Council Approves Parklets and Other Measures to Support Merchants

A stretch of Park Ave. where “parklets” will be constructed to support Swarthmore restaurants.

Swarthmore Borough Council approved a plan on Monday to construct “parklets”: portions of roadway blocked off for outdoor restaurant seating. Swarthmore Town Center (STC) developed the proposal to help struggling restaurants in the borough. Parklets will increase the number of patrons restaurants can serve during the next phases of reopening.

Traffic engineer and borough resident Al Federico has been working with STC on plans for parklets. He showed council members a schematic of one plan that uses six parking spaces from the west side of Park Avenue and two from Dartmouth Avenue for tables spaced six feet apart. Parklets will be demarcated with physical barriers like plastic curbing or concrete wheel stops, as well as planters. A 20-foot travelway for two-way traffic will run beside the parklets.

Five borough restaurants have expressed interest in parklets: Aria Mediterranean Cuisine, Occasionally Yours, Renato Pizza, Vicky’s Place, and Village Vine wine bar. The other borough restaurants do not want to participate, according to STC Coordinator Anita Barrett, but they do not oppose the proposal.

The vote was 6-0 in favor, with Jill Gaieski, co-owner of Village Vine, abstaining.

One week earlier, at their June 1 meeting, council approved two other proposals to help local businesses. Some downtown parking spaces will be reserved for curbside pickup, and fitness and wellness classes like yoga and Pilates will be allowed in public outdoor spaces. 

Many local merchants attended the June 1 Zoom meeting to voice support for STC’s proposals. “Allowing people to come back in an outdoor environment will help,” said Shannon Elliot, proprietor of Harvey Oak Mercantile (H.O.M.). Lori Knauer, co-owner with Gaieski of Village Vine, said that council’s action might “make the difference as to whether we’re able to open.”

“What they’re asking for is the use of borough property in ways it hasn’t been used before,” said council member Sarah Graden. Graden chairs the General Government Committee, which has been working with STC and merchants on these plans. She emphasized the importance of thinking creatively to help businesses survive the economic hit of the coronavirus and shut-down orders.

Details to Be Worked Out

Designating parking spaces for curbside pick-up is logistically the simplest of the measures passed. Barrett will work with merchants and borough police to select spaces, bag parking meters, and erect signs.

Allowing classes in public parks will involve scheduling, coordination, permitting, and liability waivers. Barrett will organize a master schedule, ensuring that businesses share the parks fairly. The program will be limited to businesses already operating in the borough, Borough Manager Jane Billings said.

The details of potential parklets are more complicated and remain to be worked out. Federico called his schematic “a proof of concept.” STC Chair Sharon Mester said, “It’s going to take some further discussion to figure out exactly how to set up the barriers and the tables,” adding that her group will work with the Swarthmore Horticultural Society on plantings to make the result attractive.

STC has set a preliminary deadline of June 27 for readying the parklets, Mester said. They will stay in place into the fall, perhaps until the end of September. However, Borough Council may revoke parklet permission at any time if problems arise.

No public funds will be used for the project.

Human Relations Commission

Graden, who is also council liaison to the Swarthmore Human Relations Commission (HRC), reported on the commission’s June 4 meeting. HRC intends to meet more frequently after a short racist video made by Wallingford-Swarthmore School District students started circulating in late May. The video, which shows two girls making racist threats to the camera, is thought to be two or three years old. But its appearance painfully reminded many WSSD community members of the racism and lack of equity that persist in the district.

Graden reported that some borough council members, members of the Rutledge and Nether Providence governing bodies, representatives of the diversity and inclusion group SRS Big IDEA, and the Senior Associate Regional Director from the Philadelphia office of the Anti-Defamation League attended the HRC meeting. “There was a real collaborative spirit,” Graden said.

They discussed a reporting mechanism for incidents of hate speech in the borough and successful strategies for combating racist and hateful actions.

At the June 1 council meeting, Graden read an HRC statement condemning racism and hate (see page 1).

Swarthmore Police

Borough resident Keton Kakkar raised questions about Swarthmore police during the public comment section of Monday’s meeting. Kakkar had sent articles about policing to council members in advance of the meeting, hoping, he said, to prompt a conversation about the funding and overall function of police. “As a young person, and as a citizen,” he said, “I feel this issue needs to be critically evaluated.” 

Later in the meeting, Swarthmore Mayor Marty Spiegel addressed Kakkar’s comments as well as emails sent by other community members. “I think it’s important right now that we talk a little bit about what’s going on around the country, and locally, in terms of protest, peaceful and otherwise.” Violence against people by police is happening all too often, Spiegel said.

“On the other hand,” Spiegel continued, “I think it brings to the fore how fortunate we are here in Swarthmore to have the officers we have...We seem to be doing the right things.” 

Council President Mary Walk responded, “I have the utmost respect for the police force, and for all law enforcement.” But, she continued, “I don’t know that everyone in this town has always had a great experience” with the police. 

“I don’t want to miss an opportunity to take a look at ourselves as a town,” Walk continued. “I think that’s what every American ought to be doing at this point.”

Council member Jill Gaieski, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, agreed. “A segment of our population feels very comfortable with interactions with law enforcement,” she said. “I’m not sure we know what all segments of our community feel.”

View this or any other Swarthmore Borough Council meeting.

The next council meeting is Monday, July 6, at 7:30 p.m. Details will be available on the borough’s website.