Town ready for summer sidewalk cafés

August 4 could open it up

If all goes well, Elk Avenue restaurants might be able to add a table or two on the sidewalk outside their establishment sometime in early August.

It’s all part of an economic development enhancement idea brought to the council by local attorney David Leinsdorf. He has been pushing the council to allow outdoor seating on public sidewalks to give the town business district a “sidewalk café” feeling. The council agreed to essentially go with a test program starting in August.
The town will bypass the ordinance avenue and instead accept revocable license applications for interested businesses. Given likely council approval at the next meeting on August 3, the town will start accepting applications August 4.
Basically the businesses with sidewalk seating will be able to serve food and drinks with proper local and state approval. There must be adequate space for pedestrians to continue to use the sidewalk. The tables and chairs will have to be removed from the street when the businesses close for the evening.
The town will closely observe the situation this summer and may ask the council to make changes given how the experiment unfolds. “We will have a learning curve with this,” admitted Crested Butte building and zoning director Bob Gillie.
Next summer, the town would begin issuing licenses for Memorial Day Weekend and the program would run until October 15. The town will charge $3 per square foot for rent but it will be pro-rated for this summer.
Councilperson Phoebe Wilson expressed some concern with the proposal but then stepped down from the discussion over a potential conflict of interest. She is an owner of the Dogwood Cocktail Cabin.
The various council members started talking about further restrictions with the plan but Gillie urged them to see what happens first.
“Some of these restrictions could prevent some headaches,” said councilperson Dan Escalante.
“I hate putting so many limitations on it right up front,” said councilperson Roland Mason. “I’d like to see how it works. The business owners don’t want a chaotic scene in front of their restaurants. They want people to have a good time. Let’s see how they work it out.”
Mayor Leah Williams expressed concern if the restaurants that participated all started piping music to the outdoor diners.
Gillie said that was a separate issue. “We have outside music at different places going on now. This is a seating issue.”
“It’s a non-issue,” said councilperson Reed Betz. “Let’s get this rolled out and get it going.”
Leinsdorf said he agreed with most of what Gillie had composed but suggested that seven feet was too much space to be left hanging between the street curb and the tables. “Just let it be ADA-compliant,” he suggested. And he suggested that the town determine the grade in front of the various businesses so the owners wouldn’t have to.
Gillie countered that the burden for determining the grade should be on the businesses and he felt having at least seven feet between the curb and the seating was the minimum to handle the traffic. But Gillie said the town staff would be more than happy to work with the businesses.
Restaurateur Eric Roemer asked the town to let the tables and chairs remain out overnight. Town attorney John Belkin said there could be some liability issues but it is done in other communities. “It could go either way,” he said.
“We spend a lot of time and effort getting people to drink in this town,” said councilperson John Wirsing, “so putting obstacle courses out there at night might not be great.”
So the council agreed to let the furniture remain out until the restaurant closes. The council will look at an overall license outline at the August 3 meeting and then vote on whether or not to allow the seating experiment. “I’m surprised we’ve done this so quickly,” remarked Williams. “But I want to see a finished product before we vote on it.”