Coronavirus: Dayton launches program to help businesses add outdoor seating, service

DAYTON — UPDATE @ 9:48 p.m.: The executive director of the Miami Valley Restaurant Association said she believes Dayton’s “Pop-Up Program,” a program the city rolled out Monday to help businesses with planning, installing and operating new outdoor seating to comply with social distancing regulations, is something all cities and municipalities should be doing.

“I would think so because it’s helping their local businesses,” Amy Zahora, the restaurant association official, told News Center 7′s Sean Cudahy.

Zahora said business at area restaurants has been going well, even with the restrictions put in place in response to COVID-19.

“I think it’s going a lot better for them with the patios and dining room being open now,” she said. Many restaurants are not set up to do just patio service, she noted, “and now that [restaurants] are opening both, it’s working out a little better” for restaurants.

“There’s a lot of red tape that cities have to go through, too, and townships. I think they’re moving as fast as they can to help all our our local business owners,” Zahora said.

The city of Dayton late Monday afternoon made public a set of guidelines for outdoor dining and customer service areas to help businesses that want to expand seating capacity while meeting state health mandated social distancing standards.

The “Pop-Up Patio Program,” as it is being called, provides businesses with guidance on planning, installing and operating new patios and customer seating on private property or in public right-of-way areas including sidewalks or curbside parking zones.

City staff will assist businesses with application and permitting as well as guidance on public safety, construction, building materials and aesthetic appeal.

There are guidelines for patio expansions, “parklets” (platform cafes) and “pedlets” (temporary walkways around expanded seating areas), according to a statement the city released Monday afternoon.

City officials said guidance is provided for temporary and permanent installations.

The City Commission discussed the Pop-Up Patio Program proposal May 27. The city’s Departments of Planning and Community Development, Public Works, and Economic Development developed the program in cooperation with the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

Other Dayton-area cities and municipalities have instituted programs similar to Dayton’s Pop-Up Patio Program.

Oakwood City Council last week approved a plan to issue temporary waivers of the city’s outdoor seating regulations, if those businesses can demonstrate safety and minimize congestion.

Miamisburg approved a similar concept, following a request by T.J. Chumps, which already won clearance for a patio expansion at its Fairborn location. Management at T.J. Chumps said they can do an additional $300 per night at each table the business is able to add.

“(It adds) more tables on to us, more revenue for us, more tables for guests, shorter wait times, better overall,” Cameron Shade, assistant general manager, said.

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