Flywheel Coffee, at 672 Stanyan, is getting ready for an update. After two and a half years in business, owners Aquiles and Marissa Guerrero are gearing up to start forging the way through the lengthy city permitting and approvals process to install a parklet in front of the cafe.
Aquiles told Hoodline that they'd been thinking about installing a parklet for a couple of years now, and hope to provide a space that would benefit the immediate area and the community, including patrons of Whole Foods.
Parklets are even better for cafes than they are for restaurants, Aquiles said, because San Francisco maintains rigorous limitations on permits for serving alcohol in parklets, which are still considered public space.
The space in question is currently taken up by two metered parking spots directly in front of Flywheel, between the Whole Foods driveway and the building's neighboring residential driveway. Guerrero said that Flywheel had been waiting for the city to open its window for consideration of parklet permits, which have been flooding the planning department lately.
Initial mock-ups and a project summary were put together by landscape architect Rayna deNiord of Modyfier, who is also seeking community support to help ease the process for parklet approval.
Initial sketches of the proposed parklet include a mix of urban, outdoor-friendly materials like cast concrete, steel and wood, with a mix of fixed (bench) and mobile seating, as well as a planter large enough to support a tree.
We'll keep you posted as the project moves forward.
