With expectations that expanded outdoor dining will continue this spring and summer — and possibly beyond 2022 — Park Ridge elected officials are considering charging restaurants fees for using public spaces like streets and parking areas to set up tables.
Aldermen met virtually on Jan. 24 to discuss this year’s outdoor dining program and any changes that should be made from the previous two years when some restaurants, largely in Uptown, were given permission to expand dining into the street, parking spaces and sidewalks.
The consensus among the City Council members was to move forward with the creation of a detailed plan that will include fees for expanded outdoor dining, likely based on how much public space a restaurant plans to use.
“I think that program can be successful and make sense,” said Drew Awsumb, director of community preservation and development for the city of Park Ridge.
Awsumb said staff on Feb. 28 will bring a recommendation to the City Council of rates to potentially charge businesses.
Due to the pandemic and capacity restrictions placed on indoor dining in Illinois, the city in 2020 closed a portion of Main Street between Prospect and Fairview Avenues so that restaurants on the block could set up tables in the street. Other restaurants were also given permission to expand their outdoor dining footprint, and the practice continued in 2021.
The restaurants did not pay any special fees to the city for their use of public property in 2020 and 2021, Awsumb said. The city waived any fees in an effort to assist businesses that were impacted by the pandemic, he said.
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“We are re-evaluating for 2022 because of the transitioning nature of the pandemic,” Awsumb said.
The city does have a sidewalk cafe permit that allows restaurants to set up tables on the sidewalk immediately outside the business. These cafes cannot “interfere with the use of parking spaces and aisles,” according to the city’s zoning ordinance.
The cost of a sidewalk cafe license is $50 annually.
Awsumb suggested creating clear regulations and differentiations between existing sidewalk cafes and the use of public space for dining. Part of that could involve creating a fee tied to use of public property, which is what some communities have instituted for outdoor dining, he said.
“I don’t think it’s wrong to charge them something,” said 3rd Ward Ald. Gail Wilkening, noting that there are costs to the city to close streets and put up barricades.
Fifth Ward Ald. Charlie Melidosian said allowing businesses to use public property is an “equity question” for residents.
“The feedback I’ve gotten in the Uptown district is the residents feel there is a potential for inequality with businesses having a ‘land grab’ on public property and profiting off of it,” he said.
Seventh Ward Ald. Marty Joyce said some businesses feel restaurants that are able to use public property are getting an added benefit that others do not have access to.
“What I would like to say to them in response is that it’s balanced and they are paying their fair share for that additional land,” Joyce said.
Sixth Ward Ald. Rick Biagi said restaurants that do not have access to sidewalks or streets for outdoor dining should be able to benefit in some way.
“I still think it’s super-important for us to be able to help,” he said. “Not compensate, but put something on the table for those businesses in town that don’t have the luxury of shutting the street down and all of a sudden getting 100 more tables they didn’t have before.”
Awsumb noted that other communities are examining how to address outdoor dining moving forward.
The Arlington Heights Village Board on Jan. 18 voted to increase the village’s food and beverage tax as part of making outdoor dining an annual offering in the community.
The tax, which will be passed on to customers, will increase by 75 cents for every $100 spent at restaurants within the village’s Arlington Alfresco zone, and will be effective year-round, starting Feb. 1, officials said.