The makeshift al fresco dining areas occupying about 30 parking spots throughout Lauderdale-by-the-Sea will be extended by at least six months.
Commissioners approved the extension during a special meeting, allowing the extra tables and chairs that run parallel along East Commercial Boulevard, A1A and El Mar Drive to stay beyond an October deadline, just as snowbird season begins.
The outdoor dining was designed to help restaurants deal with limited indoor capacity when the pandemic hit. The innovation was such a hit with restaurants and diners, the city is considering making outdoor seating permanent throughout LBTS.
The town is experiencing a renaissance with new, contemporary restaurants that have settled, making the quaint, beachside town known for snowbirds and retirees a place where a younger clientele wants to eat, drink and TikTok.
The newer beachgoers aren’t just out-of-towners. They are locals from all over South Florida who might have grown up going to the beach there or are attracted to the casual bars and restaurants. Parking is at a premium and rideshares are already a norm.
“This is not a temporary thought or idea. What we’ve learned with the original expansion, with COVID, changes peoples habits. Not just here but all over the country and all over the world. It’s on par with that new era of outdoor dining,” mayor Chris Vincent said.
During the special town meeting on Oct. 4, commissioners, residents and business owners were presented three preliminary ideas for outdoor dining spaces designed by Steven Fett Architecture, the same firm that re-designed the town’s Anglin’s Square in 2012.
“Just about every city in maybe the world is wondering how to react to a circumstance like COVID where it affects people’s behavior and the way they socialize and go out and it’s a common problem. How do you handle seating for restaurants?” said Fett, who is also a lecturer at the University of Miami School of Architecture.
Fett categorized his three concepts as low impact, medium impact and high impact, referring to the magnitude of the project.
The low impact proposal is a small, mobile structure extending out from the sidewalk to the width of the adjacent parking space called a parklet. Cars can still fit in between each one if desired.
The medium impact idea involves a larger structure with a wooden deck that is level with the curb (no step down) and a built-in canopy. This one can also be removed or repaired cost-effectively, according to Fett.
And the highest impact concept, the most permanent, would require widening the sidewalk, extending the gutter, and adding a hurricane-enforced metal canopy allowing for the highest number of outdoor seats.
“That presentation we gave just to spark a little bit of curiosity, if the town and the constituents want to do something more formal beyond the white tents behind the orange barricades,” Fett said.
Town spokesperson Steve D’Oliveira said, “[Ideas] were proposed to generate discussion, and are not real in the sense that they will be approved or denied.”
Fett and town leaders will discuss the proposals with the public in a roundtable meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 27 at Jarvis Hall.
Business owners like Even Keel Fish Shack’s chef-owner David MacLennan says his business needs the added outdoor space, not the parking spots.
“If I have five spots in front of me, I would be lucky to have one of them eating at my restaurant. The benefit for us: Chairs make us money – parking spots don’t,” MacLennan said.
A resident of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea who spoke out at the special town meeting did not agree.
“I was a big proponent along with a lot of other people that when this pandemic hit that we did what we did … with regard to allowing restaurants and other places to have use of the sidewalks and other areas to allow business opportunities.”
But the resident went on to say, it’s time the expanded outdoor seating be phased out. “I want to be able to drive down to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea in the daytime and park the way I use to, not because it’s the way I used to do it, but because it’s a good thing for me as a resident of the town,” he said.
