Permits Available for Permanent Outdoor Dining – for a Fee
By Emily Alvarenga / San Diego Union-Tribune / May 27, 2022
The temporary program that allowed San Diego restaurants to create outdoor dining areas during the pandemic is ending — and after July 13, the rules about what’s allowed will grow tighter.
Restaurants that want to continue outdoor operations can apply for new permits that will allow them to operate on streets and sidewalks for a two-year period with fees, city officials said on Friday. Applications for the new permanent “Spaces as Places” program, as it’s called, are now being accepted.
Businesses across the city of San Diego will receive letters in coming days from the city’s Development Services Department, notifying them that the temporary outdoor business operations permits are sunsetting and informing them of the new program. Those that do not apply for Spaces as Places must cease outdoor dining operations by July 13. The dining areas must be restored to their original condition, and all structures or platforms in streets, sidewalks or parking lanes must be removed.
Businesses that have submitted an application for Spaces as Places by July 13 will be allowed to continue outdoor operations while applications are pending. However, that does not guarantee they will be issued permits, as the new program is more restrictive in terms of what structures are allowed and many of the current temporary structures will not comply.
For the balance of this article, you’re gonna have to go to the SDU-T here.
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$10 to $30 per square foot, and two small fees on top of that. Some restaurants that are members of the ‘lucky curb’ club can make the fees back in one holiday weekend. Is this a city council decision with no public opinion as usual? Do citizens who walk, run, bike, scoot, drive, and park, have a say? I don’t have answers, but most of these structures are on sidewalks and streets built and maintained by taxpayers.