The City of San Marcos has adopted a temporary parklet program in downtown San Marcos, allowing businesses to temporarily convert on-street parking spaces into outdoor seating. This program aims to reactivate downtown business engagement by providing businesses with an additional visible service area while simultaneously enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the downtown streetscape.
Interested businesses must meet certain location and design criteria that provide a creative, safe and accessible temporary parklet. In addition, each parklet shall be no more than two parking spaces in size, and no more than two parklet spaces are allowed per block face. Participating businesses are required to follow all protocols, practices and guidelines specified in the Governor’s Report to Open Texas.
San Marcos Parklets through the years
The City has participated in annual Park(ing) Day since 2013, which is an international event encouraging community members to turn a parking space into a park for a day. In 2015, the City adopted a Sidewalk Café, Parklets and Special Uses Ordinance to create a public-private partnership for streetscape improvements in the public realm. Several sidewalk cafés have been installed downtown through this program.
The temporary parklet program adopted by City Council on May 5 authorizes short-term parklet installations, waives the application fee, and allows for modified design standards to help businesses create a more economical parklet. Temporary parklet installations will be permitted through August 14, 2020.
Interested businesses can click here to learn about the program and download the application.
All applications can be submitted via email to the Planning and Development Services Department at planninginfo@sanmarcostx.gov.
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