|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The Danville Town Council will consider making pandemic-era restaurant parklets permanent while also establishing new regulations for on-site outdoor dining.
The council is set to hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance on Tuesday. The town’s current rules, which allow for on-street parklets in the public right of way and expanded outdoor seating areas on private property, were established in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and have since been extended twice by the council. They’re set to expire Jan. 2.
The proposed ordinance would extend the existing on-street seating program indefinitely, with requirements that include limiting parklets in the Downtown Business District to a combined maximum of 12 on-street parking spaces. A restaurant would be eligible for a parklet only if it cannot accommodate on-site outdoor seating equal to at least 50% of its gross interior floor area. If a parklet remains inactive for three or more consecutive months between March and November, the town may require its removal, according to the proposed ordinance.Â
The existing expanded on-site outdoor dining rules for restaurants would be allowed to expire. After Jan. 2, outdoor seating on restaurant property would be subject to several requirements. Among those, outdoor seating exceeding 25% of a restaurant’s gross interior floor area would be subject to the town’s off-site parking in-lieu fee. On-site outdoor seating areas would also require a custom design, and seating areas involving construction of a new structure or alterations to a building façade would require approval by the Design Review Board.
The council is set to introduce the ordinance for a first reading this week, and the ordinance would then return for a second reading and vote on Oct. 20.
The Danville Town Council will meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday. The agenda is available here.
In other business
*The council is set to issue a proclamation recognizing October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
*The Parks, Recreation and Arts Commission chair, the town manager and the police chief are set to present reports.
*The council is set for a closed-session discussion on a quiet title action filed by the Mehran family in Contra Costa County Superior Court.
