Jacksonville expands outdoor dining to skirt restaurant seating caps

stock image via Adobe

The Jacksonville City Council OK’d legislation Tuesday to suspend code enforcement on outdoor seating.

The move protects restaurants hard hit by COVID-19-related, government-mandated shutdowns.

Mayor Lenny Curry, who noted that code enforcement was suspended for outdoor dining starting Monday, backed the bill with changes in code forthcoming in emergency legislation ultimately passed by the City Council Tuesday evening.

Councilman Danny Becton, the second-term Republican who sponsored the bill, said it was “an honor to put forth legislation all your colleagues can support.”

Becton lauded Curry’s staff for their help, noting that while the zoning change is a “simple thing,” he hopes it will offer a cash flow bridge until indoor seating requirements are relaxed beyond the current 25% cap.

Those code changes are intended to create more outdoor dining space, including in parking lots, by “suspending enforcement of the zoning code.”

A temporary barrier must be put around the area, with designated entrances and exits.

Councilman Matt Carlucci noted the “opportunity” for council districts that typically did not have outdoor dining. San Marco was offered as an example of one area where it was tried, long ago, on a provisional basis, and now it flourishes.

It remains to be seen if outdoor dining will turn the tables for a restaurant sector ravaged by this spring’s stringent limitations.

For Jacksonville, this legislation is yet another bandaid over a gushing wound where a fairly functional economy once existed.

The city allocated $40 million to citizen relief programs, with 40,000 households eligible for $1,000 pre-loaded debit cards. Under consideration currently is a $9 million program tailored to $2,000 payments to 45,000 businesses adversely impacted by COVID-19 strictures.

Even with the cash giveaways though, a sense of desperation pervades the city.

The Mayor has noted that people are “restless” because of recent shutdowns and economic devastation, and has urged Gov. Ron DeSantis to move the city to Phase 2 level restrictions, which would allow more business openings, gatherings of up to 50 people, increased restaurant capacity, as well as the reopening of gyms, schools, and bars.