At the Feb. 16 City Council Study Session, the Council discussed waiving public sidewalk lease fees for restaurants with open air dining permits, providing financial relief to a struggling sector. To ensure there is no inequity between restaurants participating in the OpenBH program and restaurants operating with standard open air dining permits, the Council unanimously supported the retroactive waiver of fees associated with open air dining permits for use of the public right-of-way. The waiver will extend for the duration of the pandemic, plus an additional year.
According to Assistant Director of Community Development, Ryan Gohlich, about 100 restaurants in the city have Open Air Dining Permits. The city charges restaurants operating with that permit a monthly fee of $1.50 per square foot of open-air dining area, if there is a railing or barrier, and $1.04 per square foot for an open-air dining without a railing or barrier. The fees are collected on an annual basis, and the permits are approved for a five-year term. Alternatively, restaurants with outdoor dining permits that have been approved through OpenBH–a program that allows businesses to temporarily expand their services to adjacent areas such as parking lots and the public right of way by acquiring a Special Event Permit–are not subject to sidewalk fees and may be renewed each month.
