Outdoor Dining Structures Don't Have To Come Down Yet After All

By Scott Lewis, the Voice of San Diego

July 13, 2021

This post originally appeared in the July 13 Morning Report. Get the Morning Report delivered to your inbox.

As 10News reported, Tuesday is the deadline for restaurants to get into compliance with their outdoor dining structures. Or … it was the deadline. The city has given them a break.

Restaurants have been allowed to have tables and chairs and a fence outside, on city streets, as per the city’s temporary permission for outdoor dining, but they were not allowed to build elaborate overhead structures. You may have noticed that many did build elaborate overhead structures.

Those were supposed to be coming down, but late Monday the mayor’s office confirmed to VOSD that restaurants would have another month to comply. The city is delaying enforcement of the rule.

When VOSD’s Mackenzie Elmer dove into the dilemma, she found that when outdoor dining was all that was allowed, many restaurants and cafes pounced. But the city had only allowed them to be in city rights of way — streets and sidewalks, etc. The city had provided even a model design for how to put a platform down to level out the new dining area.

But many restaurants took that far and built nice structures with overhead lighting, plants and heaters — none of which were ever permitted. And those are what must come down. Elmer also tracked Little Italy’s particular peril with this decision. India Street was transformed into even more of a walkable plaza experience.

“People put a lot of money into these structures,” Marco Li Mandri, chief executive administrator of the Little Italy Association, told Elmer. “We’d like to keep them forever.”

Neighborhood and business leaders had been under the impression that the structures complied with all rules. But building things in California is not easy.

“California state building code has a ton of rules and requirements for a structure that’s expected to stay put. Permanent buildings require engineering and architectural studies, and compliance with state fire codes, the American Disabilities Act and environmental regulations,” Elmer wrote.

The city has a fire official, Fire Chief Doug Perry, whose job it is not to follow the mayor’s orders but to make sure buildings comply with state law. If there’s a terrible fire and a structure wasn’t in compliance, he’s the guy who would have to answer for it. And he said they’re not in compliance.

“The city is expected to release a permanent outdoor business plan this fall, called Spaces as Places,” 10News reports.

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