San Rafael, CA Special Events & Permits: Parklets (2026)

San Rafael Municipal Code Chapter 11.70 governs "streetaries," the city's term for parklets: outdoor eating areas built inside on-street parking spaces in the public right-of-way directly adjacent to a food service establishment's street frontage (Section 11.70.010). Outdoor eating areas that instead use sidewalks are excluded from this chapter and fall under the separate standards at Section 14.16.277 of Title 14. Any restaurant wanting one must first hold a valid city business license and obtain an annual streetary encroachment permit from the director of public works, who routes the application to the director of community development for a design-standards review (Sections 11.70.020, 11.70.030).

Applicants pay a permit application fee plus an annual encroachment lease fee and a one-time refundable deposit set by council resolution (Section 11.70.040). Streetaries are capped at two parallel parking spaces per business, must leave 70 percent of on-street parking available across a three-block average (waivable if a public garage entrance is within 300 feet), and need an 18-inch setback from the travel lane and a 2-foot setback to each wheel stop, with 4 feet of clearance around utility access panels (Section 11.70.060). They are barred on streets with peak-hour parking restrictions or speed limits above 25 mph, and from ADA, red, white, yellow, or green curb zones, fire hydrants, or bicycle facilities (Section 11.70.050).

Operational rules forbid live entertainment or amplified music without a separate Chapter 8.13 permit, prohibit open flames, cooking, and heating devices on site, and require daily scrubbing and mopping (Section 11.70.100). Hours track the restaurant's own approved hours, but a streetary within 150 feet of a residence cannot open before 7 a.m. on weekends/holidays or 6 a.m. on weekdays, and must close by 10 p.m. Friday/Saturday or 9 p.m. other nights.