Diners hungry for more seats
by Lisa Neff. Islander Reporter
Holmes Beach visitors seem to have a hunger — for more outdoor dining seats.
“A restaurant can have a nice ambiance indoors, but when you come to a place like this, you can’t beat fresh air and sunshine or starlight,” said Trish Goodman of St. Louis as she sipped coffee at Cafe on the Beach.
Goodman was one of more than two dozen diners The Islander surveyed last week on the question, “Does Holmes Beach have adequate outdoor dining opportunities?”
All but two diners said they’d like to see more outdoor dining seats in the city.
“Right now it is an attempt to accommodate, but it isn’t an outdoor cafe atmosphere except at the beach,” said Janice Johnson, a resident of Holmes Beach.
Holmes Beach city officials have been discussing the same question at commission meetings. They were expected to take up the discussion again at a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, at city hall, 5801 Marina Drive.
Commissioner David Zaccagnino returned outdoor dining to the commission’s menu in February in response to a request from the management of Skinny’s Place, 3901 Gulf Drive.
Skinny’s Place, located across the street from the Manatee Public Beach, has outdoor seating for eight diners — but would like more, preferably without having to remove indoor seats or preparing a site plan and finding additional parking.
Zaccagnino asked commissioners to consider how to expand outdoor dining opportunities for the restaurant, and other establishments, without compromising safety.
The city’s outdoor dining ordinance was enacted after state lawmakers banned smoking in restaurants. The measure allowed dining establishments to place eight seats outside. The idea was to provide smokers with a spot to dine and smoke.
Restaurants, according to city officials, presently have the option of increasing their outdoor dining seats if they submit a revised site plan showing compliance with code and parking requirements.
But commissioners are discussing whether to increase the number of seats allowed outside without requiring a decrease of seats inside. They also are discussing how closely seating outdoors should be tied to parking availability.
“We can change the number,” Zaccagnino said. “The magic ‘eight’ doesn’t coincide with anything.”
City attorney Patricia Petruff said when the commission decided to allot eight outdoor seats there was a sense that the number wouldn’t “do any damage” in terms of parking.
Mayor Rich Bohnenberger added, “It was determined not to have a negative impact.”
But Zaccagnino has suggested that with an increase in ridership on the Island’s no-fare trolley and pedestrian traffic, many diners don’t drive to restaurants. The commissioner noted that when the city passed the ordinance allowing eight outdoor seats per restaurant, the trolley service didn’t exist.
Nine of the 24 diners The Islander surveyed last week said they walked or trolleyed to their dining destination, six others said they sometimes use the trolley, depending on their schedules.
“The trolley isn’t convenient if you’re in a hurry or just missed the bus,” said Sam Yates of Waukesha, Wis., as he ate a cheeseburger at Skinny’s last Wednesday. “And you go at dinner hour and you might not get on, it’s so crowded.”
Asked about available outside seating, Yates said, “More seating would be good. I can sit inside a restaurant at home.”
His son, Peter, 8, added, “It’s a lot more fun outside.”
In a recent memo to the city commission, attorney Edward J. Conrad, who is with the city’s law firm of Dye, Deitrich, Petruff and St. Paul, discussed several municipal codes he reviewed related to outdoor dining.
“From my research, I found that several cities use one-year and two-year permits for outdoor dining,” he wrote. “The businesses apply for outdoor dining permits and renew them before they expire. Each time they apply for a permit, they submit site plans and other narratives regarding the provision of outdoor seating.”
Conrad went on to state that the “permit system allows the local government to monitor the businesses to ensure that their outside seating does not become a nuisance or violate the city code.”
Naples, the attorney said, does not set a limit on the number of outdoor seats allowed per restaurant, but rather requires businesses to meet a list of standards, including parking. The Naples provision requires three parking spaces for every 1,000 feet of outdoor dining area, with an exemption for outdoor areas under 100 square feet.
“The Naples code provides for petitions for exemptions to the parking requirements under other sections of their code,” Conrad said.
Conrad also reviewed Sanibel’s code, which limits the maximum number of outdoor seats to 15 percent of the total permitted indoor seats, or 16 seats, whichever is greater. “The code puts an absolute maximum at 32 seats,” he added. |
