St. Pete to allow outdoor dining in restaurant parking lots, adjacent spaces

The city of St. Petersburg will allow restaurants with parking lots or adjacent land to utilize that space for outdoor seating even if it goes against the city’s normal permitting policies.

Mayor Rick Kriseman said the city will be approving requests to use those spaces to help restaurants who might be having a hard time grappling with the financial juggle between opening at just 25% dining room capacity, which is required under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Phase One plan for reopening the state’s economy, and the cost of staffing to facilitate reopening.

For some businesses, the cost might be greater than the revenue generated with such limited capacity.

Kriseman noted that challenge but pointed out he doesn’t “have the authority to expand that.”

The Governor’s order allows local governments to impose more restrictive rules but does not allow them to reduce restrictions.

Businesses with space they think fits the criteria for expanded outdoor seating can send requests to [email protected] along with a sketch of the proposed seating area as well as permission from the property owner to use the space.

It’s a similar step the city of Tampa has already taken, though that plan goes further by closing roads in some areas for both businesses and retail establishments to use. Retail is also allowed to now reopen, but also at just 25% capacity.

Despite DeSantis’ order allowing parks and other public spaces to open, Kriseman said he is keeping local dog parks, skate parks and recreation facilities closed for the time being.

Kriseman said he would be monitoring data in the coming days, and particularly over the weekend, to gauge how the virus is still spreading as restrictions loosen as well as how residents are continuing to adhere to social distancing guidelines.

As of Tuesday, Pinellas County has 788 confirmed cases of COVID-19, an uptick of about 80 since last week. That includes 254 cases in St. Pete, 47 more than one week ago.

“We are not yet passed the danger that is COVID-19,” Kriseman said during a Facebook Live press conference Tuesday. “There are heartening factors and indicators, but we should not draw broad conclusions.”

One of those indicators is hospital capacity. Kriseman said St. Pete hospitals maintain about 40% availability and 30% ICU availability.

As residents prepare to potentially head out to celebrate Cinco De Mayo, Kriseman cautioned people to maintain vigilance when going into the public. He recommended continuing strict hygiene measures, wearing face masks and avoiding close contact with others.

Kriseman outline the “St. Pete Way” guideline he plans to roll out soon with recommendations or reopening the local economy. Under those plans, restaurants would be encouraged to require employees who cannot employ social distancing, like servers, to wear face coverings and for restaurants to provide hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol at tables for customer use.

The city launched a new website to track updates at restartstpete.com.