City Launches Website to Help Facilitate Reopening of Restaurants, Retail Businesses

City officials announced on Wednesday that a new website has been launched to help expedite permit and plan check processes to facilitate the rapid reopening of qualified dining and retail establishments seeking to comply with the city’s Coronavirus protocols and social distancing requirements.

The city will also allow certain restaurants to temporarily expand dining areas outdoors.

The expedited permits and plan check processes are now available through an online application portal. Through the portal, qualified restaurant and retail businesses can apply for express plan checks for structural and non-structural tenant improvements, administrative conditional use permits for alcohol sales, expedited design reviews for qualified retail and

restaurants, and temporary outdoor dining permits.

The new modified code regulations and processes allow for:

Qualified restaurants seeking to temporarily expand their dining areas outdoors may be permitted to do so within an immediately adjacent sidewalk, alley or parking lot area.

Necessary design approvals for the temporary outdoor dining areas may also qualify for a three-day expedited review.

Qualified dining and retail establishments will now be able to obtain tenant improvement permits in as little as one-day for non-structural alterations and five-days for larger tenant improvements.

Eligible existing restaurants seeking to serve alcohol as well as certain new restaurants seeking  to serve alcohol can apply for an administrative Conditional Use Permit, which will be processed in as little as five days.

The online application portal has been created to facilitate submittal of these applications and to ensure streamlined departmental review within the expedited timeliness. To learn more about these temporary regulations and processes, or to submit an online application, cityofpasadena.net/reopening-permits.