Outdoor dining options expand in Tacoma as restaurants push into the streets during COVID

The City of Tacoma will allow restaurants and retailers to apply for temporary permits to seat patrons and sell goods in the street, an effort to aid local businesses as they navigate business under coronavirus capacity restrictions.

The curbside cafes — also known as streateries or parklets — will complement the city’s sidewalk cafe program, though retailers also are welcome to apply. Restaurants in particular stand to benefit from the additional seating, as they must operate at half-capacity both indoors and out through Phase 2 of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan.

For now, the city will waive application and street occupancy fees, the latter of which would typically apply for a private entity to use public spaces for events such as a street festival.

Approved lots will take over one or two existing parking spaces in front of the business and must be barricaded — at least two feet from the street — by temporary, mobile structures such as metal fencing or large planters. Umbrellas, canopies or other shade coverings are permitted but must be free from advertising and cannot extend onto the remaining public right-of-way.

In other words, the streateries cannot in any way seep onto the sidewalk. For example, a restaurant that has both a sidewalk cafe and a streatery must leave appropriate space for pedestrians in between the two seating areas. Businesses also must adhere to the same local, state and federal regulations that regularly apply.

Everything within the streatery — tables, chairs, retail shelving, umbrellas, planters — must be easily removable.

The program will not require businesses to set up and tear down the streatery each day.

“The program will consider both low-cost, temporary installations and more substantial installations such as constructed platforms,” Josh Diekmann, a city transportation engineer, told The News Tribune in an email, adding that they can remain standing during non-business hours for the duration of the permit.

Generally, they will focus on streets where the speed limit is no more than 25 miles per hour. Diekmann said businesses on streets with higher speed limits might be eligible but require heftier barricades, for instance.

The new dining or retail areas can exist only in legal parking spaces and must be at least five feet from a driveway, 25 feet from an intersection, 30 feet from a stop sign and 60 feet from a bus stop. These regulations follow state parking laws, Diekmann added.

He introduced the pilot program earlier this month to a group of local business owners and business advocates who have been meeting online to discuss how to navigate the COVID-19 crisis.

In that discussion, he mentioned that the city would usually request feedback from the community, but in this extenuating circumstance, the need is “very clear and immediate.”

Earlier this spring, the city began allowing businesses to apply for temporary parking zones, streamlining takeout by converting existing parking spaces into short-term loading areas. Tacoma also led the push for to-go cocktails, approved by the Washington Liquor and Cannabis Board in May.

As for liquor served in these spaces, restaurants with those licenses must also seek approval from the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, which has said it, too, will move speedily to review applications for license extensions or additions for outdoor service.

Diekmann and his team will approach each application with an eye toward the business’s individual needs.

Molly Ott, the owner of Corina Bakery on the edge of downtown, said the additional seating would not only open the door for increased sales during this difficult time but also increase safety for customers.

“The fact that the city is offering to do, or even broached the subject of this being an option, is really fantastic,” she told The News Tribune in a phone call. “It’s very positive for us when we have so many obstacles against us right now.”

It might seem minor, she added, but it will bridge the gap between Phase 2 and 3, and eventually a more normal Phase 4.

If approved, Corina’s streatery would elevate its total seating capacity to nearly 100 percent of normal levels. For many businesses, they need closer to 75 percent capacity to glimpse their pre-COVID sales.

A streatery can help them get there.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” said Ott.

They need more customers to return to the bakery more often, though contract business for weddings and birthday parties has picked back up, and sales are slowly increasing.

During the height of the pandemic shutdown, their sales dropped more than 75 percent, which eased into 60 percent and then 40 percent. Now they are about a quarter lower than the average spring.

“We’re thankful for every day that we’re able to hit the volume we need,” she said.

Despite being on a busy street corner in a dense area of town where parking is already tight, she isn’t worried about losing two parking spaces. Plenty of people walk.

“I’m willing to risk that,” she said. “It’s a brilliant idea and I hope that we can get it implemented right away.”

In a letter to the City Council, public works director Kurtis D. Kingsolver and planning and development services director Peter Huffman said the program will last through October.

Businesses can apply through tacompermits.org.

This story was originally published June 21, 2020 at 5:00 AM.