Miami-Dade County put forth a new bill making it easier to continue parking-lot seating once the health crisis ends.
Legislation changes permits dining areas in parking lots. Establishments would still need to obtain county permits and provide the same number of parking spaces required under current rules. So only restaurants with spare parking could make it work.
The changes passed a preliminary commission vote that enshrines the rules currently in place by an emergency order.
The legislation also creates a pilot program for small outdoor seating areas that wouldn’t need the county permits required under the proposed permanent rules.
Temporary regulations would let restaurants use private sidewalks and a few parking spaces for a small number of tables immediately outside the establishment.
“It gives them the flexibility and the creativeness to put some extra seats outside for
patrons who are still uncomfortable” with indoor dining after the COVID pandemic
ends, said Nathan Kogan, an assistant director in the county’s Department of
Regulatory and Economic Resources. “It may take longer for us to get back to
normal.”
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