It's been nearly two years since Norwich officials sprang into action blocking off downtown parking spaces with concrete barriers and providing picnic tables, so that establishments like La Stella Pizzeria and Billy Wilson's Ageing Still could have outdoor dining.

With diners leery of inside spaces amid the coronavirus pandemic, efforts were made across the region to ensure restaurants that wanted to could open for outdoor dining when it was allowed come May 20, 2020.

"In the first year, it was completely necessary for us to survive," said Justin Burrows, owner of La Stella. While he initially could seat about 40 people outside, the city took away the barricades and tables before that winter, and Burrows said he "survived just fine without the tables outside" last summer. He now just has two two-person tables in front of the entrance.

But many other restaurants in Norwich and throughout the state still have expanded outdoor dining in parking lots, on sidewalks or where there used to be street parking, and they want to continue this indefinitely.

Some people still are hesitant to eat inside due to COVID-19, but other diners just like having the option. The streetside dining lends a European flair to Connecticut main streets.

Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday signed legislation extending relaxed rules on outdoor dining until April 30 of next year. The bill drew bipartisan support, passing 34-0 in the Senate and 121-21 in the House.

In May 2020, Lamont signed an executive order creating an expedited process for restaurants to get municipal approval for expanded outdoor dining. Last March, the House and Senate unanimously passed legislation codifying the order. The law said that restaurateurs wouldn't have to submit plans from a licensed engineer or architect, a parking plan or certain other plans when applying for expanded outdoor dining.

"These relaxed rules could be the start of a new Connecticut tradition that increases activity in our towns," Lamont said in a news release at the time. "One positive outcome of this unfortunate pandemic has been that we've been thinking about new, creative ways to offer activities outdoors, including at restaurants."

But the law was only effective through March 31, 2022, hence the legislature vote last month. Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey, D-Fairfield, chair of the Planning and Development Committee, said if this bill didn't pass, it would have created a potential backlog in zoning offices and hardship for businesses.

Vahey noted that this year's bill made some minor additions to address concerns from people with disabilities: requiring that pathways are maintained in accordance with physical accessibility guidelines and the State Building Code.

Rep. Joe Zullo, R-East Haven, ranking member of the Planning and Development Committee, said while he is worried about the loss of local control and loss of public input, he thinks the benefits outweigh the costs. He has faith that local zoning enforcement officers will administer zoning codes fairly to ensure residents' interests in public safety and privacy will be balanced with the need to support businesses that struggled through the pandemic.

'It may very well have saved my business'

On Broadway in Norwich, Billy Wilson's Ageing Still added tent-covered picnic tables across five parking spaces, abutted by the sidewalk on one side and concrete barriers separating seating from traffic on the other.

"Quite honestly, it may very well have saved my business," owner Paul Siefert said. He called the extension to April 2023 "phenomenal."

"When you get a nice day, I'll have 20, 30 people outside," he said. "And there are still some people who are way more comfortable being outside than inside."

Mayor Peter Nystrom said the city is looking at ways to make outdoor dining a more permanent thing, such as expanding the width of the sidewalk in the area of Billy Wilson's and building a deck at the corner lot the city owns at Bath Street.

Nystrom said people had to make adjustments in the beginning to navigate, but now everybody generally looks forward to the outdoor dining.

Kevin Brown, president and executive director of the Norwich Community Development Corporation, thinks an extension of more than 13 months would be even better, saying while expanded outdoor dining has helped restaurants with their pandemic response, it's also "opened all of our eyes to the possibilities."

"I think the pandemic has, in its own way, reverse-engineered us into something we should've been considering and doing anyway," he said.

On Pearl Street in Mystic, The Harp and Hound has tables set up on the road between concrete barriers and the sidewalk. Owner Leo Roche said he is "very happy with the extension, for another 13 months. A lot of people are still uncomfortable going inside, and now we've had a little bit of an uptick again with COVID. It's just great to have that option of outdoor dining."

He said the Town of Groton was easy to work with on this, that he just had to submit an outdoor plan but didn't have to pay anything.

Both Harp and Hound and Illiano's Grill in Niantic will continue offering outdoor seating this year, though they're not quite set up for the season yet.

Illiano's transformed its front parking area abutting Route 161 by adding turf grass, picnic tables and a TV, which it continued with last summer as well. Manager Erin O'Brien said a lot of people have commented to her about how they love the outdoor dining.

In Waterford, Filomena's owner Mike Buscetto said the governor has twice during the pandemic visited his establishment, which set up tables in the parking lot and had outdoor music.

Lyme Tavern Sports Bar and Restaurant added about 30 seats in the parking lot in 2020, owner Steve Carpenteri said. But Lyme Tavern also could seat about 48 people in its preexisting patio space, and then indoor dining was allowed, so the establishment discontinued the expanded outdoor dining once the season was over.

Looking long-term

While expanded outdoor dining was a temporary solution for some restaurants in 2020, Connecticut Restaurant Association Executive Director Scott Dolch said he overall saw an expansion of outdoor dining in 2021.

Dolch said the bill that just passed "is so important right now" because restaurants still are dealing with the secondary impacts of COVID-19: labor shortages, inflation, supply chain issues.

"I'd love to sit here and tell you that this pandemic is over, but we don't know that. No one does," Dolch said. He added that the extension "is about helping these restaurants recover, and we don't know how long recovery is going to last."

But he also doesn't want to go back to the legislature every year for an extension. He wants there to be allowances that are long-term and not unique to the pandemic.

He said he wants to work with municipalities for a long-term solution, and he's had calls with disability rights advocates concerned about walkways and parking spots for people with disabilities.

The first summer of the pandemic, outdoor dining may have been set up hastily and in desperation to stay in business. But Dolch said he saw more of a focus last year on elements like lighting, carpeting and flowers, "because they don't want it to just be a table on a pavement. Your experience at a restaurant is as much the food and the service as the ambience."

His hope in the third year is for towns to do more to showcase outdoor dining; as examples, he pointed to barricades in West Hartford painted by local artists and lighting systems in Chester.

Dan Walsh, president of the nonprofit Niantic Main Street that promotes downtown revitalization in the East Lyme community, said part of its talks with the Yale Urban Design Workshop are how to implement outdoor dining on a more permanent basis.

"I think people still welcome eating outside," Walsh said. "I think if we keep that going, it would be great."

e.moser@theday.com