PARKLET PHOTO VIA MASON JAR PROVISIONS

The City of Orlando has been testing a parklet program in downtown since September 2020 as part of its response to COVID-19 and a demand for more outdoor dining options. The program grants temporary permits that allow for pop-up seating areas in the public right-of-way, namely in on-street parking spots, allowing for passerby to be physically distant from diners and vice-versa.

The Thornton Park Main Street was gifted a series of parklets from City Hall that were complimented by planters that separate diners from passing cars, which you can visit at places like Burton’s Bar, Mason Jar Provisions, and The Falcon. But, despite their arguable success in Thornton Park, you’ll be hard-pressed to find them in other districts.

Local design firm NAK Design Strategies (Website) created a free Parklet Manual to help restaurant and property owners navigate the permitting hurdles at the City. You can download the guide below.

We passed the guide by the Planning Division at the City of Orlando which told us that while the document is not approved by the City of Orlando – as it was never passed by them for review by the firm – it does an adequate job of explaining what people need to do to get approvals.

Each parklet application is at the discretion of the Transportation Engineer, and they are not allowing parklets to be placed on roads that allow for vehicles to go over 25 MPH or streets that have more than two lanes of traffic.

This is important to note as some reports have been surfacing across the country of car/streetery collisions on busy roads. Another reason why Thornton Park was an ideal candidate for the pilot project last year.

Click HERE to apply for a Parklet Permit today.

Brendan O'Connor

Editor in Chief of Bungalower.com

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  1. This Parklet Guide is excellent content I am unlikely to have found without the Bungalower! Thank you.