The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
⏩ Safety still a concern as towns prep for outdoor dining.
As the Connecticut restaurant industry anxiously awaits its reopening with outdoor dining on May 20, local health districts and government officials are exploring how to ensure the safety of their residents amid the coronavirus crisis.
While street traffic isn’t an issue for many towns — there will be reduced traffic since restaurants will only be allowed 50 percent capacity to allow for social distancing — make-shift dining areas in parking lots and on sidewalks may prove problematic, especially with Gov. Ned Lamont’s latest executive order which suspended many of the local rules and applications to approve such permits.
To address safety concerns for any restaurant applying for an outdoor dining permit, several towns are still requiring a level of approval by their respective fire marshals and police, zoning and health departments.
One area taking a cautious approach is Chesprocott Health District, which serves Cheshire, Wolcott and Prospect. Chesprocott officials have safety concerns for outdoor dining in parking lots and sidewalks.
“We are communicating with all the restaurants in our area,” Chesprocott Health Director Maura Esposito said. “We called them and emailed them guidelines on what is expected from them. Safety and the health of residents is our priority.”
Esposito said the district is making the restaurants posters for signage and will be handing out care packages prior to reopening. In Wolcott, they are allowing the town four or five places to place jersey barriers in the parking lots, so restaurants can create a seating area.
“We will go out to see each set up and then follow up with a live inspection during operation,” she said.
But everything still has to go through zoning.
“Whatever zoning allows, we will work with them and put in safeguards. Health and safety are paramount. We still have rules to follow, but the governor’s executive order allows us to bend it a little. We are asking restaurants who will have outdoor dining to provide a seating diagram to maintain a 6foot distance between people. Makeshift, creative dining areas will need to be overseen to ensure safety. The first couple of weeks we will do pop-in inspections to make sure they are doing things right.”
Cheshire Planning and Zoning enforcement officer William Voelker said prior to the governor’s executive order, there weren’t concerns about whether his town could offer outdoor dining.
“The executive order makes things easier,” Voelker said. “There were never any residential zoning concerns because our restaurants are zoned commercially. Setting up outdoor dining on sidewalks isn’t an issue as long as there is 6 feet for passage and you don’t have to walk on the street to get by, especially for someone with a disability in a wheelchair. You don’t want people to have to go into the street to pass by a restaurant.”
Voelker said the town wants to be supportive of the business community, but safety remains an issue.
“From our perspective, having outdoor dining means having life on the street. It shows your town is alive. But the safety factor is still an issue. Everyone needs to be protected. The governor’s executive order allows for outdoor dining in parking lots, but it has to be done in a way to keep people safe when someone drives into a parking lot.”
At a special Westport Zoning and Planning Commission meeting last week, Planning and Zoning Commission Chairperson Danielle Dobin raised additional concerns about setbacks for outdoor dining in residential areas, due to a number of Post Road businesses that back up against neighborhoods.
Currently in Westport, restaurants with outdoor dining approvals have 50-foot setbacks, but Lamont’s executive order largely sets these limitations aside. The commission would have limited authority because of the order; however, Dobin she she’d be comfortable having tables within 15 feet of a residential zone.
Meanwhile, rural, less populated towns like Roxbury find they have less safety issues to deal with when it comes to the outdoor dining process.
“I have not discussed the outdoor dining with our Zoning Department,” Roxbury First Selectman Barbara Henry said. “I’m waiting on some information from our Health Department. Actually, Roxbury only has two places that allow dining inside, the Roxbury Market and the newly opened Pizza Station.
“As far as dining outside, it will not be an issue in my view because both restaurants have takeout and will continue with that. At the market, there is one outdoor picnic table that gets used at times with people with takeout orders. It’s a quick eat and go. I don’t see outside dining as an issue for Roxbury.”
Planning ahead
While many municipalities awaited direction from the state about restaurant reopening guidelines, some areas chose to plan ahead.
Monroe First Selectman Ken Kellogg anticipated the reopening of outdoor dining and issued his own executive order on May 6. It did what the Lamont’s executive order provided: A move to ease and quicken the permit application process and modified local zoning regulations to allow restaurants to reopen with creative ways to offer outdoor dining on sidewalks and parking lots if needed.
“I produced my own executive order on May 6 because I wanted our restaurant owners to get the message as early as possible that they could reopen by getting a proper permit and adhering to the state’s guidelines,” Kellogg said. “The governor’s executive order certainly helps define the guidelines and eases restrictions on how to offer outdoor dining . ... Because (restaurant) capacity is reduced we don’t anticipate traffic issues.”
Kellogg’s executive order also allowed his town’s restaurants to get a jump on safety preparations for outdoor dining.
“It allowed Monroe restaurant owners to start early to create an area for outdoor seating, make sure parking lots are safer if tables and seating are placed there, and creative ways to make use of sidewalks for outdoor dining,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg said MacDaddy’s Macaroni and Cheese Bar is one of nearly 25 restaurants in Monroe that have expressed an interest in offering outdoor dining in Monroe. On Friday he had a video meeting with Monroe restaurant owners and town officials to discuss reopening guidelines and procedures to apply for outdoor dining permits.
Prior to Lamont’s executive order, other municipalities like Bridgeport and the Pomperaug District Department of Health followed Monroe’s lead and eased the outdoor dining application process and enforcement of zoning regulations to get a step ahead on reopening.
“We offer simple permit applications with no fees for restaurants to have outdoor dining,” said Neal Lustig, health director for Pomperaug District Department of Health, which serves Southbury, Oxford and Woodbury. “We send off the applications to the towns’ zoning offices and they decide what to do with the applications from there.
“The food service industry is a big part of Connecticut’s economy and we want to do what we can to help them reopen. Safety is our main concern and a concern of zoning offices in our towns. Once zoning gets the applications, they make sure the restaurants comply with all the safety guidelines.”