Seattle council OKs permanent street cafes
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A street cafe space along Ballard Avenue. Photo: Melissa Santos/Axios
Seattle's street cafes and pandemic-inspired outdoor seating areas will soon be permanent city features.
Driving the news: The Seattle City Council approved a new system for outdoor dining permits on Tuesday, replacing a temporary program that had made it easier for restaurants and street vendors to expand outside during the pandemic.
Catch up quick: During the height of the COVID-19 crisis, the city let businesses spread onto city sidewalks or into street parking zones without charging them the normal permit fees. The goal? Enabling shops and restaurants to open with better air circulation and more room for social distancing.
- But that temporary program was set to expire in January. And, with covered outdoor dining areas now commonplace around the city, council members wanted to create a permanent system that would allow those outdoor spaces to stay, Councilmember Dan Strauss said at Tuesday's meeting.
Details: The plan, which the council approved unanimously, creates a new fee structure for outdoor dining and vending permits.
- Strauss, who sponsored the ordinance, said it will allow restaurants to use significantly more outdoor city space than they could before the pandemic — and for much cheaper.
- As an example, he said some fees would be cut from roughly $3,000 to about $650.
- Still, the new fees are more than what the city has been charging during the pandemic. "It is a really good investment to do this from the standpoint of the city, in terms of raising revenue," Councilmember Andrew Lewis told Axios yesterday.
Plus: The new program also will require street cafe structures to meet structural and aesthetic standards, such as being "clean, graffiti-free, and in good repair."
What they're saying: Strauss said letting restaurants set up in former curbside parking spots made the city's neighborhoods more vibrant and pedestrian-friendly. He pointed to Ballard Avenue, which is now lined with outdoor cafe spaces that popped up during the pandemic, as a prime example.
- The Seattle Restaurant Alliance supported the changes, with representative Steve Hooper telling council members the outdoor spaces were good for businesses as well as customers.
The bottom line: With Tuesday's council action, Strauss said, "Outdoor dining is here to stay in the city of Seattle."