Expanded outdoor seating area rules for restaurants OKed by Louisville Metro Council

Dahlia Ghabour Ben Tobin
Louisville Courier Journal

Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer announced Tuesday that the city will help expand outdoor seating in preparation for restaurants reopening their doors to in-person traffic on May 22.

Effective immediately, the city is waiving application fees for outdoor seating permits with the city's Public Works department. Restaurants will still need to submit an application, showing they are properly insured and are abiding by city and state guidelines as well as the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Fischer said the city will also waive the parking and landscape requirements traditionally tied to the square footage of restaurant seating, which requires a temporary suspension of land development code regulations that prohibit things like off-premise alcohol sales and converting property for different use.

And, on Thursday, Louisville Metro Council approved special legislation allowing for restaurants to serve alcohol outside and to use parking lots, outdoor spaces and sidewalks to extend their seating area.

It passed in a 25-0 vote.

Under the rule change, restaurants in Louisville, regardless of their zoning classification, may: 

  • Use a portion of their on- or off-site, off-street parking (not including accessible parking spaces) as temporary outdoor dining space
  • Use portions of outdoor, on-site spaces as temporary outdoor dining spaces
  • Use portions of the sidewalk as temporary dining space, so long as it complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and doesn't interfere with utilities
  • Serve alcohol to patrons seated in temporary outdoor dining space if they have the license needed to serve alcohol on restaurant premises.

The legislation says that additional guidelines will be published on Louisville Forward's website.

These changes will run until 30 days after Kentucky's state of emergency related to the coronavirus pandemic ends.

Fischer has said he aims to have the revised procedures and guidelines in place by the May 22 reopening date. 

"We're committed to helping our restaurant owners and food service professionals get through this crisis and appreciate them every day," Fischer said.

This announcement comes several days after Gov. Andy Beshear unveiled the long-awaited reopening date for restaurants in the commonwealth.

Under Beshear's plan, restaurants can reopen at 33% capacity indoors and unlimited outdoors, so long as they follow social distancing guidelines. 

Related:Kentucky restaurant owners have mixed feelings on reopening dining rooms this month

Fischer had previously expressed concerns about Indiana's quicker reopening plan, which allowed restaurants across the Ohio River to reopen at 50% capacity on Monday.

"We've got to very careful" because of the close proximity to Indiana, Fischer said on May 1.

Kentucky restaurants have faced devastating financial realities since Beshear ordered them to close to in-person traffic in mid-March. The Kentucky Restaurant Association estimates that restaurant and foodservice industries have lost $550 million in sales in April and that 80% of the workforce has been furloughed or laid off.

Beshear's restaurant reopening announcement last week pleased some — but not all — restaurateurs, who have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Many restaurant owners said the 33% in-person occupancy would not be enough to meet overhead costs. And while expanding seating to parking lots will help some restaurants, dozens are located in areas like the Highlands and NuLu, where parking lots are scarce.

Others like Couvillion, 1318 McHenry St., already have ample patio space they may be able to utilize as seating as Louisville moves forward with reopening businesses. 

"If people want to sit next to the restaurant they just ordered takeout from, we have a beautiful patio," said Couvillion owner Paul Skulas. "It's one of the few patios in Germantown." 

For those who want a "traditional" Couvillion experience, that's the closest they will get: the restaurant is not planning to reopen on May 22 because a third of capacity won't pay bills, Skulas said. Carryout and curbside service will continue.

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Bobby Benjamin, owner of Butchertown Grocery, 1076 E. Washington St. and Butchertown Bakery, 743 E. Main St., said the parking lot seating plan is "pretty awesome," especially for restaurants getting creative and trying to help each other out. They can share parking lot seating, he said, and "anything we can do to help the community get to a new normal I think is great." 

Butchertown Grocery has an outdoor seating permit, but the bakery does not. Benjamin said Fischer's allowance will be extremely helpful for the small bakery and any other similarly small business.

But Carali's Rotisserie Chicken owner Rafael Dapello is less certain of the plan's success. Even though his restaurants in Jeffersontown and Middletown have ample parking lots, they're located in shopping centers and he's not sure the plaza's management team will allow it — or if people will come.

Owner Bobby Benjamin works in the kitchen preparing food as employees prepare for their first day doing takeout orders at the Butchertown Grocery Restaurant on Friday. "Six weeks ago my wife and I were having conversations about where we were going to move and where the kids were going to go to school," Benjamin said. "But, because of how Louisville supported me at Butchertown Bakery through all of this, we now have this opportunity to reopen here. I cried this morning and I'll probably cry again tonight when we're done serving. The support has just been incredible." May 8, 2020

The downtown Carali's location will remain closed until workers return downtown, Dapello said, and the other locations already operate pretty well with carryout and delivery. 

"More tables is a benefit," Dapello said, "But honestly, I don't know. Even if there are tables outside, I think people will be a little bit afraid. I think it will take at least two weeks before customers start coming back to their normal life. I hope I'm wrong." 

Contact Ben Tobin at bjtobin@gannett.com and 502-582-4181 or follow on Twitter @TobinBen. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: subscribe.courier-journal.com.