Greenwich Board of Selectmen Approves Outdoor Dining For 2022

GREENWICH, CT — The Greenwich Board of Selectmen, which also acts as the traffic authority, approved the use of outdoor dining in town from April 15 to Nov. 20 on Thursday.

First Selectman Fred Camillo and Selectwoman Lauren Rabin voted yes, and Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan abstained, explaining that she supported outdoor dining but wanted time for public feedback.

The Town is anticipating Special Act No 21-3, An act concerning the outdoor sale of goods and provision of food and beverage service, approved on March 31, 2021 with an ending date of March 31, 2022 will not be amended by the state.

A House bill that would extend outdoor dining to 2023 is currently under consideration. Town Administrator Benjamin Branyan said it was important for the board to provide restaurants an opportunity to plan in the meantime.

This summer would be the third for outdoor dining in Greenwich. Planning & Zoning, Public Works, the Office of the First Selectman and Parking Services issued joint recommendations and several changes to the guidelines.

Most notably, fees for restaurants have changed for 2022.

The 2022 fee was increased from $325 to $1,504 to recover 100 percent of potential lost parking revenue. Last year, the fee represented 25 percent. Revenue collected for use of public parking spaces will be deposited into the Parking Services Fund.

The town has also increased the rental price for barriers slightly from $12.50 to $15.

Therefore, for 2022 with the revised fee schedule, the anticipated average fee will be $5,202 per restaurant. Last year's average was $1,617, when factoring in three parking spaces and 46 linear feet of barrier.

The town raked in $32,275 in fees from 20 restaurants in 2021.

Branyan said if you break down this year's fee average, it comes out to $23.65 per day.

"I think when you look at it from a daily rental, it's a relatively minor expense for the long term use of a town asset," Branyan said.

"Right now, it's a basic question of fairness," Camillo added. "A couple of good hours in one day makes up that whole fee we're charging. It's a use of a public asset that we think has really enhanced our town."

Greenwich Avenue would remain open for traffic, Branyan explained. Also, outdoor dining areas shall not expand past the restaurant’s building street frontage, and not exceed the utilization of four parking spaces.

"We're trying to use the balancing act between the use on the Avenue between restaurants and retail spaces," Branyan said.

Last year, outdoor dining ended around mid-December. Branyan said officials felt the Sunday before Thanksgiving was an appropriate date to end this year.

Camillo agreed, and said the duration can always be revisited for future years. Overall, he called the proposal "a great adjustment of the policy."

Branyan said a text amendment must be approved by Planning & Zoning. Ther current regulations currently allow outdoor dining from April 1 to Nov. 1.

Camillo said outdoor dining has been one of the bg silver linings that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's something we talked about in 2019 before the pandemic, and this has allowed us to do it quicker and people love it. We'd like it to be here for good, and we also want to make sure we're being fair," he said.

The board chose not to have a second read on the matter. On March 24, Planning & Zoning has scheduled a meeting so restaurants can come before the P&Z Commission with new applications for outdoor dining, according to P&Z Director Katie DeLuca.