If you like to enjoy your meals outside, you may be in luck: Extra curbside seating could be coming to downtown Grand Forks.
The city's Service and Safety Committee voted unanimously on Tuesday evening to approve a pilot project exploring the use of "parklets" at Brick and Barley Bar and Restaurant and Rhombus Guys Brewing Co.
Similar to sidewalk seating, parklets are actually on the street, contained in business-built enclosures that sit near the curb over parking spaces. Multiple examples presented by city staff showed tasteful wooden or metal enclosures with table seating and plants.
Click here to see the city's plan
Should the project receive the approvals it needs from the City Council, it would be utilized for the rest of this summer and the following two outdoor seasons.
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"When you look at the amount of time that we get with nice weather outside and any seating we have, outside (seating) is usually always full," said Sarah Horak, co-owner of Brick and Barley. "We get a lot of people that want to sit outside and we just have those four tables."
City Planner Stephanie Erickson outlined a variety of requirements for the projects in a presentation to the committee, from requirements to allow stormwater to drain past the parklets to dates during which they might be permitted on the street. The length of the program-three years-allows the pilot project businesses enough time to safely make a sizeable investment in the project, she explained.
Brick and Barley and Rhombus Guys were included because they approached the city earlier this year, Erickson said.
Ken Vein, a City Council member who sits on the committee, asked questions about how it would impact parking and whether the Downtown Development Authority approved of the project. Erickson said that they do.
"I think there's some significant pros, but I think there's some impacts," he said, "I think it's OK for us to try something and see how well it works. It may enhance our downtown even better than it is."
Horak said she'd like to see her parklet installed as soon as possible.
"I was ready to pull the trigger three weeks ago," she said.
Other business
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The committee voted unanimously to add a portion of North Columbia Road to a network of mill-and-overlay resurfacing projects set for this summer throughout the city.
The city will spend nearly $55,000 to mill and resurface the northbound lanes of the road between 10th Avenue North and Gateway Drive. Construction is expected this summer.
The committee also voted unanimously to request an earmarked amount of water, measured in cubic feet per second, of the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District, which will use the request in its planning of the Red River Valley Water Supply Project. Organizers behind the project will use the request and others like it from around the Red River Valley to help with plans for a pipeline system that would help transfer water from the Missouri River to local communities in times of drought.
Vein said he hopes to see construction begin within the next several years.
City Council approval is still required for both items.
