It was déjà vu at Santa Barbara City Hall.

The Santa Barbara City Council finally approved an ordinance regulating parklets on Tuesday.

Council members took the long road for what was supposed to be a routine vote on Nov. 19.

The council on Oct. 17 voted 5-2 to require businesses in Santa Barbara to go through a formal process to install outdoor dining parklets in the public right of way. Mayor Randy Rowse and Councilman Eric Friedman voted against the program.

The council was set to routinely approve the second reading of the ordinance on Nov. 19, but councilwomen Alejandra Gutierrez and Kristen Sneddon decided against formally approving the ordinance and instead wanted to delay the matter for more discussion.

In addition, Councilman Mike Jordan was absent for the second parklet meeting.

Further complicating matters, remote public comment was not allowed at the Nov. 19 meeting because the city disabled the feature after a series of racist, anonymous calls the prior week.

So, the city brought the item back on Tuesday, and the council voted exactly the same as on Oct. 17.

“We’ve definitely been over this ground a few times,” Rowse said. “As a matter of fact, I am not really sure I even care what the decision is. I just want a decision this time around.”

Rowse opposed the parklet program because he said the city can have outdoor dining without parklets. He said they are good for restaurants, but not for other businesses or people who use the street.

“It does take away common-area parking,” Rowse said. “It eliminates a view angle from a storefront on either side.”

The new policy requires that parklets be protected by concrete K-rail. Outdoor dining parklets will not be allowed on streets that have two lanes going in the same direction, or on Coast Village Road.

The city has about 40 outdoor dining parklets in the right of way, and so far there have been four crashes involving them.

Businesses that want outdoor dining must submit a plan and pay a $514 pre-application fee so that the city can review the parklet first.

For projects in the coastal zone, after paying for the pre-application fee, businesses would need to pay $5,535 for a coastal development permit.

The parklet length will be limited to one parking space within the frontage of the business. If a parking space straddles the line between two businesses, both businesses will be able to use the parklet.

Businesses have until Feb. 1 to submit a pre-application for city review. Approval and installation of the barriers around the parklet must happen by March 14.

Friedman said he does not like the idea of K-rails around the parklets.

“I never have, I currently don’t, I never will, support the ‘K-railification’ of Santa Barbara,” Friedman said.