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I stopped by to chat with co-owner Jim Spaulding earlier today and I asked him why others had not tried it. The ordinance has been on the books since 2008. He didn’t know and neither do I. See all the sidewalk dining-related blog posts going back to 2006.
I noticed that the HideAway Coffeehouse and Winebar put out its tables and chairs this weekend so it seems a good time to revisit the issue of sidewalk dining in Northfield (that’s a Tag link to all our blog posts on the subject since 2006.) Plus, there are two more Division St. eating/dining establishments opening this year. I blogged last November that “Northfield’s sidewalk dining ordinance has been in effect since early 2008 but only one establishment has taken advantage of the alcohol clause: the HideAway Coffeehouse and Winebar. Five others have not. It might be helpful to find out why.” Ross sent me a link a week ago to a blog called cooltownstudios that has a series of posts on outdoor cafe districts. (The blog is part of the bigger CreativeCrowdSource project.) One of those blog posts is titled How to crowdsource an outdoor cafe district and it links to a forum thread on related attempts. The overview of how to do it: Continue reading Let’s crowdsource Northfield’s sidewalk dining scene
Why do I mention it? Because the issue is back before the Northfield City Council this week as staff have brought back two options for trees on 4th St. reconstruction, one of which seems to include some faulty assumptions. I’ve closed comments here. Join the discussion attached to the blog post, Council directs staff to include sidewalk trees on 4th St. reconstruction.
 Customers sit at tables outside of the Cocoa Bean prior to the ordinance. Photo by Griff Wigley. At least one Division Street merchant is experiencing disappointment and some financial hardship because of an outdoor seating ordinance city councilmen approved in May, and she is hoping the councilmen will consider amending it before next summer. Eileen Seeley said on Monday her customers were disappointed when she hauled her outdoor chairs and tables back inside the Cocoa Bean following the ordinance enactment. But, she could not afford to pay for the additional insurance coverage she would need to qualify for the new outdoor seating permit. She pays for a $1 million policy now, she said. But, she would need to pay $500 more a year leap to the $1.5 million tier in order to qualify for a permit. Seeley explained she would technically only need a $1.2 million policy, but her insurance provider would not sell her a policy between standard tiers. Seeley said she felt city officials did not recognize how that repercussion could negatively affect businesses like hers.  Eileen Seeley removed the tables and chairs mid-summer. Photo by Griff Wigley. When councilmen approved the ordinance in May, they did so with the knowledge that the ordinance might have to change later on to accommodate the concerns of at least three different downtown merchants, according to an article published at that time in the Northfield News. The ordinance remains unchanged so far, but councilmen are scheduled to review the ordinance again in May, Brian O’Connell, Northfield Community Development Director, said on Wednesday. “The ordinance was enacted for a period of one year, so it dies at end of that year,” O’Connell said. The concerns Seeley had about the ordinance when councilmen first discussed it are largely the same today. The primary goals of the outdoor seating ordinance are to regulate the consumption of food and alcohol outdoors on public property, O’Connell said. Seeley’s business serves food but not alcohol. She said the city should consider regulating only the consumption of alcohol. Food-vendors that do not serve alcohol, she said, should be considered more like the adjacent retail businesses, which may have outdoor seating and sidewalk displays without obtaining the new permit. O’Connell said he has been aware of Seeley’s concerns and has recognized the unfairness of regulating the sidewalks in front food and alcohol vendors but not those in front of retail stores. O’Connell explained that at the time councilmen enacted the ordinance, they only had time to discuss regulating food and alcohol consumption. The matter of regulating the sidewalks in front of retail stores could be something the councilmen address in the future. “First and foremost, it’s the city’s responsibility to manage property that the city owns,” O’Connell said of the ordinance. “The sidewalks are public property. The city wanted outdoor dining and wanted to have people sit outside and have a glass of wine or beer. But, we felt we needed to have some standard requirement in order to allow that to occur.” Should the ordinance remain in place, Seeley said she would explore a possible loophole in the city’s statutes that could allow her to place objects within a 5-foot distance from the front of her store without additional permitting.
And see the Northfield city calendar for other public meetings that are scheduled this week. Update 7/30, 10:30 PM: Here’s the audio of Monday night’s Council meeting, courtesy of KYMN 1080.
