Restaurants in Ocean Beach and across busy sections of San Diego have been given a reprieve by the city of San Diego. The city has extended its deadline to bring outdoor dining areas up to code. The previous deadline was Tuesday, July 13 and business owners would have been liable for a daily fine of $10,000 if their “parklets” for outdoor dining were not scaled back.
A city spokesperson said in a statement on Temporary Outdoor Business Operation (TOBO) structures:
“In an effort to work with our clients and give businesses more time to meet the guidelines and enforcement of TOBO structures, the City has decided to begin enforcement on Monday, Aug. 2.
Business owners are acutely focused on reopening and attracting clientele and the city would like to support these efforts through the month of July. This will allow the city and business associations more time to communicate with impacted businesses. Every TOBO permittee and business group will be sent a communication this week to make them aware of the extension.”
In order to bring the outdoor areas within federal, state and local fire codes, restaurants have to remove any permanent rooftops and move any part of their structures blocking red curbs, among other requirements.
435 permits were issued by the city when the pandemic hit to allow businesses to set up on sidewalks and streets. The permits were temporary, therefore the structures were always meant to be temporary. Some businesses spent thousands of their structures. A handful of restaurants use cloth canopies to provide shade for their customers, which is allowed.
Residents from those communities impacted, like Ocean Beach, wonder how long the use of public space, like sidewalks and parking spaces, will be utilized for private profit. The OB Rag asked back in March whether local restaurants were ready to give up all that public space, and helped to ignite a whole discussion on the issue.
News source: ABC10News
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I sure hope that they are regulating how close to a handicapped spot the temporary structures can be. I was driving down Newport the other day and noticed that the railing for Nova Kombucha was squarely in the handicapped spot, blocking anyone who may have needed to park there. Makes me wonder whether their management has the community’s interest in mind.
Nova’s seating is also blocking the sidewalk
You know, once you give somebody something that they never had before, it becomes awfully hard to take it back. Getting the streets back will be like taking candy away from an eight year old child that never tasted candy before.