July 19, 2005 City Commission Meeting
Receive draft sidewalk dining guidelines.
Commission deferred consideration of the sidewalk dining guidelines
at the
Lynn Braddock Zollner,
Historic Resources
She said in addition to the
attached guidelines, through the public comment process, the HRC held about
four meetings, two of those meetings were held specifically for sidewalk dining
guidelines. Through those conversations
with the public, there were several things that the HRC felt were beyond their purview and the HRC requested the
(1) Cost per square foot – Is the current
rate of $3.50 per square foot adequate?
(2) Limit per block – Should there be a
maximum number of sidewalk dining areas?
(3) Exterior Music – Are the existing codes
sufficient to address the addition of exterior music in the sidewalk dining
areas?
(4) Cleaning methods – The HRC felt strongly
about the cleanliness of the dining areas and accepted the information provided
by the City’s Stormwater Engineer. However,
there was concern by the HRC that the
(5) Pedestrian exclusive areas – Should
there be areas and/or times when the sidewalk should be only for pedestrians?
(6) Alley revitalization – The HRC requested
that the City examine the possibility of the revitalization of the existing
alleys to encourage businesses to locate downtown by creating an alley
storefront or access to upper floors.
Regarding Staff
recommendations they identified the following items that should be addressed
which were:
(1) Consistent use of the term “Sidewalk
Dining Area” or “Sidewalk Café.”
(2) The removal of the railing systems
during inclement weather months.
(3) The inclusion of Section 6-1202.8 in the
guidelines document with specific emphasis on the responsibility of the
licensee to maintain the sidewalk at all times and return it to City pavement
standards when the dining area is removed.
The City may
require the removal of any fixtures placed on the sidewalk pursuant to this
Article, including the immediate removal of any fixtures pursuant to City
public works or utilities needs or the removal during certain seasonal time
periods (e.g. winter months). The licensee shall be solely responsible
for any costs incurred in the removal of fixtures, and shall return the
sidewalk to City pavement standards.
Commissioner Amyx asked about the removable railing system. He asked if Zollner would define the removable railing system as something that could be bolted down, but could be easily unbolted and removed.
Zollner said a lot of
research was performed on what types of systems were available for
barriers. Other than potted plants that
could be readily removed, there was not currently a reasonably priced system
that had a s
Commissioner Rundle asked if staff looked at other communities with removable barriers.
Zollner said most communities that had removable barriers, had some type of roping system, planters, or a combination of planter type barricades with posts that were not anchored. Those were the type of systems that were called readily removable in which they were expected to take those barriers in every night.
Commissioner Rundle asked if the motivation for having those were the same as ours.
Zollner said the motivation was that many cafés in different parts of the country that had a shorter or longer season, was to have the use of that pedestrian way when those cafés were not actually in operation. Some cafés only have their sidewalk dining in the evening or during the lunch hour depending on the community and when they were not actually serving patrons on the sidewalk, those barriers were removed and the sidewalk was turned back into a pedestrian way.
Commissioner Schauner asked how our outdoor seating season compared to
other places in the country. He
suspected
Zollner said that depended on
who was talked to because several people had stated that they had been out at
Milton’s in their sidewalk dining area in January or February on a nice
day. She said she thought
Mayor Highberger called for public comment.
Bob Shumm said he was the first participant in sidewalk dining for Mass Street Deli which was in 1994. He said because sidewalk dining had been popularly received by citizens, he suggested that sidewalk dining be expanded. He said there were a number of places up and down the street that had added outdoor dining. He said those issues that had been generated made the statement “What’s broken” come to mind. He said when the original ordinance was drafted it was decided that a heavy, metal wrought iron railing would be the best looking and the most aesthetically pleasing and sturdy. He said when saying “let’s just pick it up and put it away” they had brought his railings in on a flatbed truck and used a crane to put it in place because it weighed over a ton.
