Council moves to give restaurants more help
WOONSOCKET – The City Council Monday approved a series of measures designed to make the financial deprivations of the pandemic a little less onerous for the hard-hit restaurant industry, including an extension of outdoor dining privileges through Sept. 30.
Led by Councilwoman Denise Sierra, a former restaurateur, the council also waived fees for liquor and entertainment permits for the calendar year – perks Sierra estimates will cost the city around 50,000.
The council approved all three measures during its first live meeting in Harris Hall in months, voting 5-0 on each, albeit without discussion. But Sierra said later she thinks the woes of restaurateurs have been under-reported and wanted to provide them with some concrete relief early enough to work into their annual financial planning. Liquor permits don’t renew until Dec.1.
Though the state has been gradually lifting indoor seating capacity, restaurants are still not allowed to fill all their seats. Moreover, Sierra says they’re struggling to get help because it’s presently more lucrative for many laid off workers in the hospitality industry to collect unemployment than it is to return to work while benefits remain ramped up under the American Rescue Plan Act – a situation the councilwoman says is like “competing with free” in the labor market.
“Restaurants are fighting an uphill battle,” said Sierra. “They also have the added pain of competing with free.”
Sierra also wanted to introduce the measures and get them approved before she begins drafting another piece of legislation aimed at boosting the fortunes of restaurants and other local retail establishments – an effort she anticipates will take up “100 percent of my time.”
The longtime operator of the former Burrito Company, Sierra said she intends to introduce legislation to establish a sort of Groupon program for restaurants and merchandisers. If all goes according to plan, patrons will be able to purchase coupons that could be redeemed for twice their face value with local purveyors of food, personal care service or hard goods that choose to participate.
While Groupon only lets merchandiser keep 25 percent of the redemption value of its coupons, Sierra says, her idea is to let them keep all of it, with 50 percent credited toward their obligations for tangible
property taxes and other regulatory fees.
It’s a win-win for the merchant and the city, said Sierra, because commercial participants in the program are essentially piggybacking on the si]able marketing power of the municipality, through its website and other promotional infrastructure. And it would boost the city’s rate of collections on certain kinds of taxes.
The council’s extension of outdoor dining privileges would not interfere with any executive orders handed down from Mayor /isa Baldelli-Hunt, who has previously used her authority on multiple occasions to permit dining al fresco due to the pandemic. But Baldelli-Hunt’s last executive order giving restaurateurs the all-clear to serve patrons outdoors expired on Dec. 1.
Restaurants that want to take advantage of the opportunity will still have to follow an assortment of rules under the measure approved by the council ± preliminarily ± on Monday. The measure needs a followup vote before it can become law 11 days later ± around the middle of May at the soonest.
Among other things, the measure would permit restaurateurs to set up tables on lots or sidewalks directly adMacent to their principal place of business. And when tables are located on sidewalks, business owners are reTuired to maintain an open passageway of at least . feet to permit the usual pedestrian traffic. Umbrellas and canopies are permitted, but they must be at least seven feet above the ground.
Restaurateurs would be reTuired to submit a sketch of their outdoor seating plans to the city building official and the local fire marshal for approval. Additionally, businesses that opt for outdoor dining must stop serving food by 9 p.m. and remove all the tables, furniture and other eTuipment they use for outside service on a daily business.
The local perks are among an assortment of programs popping up at all levels of government to lift the fortunes of businesses struggling to beat back the challenges of the pandemic.
The Rhode Island Hospitality Association, for example, is gearing up to provide guidance for members on how to get a piece of the Small Business Administration’s nearly 29 billion Restaurant Revitali]ation Fund, which is offering no-payback loans to restaurants hobbled by the pandemic. The program, expected to launch soon, will distribute the proceeds on a first-come, first-serve basis, but the first 21-days of the program will be devoted exclusively to processing applications from women, minorities and veterans, officials say.
Also, last week, *ov. Dan Mc.ee announced another grant program to assist small businesses. This one sets aside nearly 2 million of the 1.2 billion the state received in CAR(S Act funding last spring to make grants of up to , each to Tualifying applicants.
Sierra acknowledges that some of the privileges approved by the council Monday ± the waivers of fees for liTuor and entertainment permits, represent a revenue loss of roughly , to the city. But she says it’s affordable, especially with the expected infusion of some million the city is slated to received under the President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act ± the latest installment of COVID-relief.
³That’s not a lot in the scope of things, especially when you consider the windfall we’ll be getting,´ she said. ³One of the things Woonsocket is known for is food and restaurants are struggling now like they never have been before.´