Business & Tech

Sidewalk Cafe Talk Focuses on Downtown Bar Scene

Some city leaders are concerned about bar patrons spilling out onto the sidewalk during some busy nights.

A discussion about proposed sidewalk cafe regulations at City Hall Thursday once again morphed from talking about cafes to another issue glaring issues downtown. 

In December 2012, one of the initial meetings about sidewalk cafes turned into a discussion dominated by problems with downtown's noise ordinance

Thursday, as Phil Lazzara of the city's economic development department, went over new proposals, all city council and representatives from the police department could talk about was the growing bar scene downtown. 

On many nights, police said the sidewalk cafes are turning into nothing more than extensions of the bar onto the sidewalk. On busy nights, such as First Friday, some bar patrons spill out into the street. 

Other areas of concern, police said, are overcrowding, street pollution because there are not enough trash bins and glass containers being allowed outside. 

Attorney Mark Winn said sidewalk cafes have turned from mainly lunch establishments, to dinner locations and now, "to a nightclub café."

Council member Jim Kennedy said issues such as not enough trash bins are an easy fix, and he cautions against too many regulations on downtown businesses. 

"We have to be very careful not to over regulate something that is successful and drawing people to our downtown," Kennedy said Thursday.     

Council member Karl Nurse said the city must tread lightly with new regulations while still making sure downtown is safe. 

"We have 880 housing units under construction downtown. I think there are a similar number in the idea stage," Nurse said. "We have something that is working here."

Nurse said the sidewalks and streets becoming extensions of bars has gone far beyond the original intentions of allowing sidewalk cafes, which was to bring people to downtown.  

"I don’t want to become Ybor City," Nurse said. "We got (thousands) of people living downtown and we have to find a middle ground."

Prior to change in topics, Lazzara told the council of adjustments to the ordinance: 

  • The new law would establish clearance not just on the sidewalk but overhead clearance as well. 
  • Larger cafes, such as those with multiple storefronts and entrances, will be allowed one additional menu board.
  • The property owner using the sidewalk cafe is solely responsible for maintenance and repair of the sidewalk in front of that business. 
  • No noise level regulation in the proposed sidewalk cafe ordinance. The city will use its existing noise ordinance instead of creating an additional regulation. 
"What we have here is basically two separate items; we have sidewalk cafes ... as opposed to the after hours situation," council member Bill Dudley said. "And I think we need to be real careful we don’t over regulate. We want everybody to be safe and have a good time, but we have a responsibility to everyone else."  


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