Seattle City Council committee approves plan to extend street dining permits through 2022

Street and sidewalk cafes could become a more permanent fixture of dining in Seattle thanks to new legislation proposed this week by the city council.

Sponsored by Councilmember Dan Strauss and Council President Lorena Gonzalez, Council Bill 120068 would create a "pathway to permanency" for the city's cafe streets pilot program.

The city launched a pilot program last July offering free sidewalk and curb space permits to help small businesses stay afloat amid coronavirus restrictions which limited indoor dining. Those licenses were initially temporary, and the permit program was later extended through the winter to October 2021 to continue to aid these businesses.

The current legislation, which passed out the Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee with a unanimous vote on Wednesday, would extend the permits again until May 31, 2022 while more permanent plans are drafted by the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) to be presented to the council later this year.

Strauss said establishing a more permanent program for these sidewalk and street cafes beyond the pandemic would give businesses the "green light to invest in their outdoor spaces."

"Businesses need certainty at a time when there is potential for King County to roll back its pandemic phase amidst a fourth wave of infections," Strauss said in a statement. "This interim step between the pilot program and permanent regulations gives businesses the ability to navigate the unpredictability of this pandemic."

Gay Gilmore, one of the co-founders of Capitol Hill's popular Optimism Brewing, spoke in favor of the bill during a public comment period on Wednesday, emphasizing how creating a street plaza allowed the brewery to stay open amid dining restrictions.

"We truly would have had to close our doors without this," Gilmore said. "We can favor people and the businesses that employ them and nourish them over the cars that normally live in the streets."

Other businesses who have pivoted to these street eateries for social distancing also support the bill, with 35 out of 36 businesses on Ballard Avenue backing the legislation according to Strauss.

Although concerns about losing parking spaces were mulled by the committee, Councilmember Andrew Lewis also spoke in favor of "reclaiming street space for social and businesses uses instead of just single vehicle parking" in the post-pandemic world.

The bill will be up for a full council vote on May 17. SDOT plans to do more outreach to disability advocates and businesses beyond food service when drafting their more permanent proposal according to Alyse Nelson of the street use division.

The city council has also made other moves to help the city's small businesses amid COVID-19 by loosening restrictions on microbusinesses operating out of homes and garages in March. That legislation, also sponsored by Strauss and Gonzalez, came after the closure of Greenwood's Yonder Cider after their walk-up retail window received complaints from a neighbor and was forced to close.

Over 4,100 residents signed a petition to the city to allow Yonder to reopen, propelling the legality of these home-based businesses to the city council. The council again emphasized the importance of businesses being able to adapt to economic conditions created by COVID-19, with some businesses pivoting to walk-up windows to reduce contact between customers and staff amid indoor dining restrictions.