Braving Tuesday evening’s rain, a few dozen Gilroy residents gathered outside of Station 55 Mexican Restaurant downtown to rally against city orders to remove a parklet that has become the center of an ongoing dispute.
When the Gilroy City Council ordered the removal by the end of December, the restaurant refused to comply. Many Gilroy residents have voiced their support for the restaurant, claiming that the decision to remove the parklet was unfair and discriminatory since another parklet in the area has been allowed to remain standing.
At the rally, dozens of supporters chanted in English and Spanish, holding poster board signs demanding Gilroy “Stop Discriminating”; other signs read “No to Racism,” “Both Parklets or No Parklets,” and “Support Small Businesses.” Several community members gave speeches, including councilmembers Rebeca Armendariz and Fred Tovar, who voted against letting Station 55 lose their permit for the parklet.
Teodomira Castillo, owner of Station 55, told the crowd how she built the parklet in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 quarantine period. While she built the structure under a pilot program, Castillo said, she understood that if she invested in it, she would be able to keep it permanently. She said she spent nearly $30,000 on construction and was able to extend her permit until it expired at the end of last year.
Castillo said that the parklet has become an essential part of her business, and estimates that the structure helps generate between a quarter and a third of her revenue.
“I spent $30,000 during the hardest time of the pandemic (to build the parklet), and I still pulled it off,” said Castillo in Spanish at the rally. “To invest in all of that and then hear them come back and say no … it’s ridiculous.”
On December 11, the city council discussed whether or not to extend her permit again in response to concerns that the parklets took up parking spaces and limited visibility to nearby businesses. The council also began discussing a plan for the parklets in the city and decided to survey downtown businesses to see if there was interest in developing a permanent parklet program.
While city staff recommended that the council extend the permit for Station 55 until they came up with a final plan for parklets, the council voted 4-3 to let the permit for Station 55 expire on December 31.
“I’m uncomfortable continuing this extension, because if any other business right now were to come to the city and ask to do a parklet, our staff would say no,” said Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley at the December 11 meeting. “So it isn’t right in my opinion.” She also noted that since the parklet was built under a program tied to emergency COVID measures, she understood there was “no expectation” that the parklet would be permanent.
“It wouldn’t cost us anything to keep the parklet while we figure out our best practice,” said council member Rebeca Armendariz, who voted against letting the permit expire, at the rally. “This is the worst type of practice to demolish something while we work on a policy.”
At the same time, another parklet on a nearby street was allowed to continue operating. Since Station 55 is owned by Castillo, a Latina woman, many at the rally said that the decision was discriminatory. “They aren’t being fair with me, they don’t want to listen to us … I feel that I’m being discriminated against,” said Castillo in Spanish.
“We’re following the council’s direction. I can’t tell you whether or not that direction is discriminatory or not,” said city manager Jimmy Forbis. However, Forbis did specify that the other parklet was set up under a different program in 2017 and was not up for vote at the December meeting. This means that the council could not have removed the permit for the other parklet at that time.
“These are definitely two different programs, and both are revocable. If a business owner downtown complained about (the other parklet), the council has the same exact process to go through for revoking that permit as they did letting the Station 55 permit expire,” he said.
To that effect, Councilmember Tom Cline expressed concern about both parklets at last month’s meeting. “I’m not in favor of that parklet staying open, and I’m not in favor of (the other parklet) either,” he said.
On Tuesday evening at the rally, a city worker delivered orders informing the restaurant that the parklet was now an illegal structure on public property and that Castillo had until January 12 to remove it.
Ahead of that deadline, several rally attendees plan to pressure the city council to take up the issue again and extend the permit. If that fails, Castillo said she may see if she can pursue legal action to halt the order to remove the parklet.
“We don’t know if we’re going to win, but I’m not going to give up,” she said in Spanish.