West Palm Beach, FL Special Events & Permits: Parklets (2026)

The City of West Palm Beach's parklet program, enacted by Ordinance No. 5075-23 and codified at City Code §§ 78-490 through 78-502, lets a restaurant or retailer convert one or two curbside parking spaces into an outdoor seating platform. Section 78-492 makes an unpermitted parklet unlawful and treats every permit as a revocable license, not a property right: the city may suspend, revoke or cancel a permit before its two-year term expires. Location is tightly capped under § 78-493: parklets are limited to city-controlled rights-of-way inside the Downtown Master Plan area or the Northwood Mixed-Use District, on streets posted 30 mph or slower, and no more than 50 percent of existing parking spaces on a Downtown block face (two spaces on a Northwood block face) may hold a parklet.

Fire hydrants, utility manholes, handicap spaces, transit stops and loading zones are off-limits under the same section. Applicants clear a two-step process, location approval under § 78-495 followed by a permit application supplement under § 78-496, and must pay a location review fee, application fee and monthly usage fee set by city commission resolution, plus post a security deposit or bond and carry $1,000,000 per-occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate general liability insurance under § 78-498. Section 78-497 bars retail sales, food storage, plumbing connections and amplified entertainment inside a parklet, except under a special events permit, and requires all removable furniture to be cleared at closing.

A permit cited for noncompliance has 24 hours to fix the problem before the operator faces a $100-per-day fine or revocation under § 78-499. Denials and revocations, including for a code violation within the prior six months, can be appealed to the special magistrate within ten days under § 78-502, but an appeal does not stay removal of the parklet.