He said with regard to the seasons, outdoor dining could take place any day of the year. Ironically, some of the slowest times for outdoor dining were on days where the weather was 95 degrees. Some of the best times for outdoor dining were October, November, December, and sometimes January or February depending on the year. He said sidewalk dining generally occurs when the temperature was between 70 degrees and 85 degrees.
He said regarding the way it was working, he said it was working great. There was a comment in the newspaper that on sidewalk sale day it was suggested taking the sidewalk dining areas out because they blocked the sidewalk. He asked why it would be required to remove the sidewalk dining area when the streets were already cluttered. He said he had not found anything yet that made the sidewalk dining ordinance better than it already was. He said the people loved sitting in an outdoor dining area. To restrict or reduce the outdoor dining experience in any way would be unpopular.
Dennis
Brown, Vice President Lawrence Preservation Alliance, said the LPA approved the
proposed design guidelines on sidewalk dining.
The HRC worked diligently and carefully to complete this work and all of
their meetings were open to the public.
In reviewing the process, the HRC requested a moratorium on sidewalk
dining proposals for 60 days. The
He said for 150 years the
finite east/west space, between storefronts on
The entity that was compromised was the pedestrian walkway which was cut in half every hour of every day of the year every time a new dining barrier was installed. He said it might be the way it needed to be, but it seemed disingenuous of us to claim, as some did, that the pedestrian walkway was not affected. He said he believed it was affected and the more barriers they allowed, the more the walkway was affected.
He said the historic downtown
was a source of community pride and it was evolving. Change was natural and
necessary, but carries with it the risk of causing harm. Walking was an important element of downtown
and he urged the
Jerry Neverve, owner of Red Lyon, said he agreed with Shumm that the current ordinance was not broken. He said one of the issues he wanted to address was the 36 inch maximum height of the fence. He said in all of the things he read and researched around the country was that 36 inches had always been the minimum height and had never or hardly been used as the maximum height. He suggested that the maximum height for railing be at 44 or 45 inches. He said at 36 inches the railing could be sat on and if they had bolted, removable railings those bolts would eventually come lose. Also, one of the reasons the HRC wanted the 36 inch railing height was because it would not block the visual view of the façade, but wrought iron fences could be looked through and the store front could be seen. He said the idea of removing railings for one or two days a year was reasonable. He said since the smoking ban was enacted people would be using those patios 365 days a year.
The other issue that he
wanted to address was prohibition of umbrellas and heaters. He said this was
Shumm said with regard to washing the sidewalks with a hose, he had not heard a great explanation of why that was any different from rainwater that fell on the sidewalk that ended up in the sewer as well. He said it was an effective way of cleaning a sidewalk.
Mayor Highberger said it was his understanding that using a hose to wash sidewalks was tied back to EPA requirements. He said the Stormwater Engineer was not present to answer that question and he suggested putting that question off until they had a broader discussion of sidewalk dining.
Soules said staff followed EPA regulations within this City’s ordinance was specifically the prohibition of pressure washing sidewalks. That was one of the “Best Management Practices” that the EPA had imposed upon communities. He said when it rained there would be the same materials and litter that could possibly get into the stormsewer. It was staff recommendation that people dry sweep to cleanup the litter and debris. There were commercial types of vacuum cleaners that could be used for power washing sidewalks, but there were other options available in which individuals could come and talk to staff about.
Commissioner Rundle said his sense was that there would be discussion with the Stormwater Engineer at a future meeting.
Soules said correct.
Commissioner Schauner said he would like to know from the Stormwater Engineer what specific EPA rule, regulation, or
permit requirement stated that they could not hose down their sidewalks. He said he was befuddled by that whole
concept and would like to know if the City’s ordinance went beyond what was
required by the EPA. He suggested that
the Stormwater Engineer provide the chapter and verse
of that requirement when he addressed the
Vice Mayor Amyx asked Shumm if he had reviewed the sidewalk dining guidelines and what effect the change in the guideline would have in his current operation.
