Seattle considering extending free outdoor dining permit program

SEATTLE — Al fresco dining could be here to stay in the city of Seattle.

The city is considering whether to extend its free outdoor dining permit program.

These permits falls under the Seattle Department of Transportation.

It started in the summer of 2020 as part of SDOT’s safe start program to help businesses during the pandemic. Under SDOT’s proposal, it could stay like this for at least another year.

“Outdoor dining particularly in summer of 2020 was absolutely critical to our survival. Back in that period, we were just coming out of the lockdown, we were doing take out only, there was no indoor dining,” said Charlie Anthe, co-owner of Moshi Moshi Sushi & Izakaya.

The free outdoor dining permits have already been extended through May 2022. A new proposal could extended them until January 2023.

“We’re really hoping that they extend this in a free way that allows restaurants to keep trying to recover from this pandemic, It’s not over yet for us,” Anthe said.

Anthe is calling on the city to come up with a permanent plan on the dining permits sooner rather than later.

“A business can’t plan if you only do something for a year at a time. If we’re going to make an investment in infrastructure and furniture, we’re talking tens of thousands of dollars and that requires some certainty that whatever we do here is something we can build on and use and be able to plan for how much it will cost us and what the rules will be,” Anthe said.

The Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities committee will discuss the extension and could vote on it.

It will still have to go to the full council for a vote.

SDOT says it plans to develop a permanent plan this summer.

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