Ah, dining al fresco. The gentle breeze, the swaying leaves, the sunshine, the fresh air, the solicitous waiter hovering over you, attending to your every need . . .
. . . the honking cars, the cold, the neglectful waiters, the dirt.Ah, no matter. While outdoor dining means different things to different people, Salt Lake officials think it's just the thing to help the city loosen up.
At the urging of Mayor Rocky Anderson, the Salt Lake City Council is considering relaxing the requirements for outdoor eateries, making it easier and cheaper for restaurants to put tables in front of their establishments.
Anderson says the move would bring people together, make the city more livable, more lively and most of all, more fun.
"Fun is nothing to be afraid of," he said in his state of the city address last month. "It's a good thing."
Anderson has proposed reducing or eliminating the $350 permit fee for outside dining, as well as the $200 application fee for tables in front yards (required in some zones as setbacks from the sidewalk).
He also wants to make outdoor dining a permitted use instead of a special exception in some zones, require minimal additional parking (or none at all) for outdoor seating and otherwise grease the skids so restaurants will leave the dark side and come into the light.
"I would like to do everything we can to encourage it," he said.
In the same vein, the mayor also wants to make it easier for sidewalk vendors to ply their trade.
The City Council has tentatively agreed with Anderson, though it wants to examine the matter further. While the fee reduction would have minimal budget impact -- total outdoor dining fees collected in 1999 were $2,450 -- Chairman Carlton Christensen says officials shouldn't be too quick to eliminate any source of income, especially in a year when the city is facing a possible $8 million budgetary shortfall.
"I don't see those fees as being prohibitive for restaurants," he said in a meeting Thursday.
But Anderson said that's missing the point.
"Prohibitive ought not to be the standard," he said. "We need to encourage them. I say come on out."
Salt Lake restaurants with outdoor dining currently include Cafe Pierpont, P.F. Chang's, Market Street Broiler, Chevy's, Tucci's, Gepetto's and La Salsa.
Despite the council's caution, it will likely approve at least some aspects of Anderson's plan.
"I'm an outdoor-dining enthusiast," said Councilman Dave Buhler. "In fact (gesturing toward his midsection), I'm an indoor-dining enthusiast."