Shumm
said concerning the removal of the railing, he would have to remove it and find
something else which would be an expensive process and the railings would not
be as nice. Another issue to worry about
was late at night in downtown
Another issue that was raised was that sidewalk dining railings be removed during inclement weather so the City was able to cleanup the snow. He said the City did not cleanup the snow in front of their businesses. He said those businesses had to maintain the front of their sidewalks just like with the cleaning issue.
Commissioner Hack asked Shumm how high was his railing.
Shumm said he did not know, but there were some center posts that were higher. He said to complicate this situation, he said when getting into grades, if wanting the railings to look nice and level, one end would be higher than the other end. He said just saying that railing should be 36 inches would create some problems also.
Commissioner Schauner said the proposed ordinance did take into account grade changes.
Shumm said he understood, but he thought the required height was a little low. He said he did not know what the minimum height for railings was in the building code. He said there was a minimum height so that people would not fall over those railings.
Neverve said the minimum height for railings was 42 inch.
Shumm said then the minimum height for railings for a sidewalk dining area was lower than the building code.
Commissioner Hack asked how tall Shumm’s railing was.
Neverve
said the railings were 49 inches, but Papa Keno’s was 53 inches at the highest
level. There were only 2 fences that
existed downtown on
Wildgen said the guidelines were for prospective sidewalk dining only. There was no intent to go back and require compliance for existing railings.
Zollner said she wanted to point out that not readily removable, but removable barriers were what existed in the code currently and it stated in parenthesis “inclement weather.”
Commissioner Rundle said it
was going to be helpful for the HRC to have the majority of those guidelines
when future requests were made. He said
he was prepared to approve those guidelines, but there were issues such as
removing the railing for any special events.
He said there needed to be some process of hearing or appeal to remove
those railings for special events, but it seemed that the City had been able to
live with those railings during major parades and other events. He said sidewalk dining licenses were
contractual agreements, renewed annually, and there were provisions written
that the
Mayor Highberger said he was basically supportive of the proposed guidelines with a few exceptions. He said a good point was made about the process because the whole issue should have been open to the public.
He said he also agreed with Schumm that the guidelines were not broken and sidewalk dining had been a great addition for the downtown area.
He said he was okay with
sidewalk dining expanding to some extent and they would probably be looking at
expansion if the
He said he would be interested in changing the railing height requirement especially if looking at having those types of dining areas for drinking establishment because people would fall over those railings. The railings at Papa Keno’s and Mass Street Deli worked fine even though those railings were over the suggested limit.
He said he also agreed with Neverve’s comments about umbrellas versus awnings. It seemed that an umbrella would block a façade less than an awning, but he would hate to see downtown Lawrence buy into a sidewalk heater because that seemed that it would change the nature of things and he did not support those heaters.
Concerning the removal of railings, he had not gotten a satisfactory answer for the requirement of a wrought iron fence to be removed. He said the Commission’s contractual authority would give them the authority to take railings down if they became a problem. He said he was generally supportive of the guidelines.
Commissioner Hack said it was
important to remember that people congregate to see other people
congregate. She said when she attended
a conference on the “Congress of New Urbanism,” she listened to a presentation
from a community that was paying huge dollars to recreate a downtown that
looked just like downtown
She said some of those guidelines appeared to make it somewhat impossible or very difficult to obtain an outdoor dining license such as the railing issue because that size limitation should at least meet the City’s building code. She said there would be circumstances where railings would need to be removed, but she did not believe that a sidewalk dining area could have the aesthetics of a nice enclosed area and that it would be able to be picked up and moved.
The issue of the umbrellas bothered her the most. She said she was not opposed to the heaters, but if worrying about visual aesthetics downtown, she suggested getting rid of all the trees, but no one was advocating that idea. She said she did not see how an umbrella over a table would have a critical effect over the visual aesthetics of downtown.
