Restaurants that took their business outside when the pandemic struck may be able to continue serving their customers al fresco under a proposal to continue outdoor dining in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Members of the board of supervisors during a Land Use Policy Committee meeting last week expressed support for continuing outdoor dining past the local emergency declaration that was put in place at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
To continue operating outdoors, the board of supervisors would need to issue a zoning ordinance amendment that would create an administrative permit for outdoor dining that does not meet the existing zoning ordinance regulations. The permit would place limits on an area, the hours and how long the permit lasts. The amendment will be put before the board during the one-year grace period following the declared state of emergency.
Zoning Administrator Leslie Johnson said there are advantages to being able to renew a permit, specifically, the county can keep track if circumstances change.
One of the questions Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross brought up was about noise. She said there needs to be information about the noise that comes with outdoor dining.
“We owe it to the residents nearby” to have some protection for the “social noises” outdoor dining could bring.
Johnson said that there is a separate ordinance for public entertainment.
Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said the law on smoking outdoors would need to be communicated clearly, citing the example of whether smoking would be allowed under a tent. And Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay wanted more information on shopping centers applying for an administrative permit that would cover restaurant tenants.
Since the emergency ordinance was adopted at the beginning of the pandemic, 91 restaurants used outdoor dining. As of Sept. 1, only five eateries are using outdoor dining setups in parking lots, according to a presentation to the committee.
Arlington is also exploring the next steps for outdoor dining in the county. It is conducting a study of its current outdoor dining regulations and guidelines to provide a way for restaurants to expand their outdoor dining space.
