Portlanders will soon be able to eat, drink and relax in parking lanes on some streets throughout the city as restaurants and nonprofits convert parking spaces to dining areas or mini-parks.

is a Portland Bureau of Transportation program that allows restaurants and other groups to convert on-street parking spaces to seating areas on sidewalk-high platforms with tables, chairs and other amenities.

. After evaluating the program and getting mostly positive feedback from community members and business owners, the Bureau of Transportation will run a revised and much-expanded version of the program this year.

So far, about 32 organizations from all over the city have expressed interest in participating in the 2013 program, says Gabe Graff, operations and safety manager for the Bureau of Transportation's Active Transportation division. Applications are due by May 1.

Street Seats are only allowed on slower traffic streets, must have a physical barrier along the street side, cannot be on a corner or a steep slope, cannot block fire hydrants or stormwater facilities and cannot be in areas where the parking lane is used as a travel lane at rush hour.

The seats will allow more people to socialize and dine outside, which appeals to Portlanders all over the city.

This year, after receiving a memo from the Downtown Retail Council citing parking and traffic concerns, the city has decided not to allow any Street Seats platforms in the downtown core: from Burnside Street to Harrison Street between Second and Tenth Avenues, Graff says .

Unlike last year, when the program was aimed only at restaurants, the city will now be accepting applications from non-profit groups, churches and neighborhood associations that might want to provide a place for passersby to step off the sidewalk, sit down and relax.

In other cities, such public mini-parklets have been used for art exhibitions, free health clinics, bike repair stations, poetry readings and more. Would Portland permit these kinds of uses?

"We'll take it on a case by case basis," says Graff.

The majority of the new platforms, though, are likely to be in front of restaurants. All three of the restaurants that participated last year plan to participate again. Two of them,

on Southeast Division and

in the Pearl District are part of Kurt Huffman's extensive ChefStable group. This year he plans to install the platforms "everywhere we can as long as it's not too expensive, (probably) at upwards of six or seven restaurants."

The construction and installation of the platforms themselves cost him about $2,000 last year. Those costs will increase slightly as the city is now requiring some additional safety features.

All applicants pay a $500 dollar flat fee to the city and are responsible for lost parking meter revenue if they use a metered space. Additionally, business applicants will pay an annual fee of $105 per linear foot -- $2,100 for a 20-foot platform.

Huffman says he thinks these costs are reasonable. Gaining outside seats is well worth the loss of scarce parking spots in areas like the Pearl district, he says.

"Give up one parking space for 20 seats? We would easily do that," he says. "It's a no-brainer."

Graff says that he has received inquiries from businesses all over the city except East Portland. Mark White, chair of the

, says that he was aware of the program but doesn't foresee Street Seats coming to his district anytime soon.

"We're clamoring for retail of any sort over here, for any kind of investment and support from the city," he says . "I wish I could say that there were lots of places here where this kind of thing would work, but at this point, it would be putting the cart before the horse."

was the third business to participate in last year's pilot program. And unlike the others, it applied for permission to stay open throughout the winter.

"People absolutely love it," says Amanda Oelgart the general manager. "They sit out there when it's raining."

The platform, constructed of wood and bamboo, features stained glass windows and canvas roof covers to shelter people from the weather, as well as a life-size giraffe, a lion fountain and Glenda the witch, painted on a board with a hole cut out where her face should be.

Street Seats

For more information about Portland's new Street Seats program, design guidelines and an application form, go to:

" Glenda the Good witch is a big hit and so is the giraffe," says Oelgart.

Some of the seats are for passersby who are not customers -- a space to sit down and take in the passing scene. On a recent afternoon, Renae Douglas and Jeremy Bell were sitting on the platform enjoying pizza and a beer.

Did they feel vulnerable sitting in the traffic lane? Not at all.

Why sit there rather than inside?

"The people-watching," says Bell. He visits from the Camas area and always sits on the platform facing the sidewalk. "Everybody goes by here," he says. "It's great, especially for us country people coming to the big city for the day."

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