MAKING ADJUSTMENTS
Saratoga Springs City Council makes changes for Phase 3
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Local leaders are planning the next steps of a safe and successful reopening in the Spa City.
During the Tuesday, June 16 meeting of the Saratoga Springs City Council, just before the start of Phase 3 in the Capital Region, the council unanimously approved the New York State Business Re-opening Safety Plan for the City of Saratoga Springs.
This safety plan, required by the governor’s guidelines for businesses and organizations, outlines the protocols and procedures for work environments, employees and the public, and is effective as of June 17.
While Phase 3 allows businesses to reopen indoor dining operations at half capacity, Tuesday’s conversation focused on outdoor dining.
The council unanimously voted to amend City Code Chapter 136 in an effort to provide more outdoor space for local businesses. With this amendment, restaurants or bars can apply for a temporary outdoor seating permit for areas of public property.
“COVID-19 has been devastating for all of us,” Commissioner of Accounts John Franck said while presenting the agenda item to the council for discussion and vote. “This amendment allows our local eating and drinking establishments to use our existing public assets creatively and safely in keeping with the New York state government’s changing mandates.”
The amendment is set to last through Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2020, but can be extended.
During the meeting, Commissioner of Public Works Anthony “Skip” Scirocco said he is happy to support this amendment. “I think it’s a good idea. I think we need to stay creative, keep pushing for other ideas that will help the local businesses,” he said.
Commissioner of Finance Michele Madigan said it is clear that the council is in agreement in trying to help the city’s small businesses in any way it can.
“This is an excellent ordi
nance to be bringing forward so that we can have some flexibility with our downtown business eating and drinking establishments,” she said. “Clearly, we’re all supportive of our downtown businesses. Without our downtown businesses thriving, the city itself and all our employees can’t thrive either.”
While the newly approved code amendment specifically regards eating and drinking establishments, Public Safety Commissioner Robin Dalton explained that any business can submit an application to use public space around their site, and that isn’t limited to just sidewalks.
“We’re encouraging everyone to be creative and come to us with their ideas,” she said.
In a public hearing before the meeting, a few local business representatives expressed their thoughts on this change.
“I think it’s very crucial for us to be creative in this time,” said August Rosa, owner of Pint Sized, a small beer bar on Broadway in downtown Saratoga Springs. The business also has another location on Lark Street in Albany. “Neighboring municipalities are going to start doing very interesting things, and I’m glad this is part of the conversation here because being creative is going to be how we can compete with people in this super critical time for us.”
DZ Restaurants Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Nancy Bambara spoke in support of the amendment as well.
“I think it’s incredibly valuable,” she said. “I think it’s important for downtown Saratoga Springs that we allow all of our restaurants to get reopened and to have a little bit more space that they can entertain our guests.”
Bambara continued, “We know what this has done, COVID has done, to all of us. Our downtown and our Saratoga Springs community as a whole is desperate, particularly in the restaurant industry, to get reopen, and I think by adding a handful of more seats outside on the sidewalk will allow everybody in our industry to hopefully survive.”
Local business owner Catherine Hover of Palette and Saratoga Paint and Sip Studio implored the council to take additional action to help small businesses sooner rather than later.
“I don’t believe just taking over the sidewalk is a solution. We need to go further than that. I think this is a great first step, but we absolutely need to do more than that,” she said. “We have to keep moving forward and thinking creatively and using all the resources that we absolutely have in Saratoga Springs to be leaders in this charge.”
Also during the public hearing, Erin Maciel of the city’s Complete Street Advisory Board, stressed the importance of incorporating flexible street design into this plan, suggesting the use of street parking spaces or lanes reduced from traffic to extend the sidewalk area for businesses and pedestrians.
“Everybody is going downtown and that is a great thing, and that’s something we need - but we need social distance as well,” she said. “We need to, as a city, provide a five-footwide sidewalk that is ADA accessible and also allows for people to have a little bit of space.”
In another change regarding outdoor dining, the city council unanimously voted to approve the donation for temporary use of picnic tables from the New York Racing Association.
These tables, of which there will be a maximum of 15, will be placed in Congress Park near Spring Street to allow for additional public outdoor dining space.
Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly thanked those involved for their work on this effort, which will provide an opportunity for both residents and visitors to enjoy the city’s downtown district and support its businesses.
“I think that it just gives more people the chance to stay downtown,” she said, “to come down, get your takeout order, go to the park and you can sit at a table.”