The city allows temporary use of parking lots for outdoor seating

In an official communication from the City of St Augustine to Historic City News this weekend, our subscribers are hereby notified, effective immediately, and for a period of thirty days, licensed restaurants may reduce their parking area to create temporary outdoor dining, and licensed restaurants with insufficient or no parking area may enter into agreements with other property owners to create temporary outdoor dining areas in the proximity of their restaurants.

Over the next thirty days, or per superseding order from the governor, in addition to private parking lots, the City may open its City parking lots to provide temporary outdoor dining areas for restaurants.  If the Governor of Florida terminates capacity restrictions of restaurants prior to the expiration of this order, the use of temporary dining areas shall be suspended, and all previous regulations shall resume.

“Public sidewalks, walkways, streets, on-street parking, and right-of-way are not to be used as food service or beverage service areas,” the City’s legal team clarified in a posted notice.  “The City’s drinking in the public ordinance will be enforced.”

Approval is subject to review by the City’s Planning Department on a case-by-case basis if deemed appropriate, safe, and suitable by the City Manager or the City Manager’s designee.

Restaurant owners and private property owners must notify the City at planningandbuilding@citystaug.com prior to converting to temporary dining areas, and include the following information:

1)      The location of the temporary dining area
2)      The name of the restaurant associated with the location
3)      The name of the private property owner of the area (if different)
4)      The hours of operation of the temporary dining area
5)      The responsible party contact information

During the effective period, the City’s minimum parking requirements will be suspended, and the area identified as temporary outdoor dining will not be considered a parking lot.

Restaurant owners and private property owners are responsible for providing adequate insurance for their operations on and off-site, and compliance with all other local, state, and federal law.