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Gov. Ned Lamont, left, U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal, center, and Mayor Joe Ganim speak together during a thank you rally in front of Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport May 1, 2020. State and local rules on reopening Connecticut are being formulated.
lessPhoto: Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut MediaGov. Ned Lamont, left, U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal, center, and Mayor Joe Ganim speak together during a thank you rally in front of Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport May 1, 2020. State and local
... more
Gov. Ned Lamont, left, U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal, center, and Mayor Joe Ganim speak together during a thank you rally in front of Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport May 1, 2020. State and local rules on reopening Connecticut are being formulated.
lessGov. Ned Lamont, left, U.S. Sen Richard Blumenthal, center, and Mayor Joe Ganim speak together during a thank you rally in front of Northbridge Health Care Center in Bridgeport May 1, 2020. State and local
... moreBRIDGEPORT — A new executive order issued by Mayor Joe Ganim will temporarily make it easier for city restaurants to seek permission to offer outdoor dining.
“We’re getting calls off the hook,” Ganim said Monday about Gov. Ned Lamont’s stated goal to allow dining establishments — which have been limited to take-out and delivery service during the COVID-19 pandemic — to begin serving patrons outside May 20.
The mayor said his order would help “bypass a lot of what would be the time constraints on getting through zoning and so on.”
But city officials still have final say over whether individual proposals are workable and meet necessary health requirements.
Currently, applicants must provide a professionally drafted site plan to the zoning department that also requires the sign-off of the Fire Marshal. And those restaurants that want to sell liquor have the additional burden of seeking approval from the Planning and Zoning Commission, which means scheduling and attending a public hearing.
Ganim’s executive order waives the need for a professional site plan — although restaurants still need to present their al fresco dining options to the zoning department. The order also does away with the public hearing for outdoor liquor service. Applicants still need permission of the state Department of Consumer Protection.
“It’s a pretty easy process with us,” said Lora Rae Anderson, spokesperson for the DCP. She said restaurants that have a Connecticut liquor permit but have never served it outside before should contact the state after getting local authorization.
“Basically, you need to apply to have a patio as part of your (state liquor) permit,” Anderson said. “They’re not separate permits. And it doesn’t cost anything to add it.”
Applicants, per Ganim’s executive order, also will not have to pay Bridgeport the $695 worth of municipal permitting fees — $100 for the outdoor permit and $595 for the outdoor liquor permit.
Beyond those changes, the mayor is also encouraging flexibility when the zoning department is judging requests. For example, restaurants can ask to set up tables and chairs in a parking area if they do not have a patio or have limited sidewalk space.
The Downtown Special Services District, which markets that neighborhood, has suggested that some metered parking spaces be temporarily set aside for restaurants to use if necessary.
As has been the case, the outdoor dining space “shall not constitute a nuisance to neighbors or the area,” according to current regulations, and can be revoked.
And any plans must meet Connectiut’s COVID-related health guidelines, such as adequate separation of patrons to continue the social-distancing policies imposed to try and prevent the virus’s spread.
“The issues people are going to run into are do they have enough room in the parking lot? Enough room to adhere to state guidelines?” said Rowena White, Ganim’s communications director. “Everybody’s trying to do what they can to maintain public safety at large.”
Some dining establishments may decide the economics of providing outdoor table service are not worth it, Scott Dolch, executive director of the Connecticut Restaurant Association, told Hearst Media last week.
His group has been unsuccessfully urging Lamont to reconsider and allow indoor dining.
“Our local restaurant industry knows that things cannot return to normal right away, but as malls and hair salons and others are allowed to gradually begin indoor service, as they should be, it’s illogical that restaurants would be constricted to outdoor-only service for so long,” Dolch said over the weekend.
“And while it’s true that a mask must be removed to eat, it’s also true that in a restaurant, patrons stay in one place for almost their entire visit as opposed to browsing or circulating about, and that the area they use is cleaned and sanitized after every use,” he said.
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Mayor Ganim’s executive order aims to smooth Bridgeport’s outdoor dining process - CTPost
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