She said six feet of pedestrian walkway was perfectly adequate for two people to meet and not run into each other.
Vice Mayor Amyx said he would hate to see any additional type of regulation placed on any issue, but when using the public right-of-way for a purpose other than what it was primarily intended to be used for, there needed to be some type of rules and regulations. He said those sidewalk dining regulations might be going a little too far, but at the same time there was much discussion on those regulations. He said the idea of umbrellas and heaters were fine. He said if finding some type of heater that the Fire/Medical Department approved that met City Code, he did not have any problem with that idea. Also, removing the railing and the height of railing was not a bother him, although railings that were not bolted down could end up through a window which was a concern. He said he did not have any problem with the height of the railings at 44 inches.
Commissioner Schauner said he agreed with Schumm that the current guidelines were not broken, but at the same time if he was part of the HRC he would want some more specific guidance about what was approvable and what was not.
He said he did not have any problems with the umbrellas, but he was a little less supportive of the heater issue. Regarding the height of the fences, 36 inches sounded a little low and he suggested something closer to 42 to 45 inches as being more reasonable.
He said he was concerned about the stormwater pollution and he would like more information about that issue and he would not be willing to approve those guidelines with the language that was in the guidelines currently. It concerned him when there was talk of recommending that a sanitary sewer cleanout be installed because that would be an expensive venture for someone operating downtown.
He said the Mayor had made a comment about changing their rules for who would get to use the outdoor sidewalks. He said those were sidewalk dining areas and Schumm was right that the rules that were adopted in 1994 for the use of the sidewalk were just as appropriate now as they were then and there was a reason a former Commission set some guidelines. He said he was generally supportive of the guidelines with those mentioned exceptions.
Commissioner Rundle asked if those guidelines would only be applied when someone needed to come to the HRC with a proposal that was within the environs or was dealing with a historic structure.
Zollner said that would be up
to the
Commissioner Rundle said a lot of the guidelines seemed to be appropriate to general as well as the historic guidelines. He said the guidelines were initially written to address concerns or fears.
Moved by Schauner, seconded by Rundle, to
extend the meeting until
Mayor Highberger said what he heard was that there was a majority for suggesting raising the rail height maximum for allowing umbrellas, clarifying what “detachable” means, he was not clear on heaters and then there was the issue of stormwater. He said his understanding was that the guidelines basically repeated what was in the current City Code.
Commissioner Rundle said he knew of only a couple of places that had outdoor areas that have heaters and they were securely anchored and suspended. He suggested getting input from the Fire Marshall, but he could not imagine allowing heaters that were on a stand that could get tipped over. Allowing businesses to secure those heaters to a building would be crossing over a line. He said while they might consider heaters in the future, he did not see too many circumstances where a heater would be appropriate on a sidewalk.
David Corliss, Assistant City Manager/Legal Service Director said he understood the direction from the Commission was sidewalk dining regulations would apply to all environs for all new applications. He asked if it was clear that there would not be any content or advertising on those umbrellas.
Commissioner Schauner asked if there was currently advertising on umbrellas at one of the sidewalk dining areas downtown.
Commissioner Hack said
Commissioner Rundle said if there was an issue that was clearly only applicable to historic issues, staff could point those issues when this was brought back to the Commission for discussion.
Nick Carroll, Jackpot Saloon,
said in January they submitted several different plans from two different
architects and the HRC shot those plans down.
The only alternative was to build a patio on the City sidewalk. He said
comment was heard that there was some support from the
He said without heaters there were only 28 weeks that a business could benefit from an outdoor patio without heat and 18 of those weeks had passed. He said the majority of their customers were staying outside and smoking and they needed a space for those smokers. He said they felt they could recover their sales that they had lost due to the smoking ordinance.
Mayor Highberger agreed with Carroll in that he would like to get that issue on the agenda fairly soon. He said the Commission would probably want to address some of the other peripheral issues that were raised by the HRC that were not discussed.
The