UPDATED: Towns scramble to help restaurants reopen
With a week to go until restaurants can reopen with outdoor dining only, area municipalities are scrambling to educate owners about rules issued by Gov. Ned Lamont and assist them with reopening.
On Tuesday, two communities, Groton and Norwich, held virtual meetings with restaurant owners, while a third, Stonington, voted Tuesday night to loosen its zoning regulations to help restaurants reopen, including those that currently do not have outdoor seating.
The state guidelines allow restaurants to have outdoor seating for up to 50% of their normal capacity and tables have to be 6 feet apart.
Last week the leaders of Stonington, Stonington Borough, East Lyme, Ledyard, Montville, Norwich and Waterford along with Mystic restaurant owner Dan Meiser, who is the board chairman of the Connecticut Restaurant Association and a member of Lamont’s reopening task force, urged the governor to allow restaurants to reopen with partial indoor dining, as well. But the rules released by Lamont continue to restrict restaurants to only outdoor dining, something some restaurants are unable to offer or feel makes no economic sense based on their overhead costs.
Early Tuesday night, Lamont released a new executive order that expanded and clarified his previous order allowing restaurants to reopen next week.
The new order allows municipalities to expedite changes to their zoning rules or other ordinances to expand outdoor dining, creates an expedited approval process for restaurants and other establishments that serve food to get permission to create or expand outdoor dining areas, allows businesses such as retail stores to get fast-tracked permission to sell goods on the sidewalk or in other outdoor areas and allows restaurants and other businesses who already have liquor permits to serve alcohol only with food without applying for a separate patio or extension of use permit.
Until Tuesday's order, restaurants without a patio designation from the state Liquor Control Division, had to submit an application with signatures of approval from the local fire marshal, zoning officer and health official.
During the Norwich meeting on Tuesday, City Manager John Salomone said the city will erect Jersey barriers where it is safe and appropriate for restaurants to extend outdoor dining to sidewalks and parking areas. He said the city has some barriers but may need to borrow some from neighboring towns or the state, or rent them.
Jason Vincent, senior vice president of the Norwich Community Development Corp., said he is coordinating requests by restaurants to reopen and collecting layout plans and questions from restaurant owners and passing them along to city officials. Vincent also will assist restaurants that will need agreements with the city to use public property for seating or who need agreements with private property owners to use space outside their facilities for outdoor dining.
NCDC and the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce also have some tents that could be borrowed by restaurants.
Tents up to 10-by-10-feet in size would not need building permits from the city, Vincent said. But if more than seven tents are erected together, they would be considered as one tent and would need city permits.
Norwich restaurants with questions about setting up for outdoor dining are asked to call Uncas Health District at (860) 823-1189 or Vincent at (860) 204-1219 or jvincent@askncdc.com.
In Groton on Tuesday, town and city staff and officials, Ledge Light Health District representatives and Groton Town police Chief L.J. Fusaro held the first in a series of webinars to help businesses reopen.
“We are here to support, and we want to get businesses back on their feet and back doing what they do best, which is providing services to all of us, and we’re here to help,” City Mayor Keith Hedrick said.
Town Mayor Patrice Granatosky added the Town Council and town manager are both concerned that reopening be done as safely as possible.
“We are charged with both safeguarding public health and supporting our local businesses,” Granatosky said.
The city and town are working together to form a long-term recovery committee. People interested in being on the committee from the city should email mayor@cityofgroton-ct.gov, and those interested from the town should email jburt@groton-ct.gov.
Deb Jones, the town’s assistant director of planning and development services, said the town’s zoning regulations allow outdoor patios in commercial zones, mixed-use zones and industrial zones, subject to conditions.
Typically, the approval process for permanent patios involves a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting but now town staff will be able to approve applications for temporary patios, such as those placed in parking lots. The approvals will be valid through Nov. 1 and the application fee has been waived.
Jones said restaurants need to submit an application and a plan that shows the location of the patio, how patrons will be protected from traffic and other details, such as lighting.
City Building and Zoning Official Carlton Smith said a zoning permit application with no fee is available on the city website, cityofgroton.com. He said he is looking to make the process as simple as possible for existing businesses, so submitting a simple GIS map of where the dining facilities are will be sufficient. The City Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday to allow the city planner or zoning official to approve site plan modifications for outdoor dining, rather than requiring the business to go before the commission.
Paige Bronk, the town’s economic and community development manager, said the goal is to get businesses to open up as safely and as quickly as possible, particularly for the summer season.
In Stonington, where there are approximately 155 eating establishments, the Planning and Zoning Commission on Tuesday night unanimously approved temporary enforcement and permitting policies that will remain in place until Sept. 7 or “until relevant social distancing and operational requirements” have been lifted by the state, whichever is earlier.
"Our restaurants and other businesses have been though difficult times and as they get set to reopen they will continue to struggle," said Town Planner Keith Brynes. "So we came up with a policy so zoning is not an impediment to coming back."
He said normally restaurants seeking to have outdoor dining would have to submit an application and come before the commission for approval, something that could not happen before next week.
The policy states it was established to assist businesses in dealing with the financial hardships caused by the pandemic. The policies allow temporary signage and banners that are needed to communicate openings and safety information, outdoor dining with social distancing as well as outdoor retail displays for businesses to communicate reopenings and social distancing requirements.
The commission also streamlined the approval process for simple changes of use in existing commercial buildings, which will enable faster openings for new local businesses.
The town also temporarily will allow outdoor seating at restaurants and outdoor retail displays without land use permits as long as the total number of restaurant seats shall not exceed what already has been approved.
Outdoor seating may be located in on-site parking spaces and the town will waive its minimum on-site parking requirements. Hours for outdoor seating shall not extend beyond 9 p.m. weekdays and 10 p.m. on weekends and all noise ordinances are in effect.
All reasonable measures must be provided to protect tables from vehicle and bicycle traffic. Outdoor seating and retail displays still must conform to all health and safety requirements. If the policies lead to negative impacts on the surrounding area, the zoning official has the right to work with businesses to address the issues.
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