Worcester officials look to make outdoor dining changes permanent
Photo | Grant Welker
The Boynton restaurant on Highland Street in Worcester
When restaurants in Massachusetts were cleared to open for serving patrons on-site but not yet indoors, Worcester officials changed zoning regulations to allow for outdoor dining where it wasn't previously allowed.
Now, the city administration is looking to make such changes permanent.
A proposal going before the City Council on Tuesday night calls for zoning or other regulatory changes to allow restaurants to continue serving patrons outdoors, where many restaurants have set up tents or other new outdoor spaces where diners can be safer from the transmission of coronavirus. The zoning amendment proposal is being worked on and should be submitted to the council this fall, City Manager Edward Augustus said in a memo.
The initial and temporary city approval for outdoor dining in June allowed 96 restaurants to operate new outdoor spaces, Augustus said. Restaurants required an exemption to city zoning and other regulations not allowing outdoor dining or required a certain number of parking spaces — which now needed to be used instead for dining.
The city administration has heard the use of permanent outdoor dining will help make setting up such spaces more economically viable for restaurants, Augustus said.
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