Council Committee to Consider Changes to Support Outdoor Dining

The City Council Legislative Policy Committee on Tuesday will discuss ways to make any regulatory changes necessary to allow outdoor dining to continue after the coronavirus pandemic ends. 

“It is the city’s desire to continue to work in partnership with our local business community to assist them in the transition to reopening in a manner that is both safe and economically viable,” states a memo from city Planning Director David Reyes. 

“In this regard, it is important to consider whether or not certain temporary and emergency regulations should be made permanent,” Reyes wrote.

According to a staff report, permanent modifications could be made regarding outdoor dining with input from the restaurant community on street dining, parkletts, reduced parking, and expedited processes.

Local restaurants moved to outdoor dining after the city instituted new regulations when it came to street striping, diagonal parking, the placement of barricades, and partial street closures to accommodate expanded outdoor dining.

The move came after Gov. Gavin Newsom closed indoor dining as part of his efforts to control the spread of COVID-1. 

At that time, at least nine restaurants in Old Pasadena and five in the Playhouse District opened new dining areas on sidewalks, streets and alleys this weekend. New configurations were made on Colorado Boulevard between Madison and El Molino avenues, Colorado Boulevard between Fair Oaks and Raymond avenues, and on Union Street west of Raymond Avenue.

An executive order signed by Newsom allows commercial activities on the state highway’s right of way. The order suspends statutory restrictions associated with vending on the state highway system.

That order expires on Feb. 25.

Newsom shut down outdoor dining in early December after a second surge of the virus quickly left hospitals across the state with few intensive care unit beds.

Cases at Huntington Hospital skyrocketed during that same time period and forced the hospital to set up triage tents for people experiencing non-life threatening emergencies.

On Sunday, hospital officials said 186 COVID patients were being treated at the hospital, including 39 in beds contained in a “flexed” intensive care unit. The standard ICU has only 30 beds.

Prior to that, every city in Southern California had shut down outdoor dining, except Pasadena, which opted to keep local restaurants open under the city’s local Health Department. Some restaurants reported record business during that time, but critics lamented that the decision could lead to more COVID cases.

Last week Newsom extended his order and banned all restaurants from doing any business other than take out and delivery until hospitals across the region regain at least 15 percent of their ICU capacity. 

The meeting begins at 2 p.m. on Tuesday and can be viewed at http://pasadena.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=9