugh! Chuck’s has already sucked up much of the parking spaces on the surrounding streets. Less parking is a bad idea.

PT
PT
9 years ago

Gross get that baby off the table! People eat there!

Raw?!?!
Raw?!?!
9 years ago
Reply to  jseattle

With a side of chips?!?! ;-)

tommy
tommy
9 years ago

If you are against the parklet you need to email Jennifer Wieland at SDOT jennifer.wieland.gov

calhoun
9 years ago
Reply to  tommy

Unfortunately, the parklet idea is kind of a juggernaut. The one on Olive Way gets very little use. They are a bad idea and we will regret them some day.

C. D. Association
C. D. Association
9 years ago
Reply to  calhoun

No we won’t (regret the parklet fadlet). We will stick a fork in them now. The process was cliquish and manipulative. The product is cuckoo.

sarah
sarah
9 years ago

Yeah, it’s too bad Chuck’s isn’t on a major bus line or within easy walking/biking distance from other neighborhoods and the only way to get there is by driving. Seriously, car parking isn’t a given right.

Rogelio
Rogelio
9 years ago
Reply to  sarah

Hold on a second, I think it *is* easily accessible via the multiple forms of transport which are used by many people as their primary mode of travel across the city.

Sarah
Sarah
9 years ago
Reply to  Rogelio

Hopefully my exasperation was clear. I get so tired of people complaining about how hard it can be to find a nearby spot to park their car, especially if they are going to a place to drink and then get back in said car to drive home.

C. D. Association
C. D. Association
9 years ago
Reply to  Sarah

Sarah, I will gladly buy you a fancy beverage at Chuck’s (go Hop Shop!) and dialog with you in hope of elucidating why the parklet fadlet is not the best use of limited public resources.

joanna
9 years ago
Reply to  sarah

It is one the #2 and within 3 blocks of the 48.

john s
john s
9 years ago

These thing are so dumb!!!

trackback

[…] Even more parklets: The Seattle Department of Transportation has added even more parklets for its expanded pilot project. And, it looks like the Central District will get a hoppy one at that. […]

C. D. Association
C. D. Association
9 years ago

Article is wrong on facts now. Chuck consulted with community and changed his mind. It is not going forward because it was a hasty and ill considered scheme pushed by underemployed city of Everett landscape architect Paul Crane in league with the SDOT bureaucrat paid $106k annually to push the cute but not always practical concept of parklets. Chuck’s will continue with plan for great sidewalk cafe / beer garden space. Furthermore we already built defacto parklets ten years ago, see the piazette at Katy’s Cafe and Central Cinema.

C. D. Association
C. D. Association
9 years ago
Reply to  jseattle

You do that. I will gladly buy you a fancy beverage at Chuck’s (go Hop Shop!) and dialog with you in hope of elucidating why the parklet fadlet is not the best use if limited public funds. I will be there Monday at 5 PM.

LizWas
LizWas
9 years ago
Reply to  jseattle

Having worked for the firm that designed the Montana parklet on E Olive Way, I know that alcohol isn’t allowed in them anyhow – Chuck’s own patio, now almost complete, is a much better solution for the business AND the neighborhood.

CDA
CDA
9 years ago
Reply to  LizWas

After a certain amount of delay, the city has acknowledged that a deck in a parking space at Chuck’s was not a good idea, was not wanted by local business, (nor does the Hop Shop want the expense, hassle, fees and liability of a temporary deck when they have just finished building a nice permanent patio), and therefore it will not proceed. The city SDOT “parklet” website is updated now as of last week.

trackback

[…] Chuck’s is getting a less enthusiastic response from neighbors. CHS reported in April that Chuck’s would be sponsoring a city parklet, which coverts 2-3 street parking spaces into a small public seating area outside a participating […]

paul crane
paul crane
9 years ago

No I am not under employed, no it was not hasty myself and a partner took the design to 30%. No we are not in cahoots with the city, and yes Chuck wanted it until a land owning neighbor made a natty stink about it. Check facts before you write this stuff!