Non-street-level restaurants may soon have sidewalk caf??s on State Street and around the Capitol.
The Vending Oversight Committee voted Wednesday night to create a priority system for assigning sidewalk space to businesses. The businesses on the street level will first get to determine if they want the space. If the street-level business declines, other businesses in the structure can decide if they want to use the outdoor caf?? space.
\This is a common-sensical, non-controversial change to our sidewalk caf?? ordinance that would allow these basement or second floor establishments, within reason, to have sidewalk caf??s,"" said Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4. ""I don't think any of us feel that establishments that happen to be in the basement or on the second floor should be punished for their location.""
Verveer added some non-street level businesses felt excluded by this ordinance, and have already begun to establish outdoor cafes.
A priority order for outdoor cafe space has not been determined for structures that have businesses on all three floors of the establishment.
The committee also voted to refer the ordinance that requires restaurant staff to carry and serve all food, beverage and alcoholic beverages to patrons within a sidewalk cafe to a later meeting after the Alcohol License Review Committee had a chance to address the item.
Under the current ordinance, an employee of the business that owns the sidewalk cafe must carry all alcoholic beverages to patrons occupying the sidewalk space.
Hawk Schenkel, owner of Hawk's, 425 State St., said he does not foresee patrons carrying their own drinks outside to be a problem.
Schenkel said this ordinance causes staffing problems because it requires workers to leave patrons inside waiting for service when they are outside carrying drinks. Schenkel also said it is hard to tell when patrons are going outside or not.
Ald. Cindy Thomas, District 20, said she was surprised to see this issue on the committee's agenda because they have addressed the issue before, and was skeptical about changing the ordinance.
""This is just not the direction that I would like to see sidewalk cafes go,"" Thomas said. ""I'd like to see them a little more genteel. It's nice to have a waitstaff there to oversee what's going on at the tables.""
The Vending Oversight Committee will vote on this issue again at its next meeting in late May.
