(Update: Adding video, comments from downtown Bend business owners)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Restaurants with outdoor seating in the street will be charged a new fee in downtown Bend.
Some restaurant owners are happy to have the extra seating, which are being called 'parklets.'
But some store owners, including Roxy Mills, the owner of Paper Jazz in downtown Bend, a store adjacent to two parklets put up by restaurants, are frustrated with the way the space is being used.
“It's just difficult. It's very difficult,” Mills said Thursday.
She said some customers are upset that they can’t park near her store.
“I don’t have an area for them to come up the curbside ,and we’re losing customers because of it,” Mills said.
The parklets program started last year as part of the city’s response to covid-19 guidelines restricting indoor dining capacity.
City councilors agreed to make it a permanent program and were presented a revised proposal Wednesday night, by setting a $60 monthly for each parking spot used, starting in January.
When the proposed system was presented to councilors last month, some were resistant to the fee of $100 a month for each parking space used, saying it was too high.
The permanent program begins April 1.
Sidelines Sports Bar and Grill owner Trevor Kalberg said he supports the city council decision.
“Well, definitely during the pandemic, when we weren’t able to have many people inside, it was a great help,” Kalberg said. “It was nice to be able to have people sit out here with their pets and be able to enjoy the sunshine in downtown Bend.”
Suzy Reininger owns Leapin’ Lizards in downtown Bend, and thinks the parklets will eventually frustrate people trying to park downtown.
“I really love the idea right now, when we need to have social distance. I think it's a great idea,” Reininger said. “But once we get past, I think that we need to give that parking back to our customers.”
Deschutes Brewery told NewsChannel 21 their outdoor seating area is not as popular as it was at first, and come January, it will either make it smaller or get rid of it entirely.
The restaurant says their focus is making sure the inside of the restaurant is properly staffed.
However, Mills feels restaurants are being prioritized, while other businesses are overlooked.
“It's all about the restaurants, it’s about crowding the sidewalks," she said. "They have this, they have the sidewalks, and we have nothing as business owners,”
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Downtown Bend parklet program makes parking 'difficult' for some businesses, helpful for others - KTVZ
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