Business Group Slams Hoboken's Plan To Stop Rats By Prohibiting Outdoor Dining Parklets

HOBOKEN, NJ — As Hoboken's City Council considers prohibiting new "parklets" for outdoor dining at restaurants — a prohibition meant to help cut down the city's rat problem — a group of Hoboken businesses released a statement on Monday urging them to reconsider.

The City Council voted 8-1 last Wednesday to introduce an ordinance to ban future "parklets," or outdoor dining spots built on top of street parking.

However, existing parklets will be grandfathered in, said council member Jen Giattino, who co-sponsored the legislation. Also, the ordinance will not stop "streateries" — cordoned-off areas with tables and chairs — which are easier to pick up and clean.

A parklet, on the other hand, is a newly built structure that covers a long swath of roadway. (Watch the video of the last council meeting here on Facebook or Youtube.)

The city has recently passed other measures targeted at rats, and various council candidates have also floated anti-rat initiatives, including hiring a "rat czar."

But the Hoboken Business Alliance (HBA), a group that supports the business community and its initiatives, said Monday that they are asking all nine members of the Hoboken City Council to consider concerns they have about the anti-parklet proposal.

“We believe that the city already has all of the tools it needs to address the concerns cited as driving forces behind this change through either existing regulation," they said in a release on Monday, "like the stronger cleaning and rodent mitigation standards for parklets that the council only just passed last month."

They said that while their already existing parklets would not be impacted by the legislation, the Hoboken Hospitality Group — owners of Fat Taco, Wild Moose Saloon, and Birch — also asked that the Hoboken City Council to hold off on pushing forward the legislation and instead work with business owners and stakeholders.

One owner of a relatively new restaurant, Andrew Martino, who opened GTK this past May, said he chose the location at 1014 Washington St., in part, based on the expectation that they’d be able to increase options for their customers by opening a parklet.

“I saw nearby businesses thrive during the traditionally slower summer months thanks to their
structures, and from day one our plan was to do something similar in time for Summer 2024,”
Martino said.

Owners said that it's obviously in restaurateurs' best interests to mitigate the rat problem.

"The Food Services industry is an important part of the Hoboken economy not only for its sales and employment contributions, but also as a pivotal contributor to the high quality of life that makes Hoboken so attractive to many residents and large employers," said the Hoboken Business Alliance's statement.

Thirty-seven percent of respondents to the HBA community survey sent out last year indicated that stakeholders wanted to see more opportunities for outdoor dining in Hoboken.

Amanda Schmitt, co-owner of Schmitty's, said she doesn't know if their location on First Street is the right one for a parklet, but she's concerned about the precedent that will be set if the Hoboken City Council advances the measure.

"We can't be successful in a place like Hoboken if we don't make our neighbors our first priority,"
Schmitt said. "What has been proposed takes that key relationship out of the equation and assumes that business owners can't be responsible stewards of their neighborhood."