GLENDALE : Temporary Sidewalk Dining Law OKd

To help local businesses in the sluggish economy, Glendale City Council members approved a three-month emergency ordinance allowing sidewalk dining at fast-food shops, cafes and restaurants.

“We’re looking at doing what we can to make the business community more attractive and more viable,” Derrill Quaschnick, assistant director of the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, said. “This kind of thing has been a way to enhance the street scene” in the city.

Redevelopment officials came up with the measure after meeting with local restaurant merchants, most of whom have seen little or no improvement in revenues this summer contrasted with last year.

The new city law, passed unanimously during Tuesday’s council meeting, permits tables, chairs, portable umbrellas or other furnishings to be placed in front of a restaurant. Each business must leave at least a five-foot clearance for pedestrians. All outdoor dining furniture must be removed between 2 and 6 a.m.

Restaurant owners must apply with the city to obtain a sidewalk dining permit. The application fee is $50.

Although this is the first time the city has adopted such a measure, Quaschnick said businesses in the past have been able to seek approval for outside dining through a street-use permit. That application would have cost $850.

As of Wednesday, only one sidewalk dining permit had been issued, to Farniente Ristorante, 204 1/2 N. Brand Blvd.

“In California, we see a lot of this and people seem to like that kind of dining,” said Aulden Schlatter, the Glendale Chamber of Commerce’s executive vice president. “It’s a step in the right direction.”

The emergency ordinance will be in effect for three months to give city officials and businesses time to evaluate the need for a permanent law.