Why parking-lot dining might stay after COVID crisis

Miami-Dade County loosened the rules on outdoor dining with the coronavirus pandemic chasing diners out of dining rooms, and a new bill would make it easier to continue parking-lot seating once the crisis ends.

Legislation sponsored by Commissioner Joe Martinez changes the county zoning code outside of city limits to permit dining areas in parking lots.

That won’t mean open-air table service in every strip mall — establishments would still need to obtain county permits and provide the same number of parking spaces required under current rules. So only restaurants with parking to spare could make it work.

But the changes that passed a preliminary commission vote Tuesday would enshrine the looser rules currently in place by an emergency order that allows temporary outdoor dining facilities only during the COVID-19 emergency.

“If they allow that, that’s great, It gives us more flexibility,” said Carlos Gazitua, president of the Sergio’s restaurant chain.

The Sergio’s in West Kendall set up a tent in a parking lot to accommodate more tables when COVID rules mandated fewer seats inside.

“People will want to gather, but will they want to be so close if the person next to them is coughing?” he said. “That’s probably going to feel weird for the next couple of years.”

County zoning rules for restaurants only apply outside city limits, so the proposed changes wouldn’t affect establishments in municipalities.

Part of the Martinez legislation also creates a pilot program to last through the end of 2022 allowing for small outdoor seating areas that wouldn’t need the county permits required under the proposed permanent rules. Those temporary regulations would let restaurants use private sidewalks and a few parking spaces for a small number of tables outside the establishment.

“It gives them the flexibility and the creativeness to put some extra seats outside for patrons who are still uncomfortable” with indoor dining after the COVID pandemic ends, said Nathan Kogan, an assistant director in the county’s Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources. “It may take longer for us to get back to normal.”