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Ordinance committee forwards outdoor-dining rules to council without permit fee
Summary
The ordinance committee voted to send an outdoor-dining ordinance to the full council but decided to drop a proposed administrative fee after members cited low demand and limited staff capacity.
The ordinance committee voted to forward a draft outdoor-dining ordinance to the Charles Town council but decided not to include the administrative fee that had been proposed earlier.
A committee member, explaining the original rationale for the charge, said: "I told them it was just a small, like, $50 initial fee and then a $25 renewal fee" to cover staff time. Committee members discussed whether an alcohol (ABC) provision should be treated differently and whether a fee would need to be applied uniformly to all businesses.
After members and staff said they did not expect many applicants and that staff could handle current demand, one member moved to send "the outdoor dining without the fee" to council for consideration; the committee recorded "Ayes have it." The committee did not record individual vote tallies in the transcript.
The committee discussed potential future changes if downtown use grows — including who would bear maintenance costs and responsibilities for sidewalk buildouts — and agreed to revisit the ordinance if outdoor dining becomes more common. The committee will prepare the ordinance language and send it to council for the required readings.
