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Land Use, Housing & Zoning
Open Restaurants Text Amendment presented by Department of City Planning (DCP) and the Department of Transportation (DOT)
At the regularly scheduled monthly Community Board Five meeting on Thursday, July 08, 2021, the following resolution passed with a vote of 26 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining:
WHEREAS, Before COVID-19 and the Summer of 2020, unenclosed, small, and enclosed sidewalk cafes were only allowed when certain conditions were met, and required a lengthy and costly application process; and
WHEREAS, COVID-19 upended the restaurant industry as government regulations and public health guidance forced restaurants to shut down indoor service for many months; and
WHEREAS, During the summer of 2020, New York City suspended existing sidewalk café rules to allow restaurants to open outdoor seating, saving over 10,000 restaurants and 100,000 jobs and eliminating cumbersome processes; and
WHEREAS, Due to the impact and popularity of extending outdoor seating (the “Open Restaurants” program), the Mayor announced in fall 2020 that the Open Restaurants program would be permanent; and
WHEREAS, Three legal changes are required to make this program permanent: (1) a Local Law to establish the program’s authority under the Department of Transportation; (2) a zoning text amendment to allow more locations to be eligible for a sidewalk café; and (3) Agency rulemaking to establish all the design, application, and process specifics (the “design guidelines”); and
WHEREAS, While these changes are being evaluated and enacted, the temporary program will be extended through the winter of 2022, allowing restaurants to continue to operate outdoor spaces; and
WHEREAS, In this resolution and vote, Community Board Five (CB5) Land Use, Transportation, Public Safety, and Parks committees jointly decided to provide input on only the zoning aspects of the Open Restaurants text amendment, or the first and second proposed changes as noted above: (1) A Local Law to establish the program’s authority under the Department of Transportation and (2) a zoning text amendment to allow more locations to be eligible for a sidewalk café; and
WHEREAS, Change one (1) would move the regulation of sidewalk cafes from the Department of City Planning (DCP) to the Department of Transportation (DOT), consolidating sidewalk café applications, regulations, and enforcement under a single agency; and
WHEREAS, As a result of proposed change two (2), the siting changes of the zoning text amendment would be removed, permitting sidewalk cafes in previously restricted areas of CB5; and
WHEREAS, CB5 is supportive of a DOT-driven enforcement team empowered to write citations for violations including busway obstruction, sidewalk obstruction, and building over streetscape elements, and urges DOT to use this role to ensure restaurants are following regulations, including appearance, hours of operations, noise, and use of public space; and
WHEREAS, CB5 is generally supportive of the proposed zoning text amendments, but urges DCP and DOT to utilize the “design guidelines” to protect high-density areas and the public space now removed from the zoning, and
WHEREAS, CB5 reserves the right to reject program rules and criteria in the “design guidelines” if they don’t adequately supplement some of these zoning changes; and
WHEREAS, While CB5 is only currently weighing in on the zoning aspects of the text, CB5 would like to provide input on the third (3) proposed change—the design, application, and process specifics—at a future date, and requests that DCP and DOT come back to CB5 for review once the “design guidelines” are drafted; and
WHEREAS, Although this resolution addresses only the zoning text amendments to establish the Open Restaurants program, it is essential to establish public participation through Community Boards in the creation and approval of the design, application, and process specifics of the Open Restaurants program, and similarly the rights of the public through Community Boards to coordinate with the Department of Transportation on the approval and issuance of licenses under that program and with the right to comment on waivers from the established regulations and process; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the zoning aspects of the Open Restaurants text amendment, or the first and second proposed changes as noted above: (1) A Local Law to establish the program’s authority under the Department of Transportation and (2) a zoning text amendment to allow more locations to be eligible for a sidewalk café; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five requests that Community Boards be given a role in the creation and approval of the design, application, and process specifics of the Open Restaurants program, as well as the right to comment on the approval and issuance of licenses under that program and any waivers from the established regulations and process; and be it further
RESOLVED, that Community Board Five requests that the Department of Transportation begin more aggressively enforcing the existing regulations to address any currently noncompliant Open Restaurants operations.