The Gettysburg Borough Council initially approved a project to increase space for local businesses by turning some parking spaces into outdoor restaurant and retail areas.
“Social distancing will be our normal for some time to come,” said Borough Manager Charles Gable. This “forward-thinking and visionary project will “make the borough more business-friendly.”
Parklets [Wikipedia]
Parklets are extensions of sidewalks that help people social distance. They have been used in many other cities.
The parklets were also expected to increase downtown walkability. “The more you’re interacting with your neighbors and your local business owners and the more you’re actually seeing each other when you’re out, the more your connection with a place.” said the borough’s Permit/ Zoning Officer Carly Marshall.
The parklets should “further the beauty of the downtown historic district.” “Tourists visit beautiful places, said Gable.
Gable said the parklets would also “create a feel of an obstruction in the roadway to passing vehicles. This will assist by helping slow the speed of passing vehicular traffic.” said Gable.
Marshall said the parklets would be low-cost and non-permanent, and would be rented by businesses.
The plan could be started once the county moves into the green phase and would be run as a pilot project for the first year.
The parklets could be used for both restaurants and retail businesses and were not expected to have a negative effect on the availability of parking in the borough.
Council members expressed potential concerns with the proposal including the amount of space the parklets would actually provide, safety, trash removal, the difficulty of keeping them ADA accessible, and the time it would take to get approval from PennDot.
“It’s not as much space as we think it is.” said council member Matt Moon.
Council member Patti Lawson suggested linking the parklets into “pocket parks.” common spaces where people can take their food to eat outdoors. “It’s great to see the creativity,” said Lawson.
Main Street Gettysbrubg CEO Deb Adamik said she was “thrilled” the council was considering the idea. “We have to do it quickly,” said Adamik.
The overall goal is to have spaces that are “safe and aesthetically pleasing.” said Gable.
The parklets will “keep people employed, keep them separated, and keep them safe,” said council president Jake Schindel.
The parklet concept will be discussed further at the council’s business meeting on June 8.
Another difficulty addressed by the council was the availability of public restrooms. Gable said borough public restrooms were not open and that was consistent with the National Park decision to keep theirs closed.
“The issue is sanitation” said Gable. The borough and the park service do not have the ability to keep them clean.
The council proposed potential solutions including renting outdoor toilets that could be cleaned regularly.
The council also approved lifting the curfew that has been in place since the Mayor’s emergency proclamation went into effect. “We have no objection to doing away with the curfew,” said Police Chief Robert Glenny.
Charles (Chuck) Stangor is Gettysburg Connection's Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief. I would like to hear from you. Please contact me at cstangor@gettysburgconnection.org.