Council OKs Code Changes For Outdoor Dining
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Code changes have been approved to assist downtown businesses with outdoor dining to help them as they reopen following the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Monday, the Jamestown City Council held a special meeting to approve four ordinances to change zoning codes for outdoor dining, noise, Jamestown Public Market and to adopt the parklet pilot program.
The only discussion the council had on the four ordinances was the outdoor dining proposal. Jeff Russell, At-Large councilman, Kim Ecklund, At-Large councilwoman, Marie Carrubba, Ward 4 councilwoman and Vickye James, Ward 3 councilwoman, all proposed that the ordinance dealing with outdoor dining and food trucks and carts to be split. The council approved the proposed changes for outdoor dining while tabling the proposal for food trucks and trailers because more discussion was needed.
Russell said he contacted several downtown businesses about the food truck and cart proposal, with them all concerned about the additional competition. He said a lot of the business owners discussed how they're operating on a shoestring budget because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that downtown business owners believe food trucks and carts would be detrimental to their restaurants.
"It's imperative to pass outdoor dining to get businesses on their feet, but we need more discussion on food trucks and food carts," Russell said.
Ecklund agreed with Russell stating that even though businesses are starting to reopen, there still isn't enough businesses to sustain the restaurants downtown let alone additional food trucks or carts. Both Carrubba and James agreed that the outdoor dining part of the ordinance should be passed to assist downtown businesses and that the food truck and cart portion should be tabled for more discussion.
During the ordinance on the public market, Jennifer Williams, city clerk, read 15 written correspondence she received all in favor of the changes in the code to allow for the possible expansion of the Jamestown Public Market in the city.
The council held no discussion on the proposal for the parklet pilot program. Last week, the council discussed the proposal that would allow for platforms to be constructed on current parking spots in front of downtown business to allow for more seating for outdoor dining. Eddie Sundquist, Jamestown mayor, said it would be a pilot program and restaurants that serve alcohol would be allowed on the parklets, according to the state liquor authority. He said the only other city in the state with a parklet program is New York City.
Crystal Surdyk, city development director, said she has modeled the city's pilot program on other parklet operations from across the country. She said the idea is somewhat new in New York state, but in other areas of the country, especially out west, parklets have been around for about 10 years.
Surdyk said the permit for a parklet would be $75, plus $200 for each parking space that would be used. She said no handicapped parking spaces would be used for a parklet.
There was no discussion by the council on the ordinance dealing with code changes entitled "noise."