PORTLAND, Oregon — The return of warm weather has people once again venturing outdoors into Portland’s dining scene, and pulling up chairs al fresco.
“I've been amazed at how many people have been eating outside today,” said Jenny Tuohy, while dining with family at Imperial Bottle Shop & Taproom on Southeast 31st Avenue and Division Street.
“People appreciate it more after the pandemic. People just got so used to this kind of more European lifestyle that I think is yeah, like hopefully is here to stay.”
Imperial is one of several restaurants that took advantage of the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) Healthy Businesses permit. Beginning in 2020, PBOT allowed restaurants to turn side streets — like Imperial has done — into dining plazas. It also allows businesses use one or two street parking spots to set up dining platforms.
“Throughout the pandemic we felt very fortunate to be able to have this big outside area,” said Imperial owner, Alex Kurnellas.
For two years, the extra space was free, but that's no longer the case. Starting last September, the city began charging $3.13 per-square-foot for dining plaza permits. Kurnellas said he’ll end up paying about $3,000 a year for the privilege.
“It's absolutely going to be worth it for us,” said Kurnellas. “We're still going to be able to have all the seating and generate money from it.”
For street parking platforms, permit fees are now $500 for one space and $1,000 for two. Permits issued in September are good through December 2023.
“We're trying to make this a sustainable program for the long term,” said Dylan Rivera with PBOT.
Rivera said the city had been paying for the street dining program with federal COVID-19 relief funds. Besides covering costs, PBOT is also designing new permanent rules for street seating. They'll focus on safety, including ensuring the dining installations don't block line of sight for drivers or people on foot.
“Definitely there's some [restaurants] that are not permitted so that's cause for concern,” said Rivera. “We've started conversations with many of these businesses and we're starting with education just letting them know what the rules are, answering questions....that sort of thing.”
At the city’s request, restaurant owners are also weighing in on the new rules. Some would like the option of purchasing seasonal permits rather than having to pay for a full year. Kurnellas said spreading the payments out would also be helpful.
“They are asking people to pay that fee one time per year, and so they're hitting a lot of businesses post pandemic when they don't have a lot of money available,” said Kurnellas.
After collecting enough feedback, PBOT plans to share the completed guidelines with the City Council for approval in late May.