With the outdoor dining season about to begin, the Park Ridge City Council signed off on a proposal that will allow Holt’s Restaurant to resume its outdoor seating at the corner of South Prospect Avenue and Summit Avenue in Uptown this year. The expansive square footage of the sidewalk at this location enables the restaurant to have a large outdoor dining area, but some complaints from residents last year concerning the seating orientation caused city staff to bring the issue before the city council.
“The city manager has some authority under code to approve it,” said Drew Awsumb, director of community preservation and development for the city of Park Ridge, to the city council at the Committee of the Whole Meeting at City Hall Monday night. “But since this is unique, we wanted to bring it to council to get feedback.”
The sidewalk around Holt’s Restaurant, 43 S. Prospect Ave., features a bump-out of sidewalk. This creates space for tables while still giving pedestrians room to navigate around the seating area.
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“I don’t know if it’s the only (sidewalk) like this, but it’s the only one with a restaurant using it like this,” Awsumb said. “In 2020 and 2021, they made good use of the extra real estate with expanded outdoor dining.”
As it had done in previous years, Holt’s proposed a wooden barrier surrounding the seating on the sidewalk that forces pedestrians to walk around the dining area as they pass the restaurant. Some residents complained about the configuration last year, particularly the barrier remaining when the restaurant was closed.
Matt Ranalli, the owner of Holt’s Restaurant, spoke at the meeting and said he was amenable to opening up a pathway to give pedestrians a straight shot through the area when diners aren’t around.
“It’s just lifting out a board,” Ranalli said. “We can remove them at the end of the night to be sure that the morning walkers have a clear path.”
“I do get complaints about the sidewalk being blockaded,” said 5th Ward Ald. Charlie Melidosian. “Do we think it would be more confusing for the public if the barricades appeared and disappeared daily? It makes sense the way it was presented tonight from a safety point of view, from a walker’s point of view, but I don’t know if this is going to generate more consternation from the public or not.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be a drastic change,” Awsumb said. “Having a space available when the restaurant is not using it for the morning walkers is a nice compromise. I don’t think it would cause a lot of confusion.”
No members of the City Council objected to moving forward with the permitting process.