Speaker Menin: Outdoor dining package allowing year-round operation
Speaker Menin announces a package of bills allowing sidewalk cafes to operate 365 days a year, providing vital revenue for restaurants while addressing sanitation concerns including debris, trash, and rats.
As summer comes to close, I'm sure the last thing we want on our minds is the winter months, but let's face it, restaurant owners are always looking ahead and we in the City Council are looking out for them too.
We are passing today a package of bills on outdoor dining, which would allow sidewalk cafes to operate 365 days a year.
And for many restaurants, that ability to serve customers outside all year round would provide vital, vital revenue.
As a former restaurant owner myself, I know that every single dollar counts, especially in the midst of an affordability crisis.
At the same time, we want to balance the comments and concerns we've heard from communities across our city to ensure that any kind of sidewalk cafe
or roadway dining is kept free of debris, of trash, of rats.
And so a number of bills in this package really address some of those.
sanitation issues as well, and I think this really strikes a proper balance.