Council moving ahead with summer outdoor dining idea

Throw a bone to the businesses

The Crested Butte Town Council wants to get a taste of what outdoor seating at Elk Avenue restaurants might be like, so they have directed the town staff to draw up an ordinance to allow such outdoor dining on a seasonal basis. They want to give it a try later this summer. The ordinance will be reviewed at the next council meeting on July 19 and diners could be eating along the sidewalks of Elk Ave. by mid-August.  
During a July 6 work session and council meeting, the council members got past the idea of waiving water and sewer tap fees and parking fees that normally are charged when restaurants expand for outdoor seating. Instead rent will be paid to supplement those funds. The theory is that parking and tap fees will in effect be deferred instead of waived. The council agreed for this year to charge $3 a square foot in rent for public sidewalk space used by participating businesses and not charge administration fees.

Businesses on Elk Avenue between Second and Fourth Streets will have the chance to apply for a revocable license to allow such outdoor seating. They must have enough room along the street to be in compliance with ADA (Americans with Disability Act) regulations.
The council has spent hours on the discussion that first came from local attorney David Leinsdorf, who brought it up at a June town business forum. It hasn’t always been easy going. Town building and zoning director Bob Gillie said he at times felt like Leinsdorf was unfairly taking pot-shots at the town staff for being obstructionists. “I want to have a reasonable discussion about this,” Gillie said. “Having said that, is the council comfortable not charging tap fees and parking fees as we have in past practice?” The majority of the council was comfortable with the idea.
Town manager Susan Parker strongly advised against taking action that could affect the town enterprise funds, which include money from tap and parking fees. “Waiving those fees could result in a rate increase for everyone else in town,” she said.
Councilperson John Wirsing wanted to try the idea as fast as possible with as little cost to businesses as possible. “Let’s get this thing going and try it,” he said. “Let’s see how it works.”
“This is a matter of stimulus,” added councilperson Jim Schmidt. “There’s a thousand reasons to say no but we as a council just have to decide if we want to try this stimulus. Do we want to do it?”
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson expressed concern with some basic inequity with the proposal for those businesses that had already paid the appropriate fees for outside dining. “I see a need to try some stimulus but am not sure this is the way,” she said.
“Realistically it will be mid-August to early September before a business could apply for this with the changes that need to go through the system,” said mayor Leah Williams. “This might be something to consider for the future, but it makes sense to me to try it.”
“I’ve heard from businesses who say they appreciate the idea but don’t think it will work from a space perspective and financially,” said councilperson Reed Betz.
Two restaurant owners in the audience felt differently. “The most important thing to us is there is an approach to try something,” said Sean Hartigan of the Last Steep. “We had a record day this past weekend but it was slow today and it’s July 6. I don’t see the big frickin’ deal. Try it. Pro-rate the costs and you’ll know if it works in a month. It’s the town throwing the businesses a bone and that doesn’t happen often here. A few tables on the sidewalk are not a big deal. People like the sidewalk café feel. Are we so unique that we can’t even try it?”
Kyleena Graceffa of the LoBar and the Secret Stash agreed. “It’s not a big deal,” she said. “There’s not much time left, given our summers, but the LoBar would love to do it. Every other town does it. People like to be in the middle of it. Fourths of July are few and far between. Frankly, the weekdays are slow even in the summer. The idea is to make it fun and make Elk Avenue lively.”
Leinsdorf reinforced to the council that it was up to them to make the decision. He noted he did feel the staff was reacting negatively to the idea but later agreed with some of the staff’s suggested conditions. “The restaurant owners here feel it will work as a stimulus,” he said. Addressing council members, Leinsdorf added, “If you don’t take the lead, nothing will happen.”
Councilperson Dan Escalante said such ideas might need to be considered earlier in the process. “We should probably be thinking of and talking about ways to stimulate winter business now,” he said. “We’re trying but we don’t always hit the bull’s eye.”
Williams said the idea was an “attempt to show the business community we want to work with them.”
Leinsdorf recommended keeping any ordinance changes simple so that if and when amendments were needed, the process could be quicker and simpler. Town attorney John Belkin agreed with that idea.
Gillie pointed out there is a lot of “moveable Elk Avenue landscape” such as bike racks and trashcans that will be relocated.
“Let’s give some credit to our businesses,” said councilperson Roland Mason. “They’ll determine if it can work. They’ll use common sense. Let’s try it.”
Town clerk Eileen Hughes said as far as serving alcohol, the state laws would take longer than local regulations so it would probably be another six weeks on that front before approval would be granted. But people could serve lunch without alcohol, pointed out Schmidt.
Other restrictions will include requiring the seats and tables to be brought inside by 10 o’clock each evening; keeping any barrier designations lower than 42 inches high; excluding such dining areas during Arts Festival weekend and the Fourth of July; and maintaining the cleanliness of the area.
The dining areas will be restricted to be in front of each business’s individual Elk Avenue business frontage.
A draft will be presented to the council at its next meeting. “There will no doubt be a lot of permutations and questions about this as we move along,” commented Gillie.
“We’d like to see it sooner, but thanks for moving ahead and August will be a good test,” said Hartigan.