Outdoor dining on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. (File photo courtesy KOMO News)
(SEATTLE, Wash.) — The Seattle City Council has moved to make outdoor dining a permanent option for restaurants.
Sidewalk dining became a staple of the COVID-19 pandemic as restaurants struggled to stay open while governments imposed restrictions on indoor eateries.
Seattle and other cities began permitting businesses to expand their dining areas onto city-owned sidewalks. Now that program has been extended indefinitely by the City Council.
“There was a program before the pandemic started to allow for sidewalk cafes,” ordinance sponsor Dan Strauss said at a Council meeting on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. “[But] it was a very small amount of space.”
The measure, which passed 9-0, expands the allowed dining area, permits certain structures such as pergolas, and reduces the cost of permitting. It now heads to the mayor for final approval.
