Phoenixville Borough Council Approves Open-Air Dining

PHOENIXVILLE — Several dozen local business owners pleaded with the borough council Tuesday night to scale back open-air dining on weekends in the summer months.

During the two summers of the pandemic council closed the 100 and 200 blocks of Bridge Street to allow restaurants to continue working with safety protocols.

However, since the pandemic is winding down, many of the local businesses said closing the streets on weekends steers away shoppers because parking becomes a problem.

Council voted to scale back the number of days for Open-Air Dining to weekends from Memorial Day to the end of September. Last year, it started at the beginning of May and concluded Nov. 7.

Several longtime residents said they have seen the borough go through a transition to a popular dining and tourist destination.

But they do not want to see Bridge Street closed on weekends, causing small businesses to lose customers.

Susan Meadows, representing the Phoenixville Business Alliance, said the organization is pleased to be part of the discussion.

“Our businesses and our livelihood should be taken into account,” Meadows said.

The borough council members agree that the open-air dining is a positive attribute.

The decision was reached after the borough conducted a survey of local residents.

A total of 62.3% of the 2,619 people participating in a survey concluded that the borough of Phoenixville should continue with the open-air experience every weekend.

The six-day survey was conducted online to determine if the public favored continuing to close the primary area downtown to motorists.