St. Petersburg restaurants looking for even more expanded outdoor seating should “please stay tuned for details,” according to Mayor Rick Kriseman.
Kriseman said as much on Tuesday during a Facebook Live video, where he also announced the upcoming reopening of Sunken Gardens. He promised that details on the expanded seating—meant to help restaurants increase sales despite Gov. Ron DeSantis' phase one reopening order which asks them to operate at 25% capacity indoors—would arrive in the coming days.
The mayor first expressed his desire to let restaurants expand outdoor seating almost two weeks ago. TBBJ points out that St. Pete’s expansion will not include street closures like Tampa Mayor Jane Castor included in her Lift Up Local plan.
“I have… authorized our City Development Administration to allow restaurants with existing parking lots, or other adjacent spaces to expand their on site outdoor seating areas,” Kriseman said on May 5.
Restaurants seeking approval to expand their patios and to use their existing space were supposed to email a sketch of the area where the tables will be located, along with the property owner’s approval, to devrev@st.pete.org.
“Table layout will need to comply with the six-foot distance requirements, between the tables,” Kriseman said. “There will be no fee for review and the approval will be effective until the end of the emergency order.”
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This article appears in May 7-13, 2020.