A parklet on Royal Street in front of the Golden Lantern Bar.

Restaurants, bars encouraged to expand outdoor dining with parklet permits

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As New Orleans begins to experience spring weather, the City of New Orleans reminds local bar and restaurant owners about the Parklet Pilot Program. One component of the City’s Outdoor Dining initiative, the Parklet Pilot Program allows restaurants and bars to utilize on-street parking spaces in front of their businesses for additional seating. This can provide additional safe dining spaces for restaurants and bars while indoor occupancy limits are reduced due to COVID-19 restrictions. The permit application fee and meter rental fee have been waived until June 30, 2021. More information is available here.

The Parklet Pilot Program has been available citywide since the end of October 2020 and is expected to run for as long as there are COVID-related occupancy restrictions in restaurants and bars. After that, the City is expecting to launch a permanent parklet program. Details regarding the transfer from pilot to permanent parklet program will be released as the permanent program is developed, but it will require re-permitting. The City will work to make that process as seamless as possible for pilot participants.

Pilot Parklets are required to provide a barrier along the active right-of-way. To aid in this expense, the City, in partnership with the New Orleans Business Alliance, has grants of up to $2,000 available to businesses on a first-come, first-served basis through April 15, 2021. Grant applications are available here.

Overview

  • Restaurants and bars are eligible to apply for the permit during the pilot.
  • Permit and parking meter rental fees are waived during the pilot at least through June 30, 2021.
  • Pilot will run for as long as there are COVID-related occupancy restrictions in restaurants and bars.
  • Outdoor Dining grants of up to $2,000 are available to interested businesses through April 15, 2021.

How to apply

The City will be accepting applications for the pilot program through the City’s One Stop Shop.  If necessary, applications can instead be sent by email to [email protected]. Review the Pilot Program application requirements and a step-by-step overview of the process here and view a copy of the application here.