Newburyport Ward 2 City Councillor on the Future of Outdoor Dining Patios

This piece was written by Jennie Donahue, Newburyport’s Ward 2 City Councillor, in response to a request to clarify her position on the parklet program. In a previous report, Donahue appeared to signal her support for ending the program, which allows restaurants to add wooden risers for outdoor patio seating.

Sometimes, the words you say aren’t heard the way you wanted them to be. It happens to the best of us, and it’s not necessarily anyone’s fault. The important thing is to keep working together to understand each other.

To that end, I’d like to clarify my thoughts about the parklet program. 

To begin, it’s important to understand that there is currently no action item before the City Council to eliminate the parklets. What we do have is an amendment proposed by one of my colleagues that would nominally adjust the parklet fee schedule over the next two years.

It is also true that the federal grant used to fund the parklets runs out at the end of this season. As a result, the city must consider where future funding for the program will come from, as well as its impact on every taxpayer.

Additionally, the Council must discuss streamlining or revising the program to find a solution for costs and other considerations that were not previously taken into account. Deliberations should focus on the soft costs of personnel usage, the hard costs of replacing the patio structures, and the potential for overuse of public spaces.

When I speak of the overuse of public spaces, I am referring to the crowding that occurs when sidewalk seating against a building competes with the parklet at the curbside. This squeezes the public right of way from both sides, and I hear from plenty of people in Ward 2 when they are faced with very narrow paths as pedestrians. 

To be clear: shutting down parklets is not on my agenda. My position is that we need to discuss the viability of the program as it affects our budget, as the budget is the number one priority for every City Councilor.

Every Councilor, myself included, will tell you that balancing the needs and wants of our constituents against the reality of how much we have to spend is our biggest and most constant challenge. But I am confident that when we work together to listen to both business and citizens, we can come to a solution that will be fair and beneficial to everyone.

Jennie Donahue
Newburyport City Councillor, Ward 2

Have a different perspective on the parklets issue? We want to hear from you. Get in touch at info@townienbpt.com.