After recording yesterday’s podcast at KYMN, Ross, Tracy and I sauntered down Division to the HideAway Coffeehouse and Winebar to be among the first to imbibe alcohol on the sidewalk, courtesy of the City’s new sidewalk dining ordinance. Jim and Joan Spaulding’s establishment was the first in town to complete the required paperwork, and set up tables and chairs with the proper boundary. They began serving alcoholic beverages last weekend. Alas, we were told by one of the HideAway’s staff that Northfield City staff told them on Monday they had to stop. Some sort of approval was required by the City Council. Huh? I phoned Joan this morning to confirm. She said was contacted by the City of Northfield’s Housing and Redevelopment Division staff person Michele Merxbauer on Monday and told that the City Council had to approve the deal before they could begin serving. She appealed to Community Development Director Brian O’Connell, to no avail. It was too late to get it on the Council agenda for Monday’s meeting, so they’d have to wait another two weeks till the next Council meeting. The Spaulding’s busted their butts to get this in place for today’s Crazy Daze, so naturally, they’re angry. I’m angry that Brian and Michelle did not inform me or Ross (with his NDDC hat on) about this since we’ve worked on this for over two years. Nothing about this approval-of-each-applicant-by-the-Council requirement was mentioned when the ordinance was approved (May 19 minutes) nor when the fees were approved at the July 7 meeting (agenda packet p. 31). The Northfield municipal code has not yet been updated as per the Council’s directive:
The March 17 version of the Temporary Expansion of Licensed Premises ordinance (PDF) has language that could be interpreted to meant that the Council has to approve every single application but I’m guessing that the Councilors had no idea that they’d have to do this… and that it would add at least two weeks to the process for a business owner. If I’d known, I’d have lobbied to have the language changed. It’s a Mickey Mouse requirement for businesses that already have gotten approval for their liquor licenses. City staff should be able to make the decision. And worst of all, I have to eat crow. Ross was right.
Council unanimous decision: No fees for at least a year for sidewalk dining, with or without alcoholThe sidewalk dining ordinance passed back in May but at last night’s City Council meeting, the Council unanimously passed the permit fee structure: no cost till at least next May, 2009. Yay! Community Development Director Brian O’Connell said to me that he’ll have one of the City’s summer interns visit all downtown establishments in person Real Soon Now with a simple permit form for them to sign.
Left: After I left the Council meeting, I found some of the NDDC board members at the Cow, socializing a bit after a meeting. I told them the news. See the happy thumbs. We raised the issue of sidewalk dining (with alcohol) in a 10-minute discussion on Locally Grown podcast #7 back in Feb. of 2006. The NDDC raised the issue way back in April of 2005. They added it to their agenda for downtown and we’ve both been pursuing the issue ever since. Here’s an index of blog posts: Locally Grown
NDDC
Democracy works, albeit slowly. So which Northfield eating and drinking establishments are likely to offer sidewalk dining yet this year?
Would it matter if customers just carry out their purchases for consumption on the sidewalk, but the establishment’s wait-staff don’t sell or service on the sidewalk? Also, in the Nfld News story, Outdoor dining passes first round with council, Victor Summa raised other issues at Monday’s Council mtg:
See Pages 36-40 of the May 5 ouncil Agenda Packet (PDF) or the plain text here: Continue reading New issues arise with the proposed sidewalk dining ordinance
Imagine if Northfield became known far and wide because of its culture of sidewalk dining. Good for tourism, good for residents.
In May, 2006, the NDDC hosted a downtown forum on this issue of sidewalk dining. Ross Currier blogged about it and wrote:
On May 16, 2006, Ross blogged about ArtsPlan ’06 consultant Tom Clough’s support for the idea and wrote: “David Hvistendahl and Maren Swanson are circulating draft ordinance language right now.” (I also posted some of my photos of sidewalk dining structures in Italy to the NDDC blog.)
Meanwhile, the Nlfd News reports quotes Rueb owner Joe Grundhoefer as saying, “We’re in the works of having a smoking patio built out back but we don’t know if it will be ready by fall.” I’d much rather see a sidewalk dining structure that smokers and non-smokers could share. There appears to be plenty of room for it on either the Division or 5th St. side of the building (photos below).
So here we are, a year later, summer about to begin, and I don’t think anything has happened to move the ball along. With two and maybe three new restaurants opening this summer on Division (two serving liquor) it would seem that the time is right to have the ordinance changed. What’s holding things up?
Click play to listen. 30 minutes. Our show, Locally Grown, airs on Tuesdays at 4:30 PM, KRLX, 88.1 FM. You can also subscribe to the podcast feed, or subscribe with iTunes. We seek your comments and suggestions. Attach a comment to this blog post or use the Contact Us page to send us email. See the show archives for audio of other episodes. I’m a future resident of downtown, an advocate of more sidewalk dining, and a motorcyclist. I’d like to see Northfield follow Stillwater’s lead and crack down on motorcyclists (as well as drivers of other vehicles) who come through downtown, deliberately revving their engines. Rather than trying to measure decibels, the cops ticket for the illegal exhaust modifications. For more background on Stillwater’s approach, see this coverage: Strib editorial, WCCO, and Pioneer Press. For more on loud motorcycles, see Noiseoff and Noisefree America. And for a clever ad, view this “I have a small penis” YouTube video: This content originally appeared on Northfield.org. Issues covered in episode #16 of Locally Grown, recorded this afternoon (May 5): The “Northfield Public Library Preliminary Report on Community Needs Assessment And Space Needs” with guest Adam Gurno, library board member; also, a brief recap of Tuesday’s NDDC downtown forum on sidewalk dining. Click the play button to listen (30 minutes), or download the MP3 File, or subscribe to the feed, or subscribe with iTunes. Join the ISSUES discussion list to continue the conversation on these and other issues. Attach a comment to give us feedback. See the Locally Grown page for previous episodes and more on the show. |
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