
A woman walks past the streety from Bar Bombón in Center City on Aug. 12, 2021. Photo: Kriston Jae Bethel/Bloomberg via Getty
The city's al fresco dining scene is in flux.
Driving the news: Philly will start enforcing its updated streeteries program on Monday.
- Restaurant owners who want to keep their parking-lot dining spaces have to apply for licenses, pay a $1,750 fee, and be covered by a $1 million insurance policy. That's in addition to meeting new building requirements.
- Those in violation could face fines.
Why it matters: Launched at the start of the pandemic in 2020, the outdoor dining option served as a lifeline to restaurants operating amid COVID-19 shutdowns and restrictions.
- Streeteries led to a rebirth of outdoor dining as hundreds of creative structures popped up across Philly.
State of play: As of the last week, the city had yet to approve any streetery licenses, per the Inquirer.
- Some restaurants have been tearing down their streetery structures ahead of the new regulations taking effect.
What they're saying: Brenden McGrew, of The Goat's Beard in Manayunk, told FOX29 it'll cost more than $10,000 to comply with the new requirements.
- Laurel chef Nicholas Elmi wrote on Instagram that streeteries took a "tremendous amount of investment and upkeep," calling it "ridiculous" for the city to change regulations two years later.
Streets Department spokesperson Keisha McCarty-Skelton told the Inquirer that enforcement will begin with the "most egregious situations" and ramp up over the winter.

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