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Charles Town council committee reviews outdoor-dining ordinance, seeks state guidance on alcohol and right-of-way limits
Summary
Council committee reviewed a draft outdoor-dining ordinance, heard that state alcohol licensing (ABCA) allows temporary outdoor floor-plan extensions but the downtown street is a state right-of-way that will require highway permission for bollards or other physical demarcation. Staff will consult ABCA, the state highway authority and the police chief before drafting final ordinance language.
Chair opened the meeting and summarized the committee’s goal: find ways to allow restaurants to serve customers outdoors without running afoul of state alcohol rules or endangering pedestrians. Chair said the committee’s top technical question was alcohol licensing and pointed to prior COVID-era examples where municipalities used temporary barriers and tents to maintain outdoor service.
Stephanie, the city’s legal counsel, said the state ABCA allows a current licensee to apply for an extension of its licensed premises to include outdoor street dining if the municipality approves and the area is legally demarcated. "The rules do not require that anywhere," she said when asked whether the municipality must close the street. Committee members pressed that, because the affected downtown corridor is a state road, any physical changes (bollards or drilled anchors) would need state highway approval and could be denied. The group agreed to have staff contact ABCA, the state highway authority and the police chief and to draft a committee report for the next agenda.
