By Kelly O’Sullivan
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

The city of Litchfield Park is developing a plan that would ease zoning restrictions on restaurants, bars, fitness centers and other businesses that might benefit by expanding their operations outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While state restrictions that closed numerous businesses and required restaurants to operate at 50% of their fire capacity and provide at least six feet of space between tables will ease as the state reaches benchmarks for reopening, a return to pre-pandemic business as usual isn’t likely in the foreseeable future, especially with flu season just weeks away.

“I don’t believe that COVID’s going to go away when cooler weather comes in November. I think it’s probably, if anything, going to get worse,” Mayor Thomas L. Schoaf said when he introduced discussion on the proposed COVID-19 Business Service Area Expansion Program during the City Council’s regular meeting Aug. 19 to see if councilmembers were open to the idea.

They were open to the idea, so city staff kicked into high gear and letters and emails introducing the program will be sent to the city’s 90 businesses the first week of September, City Manager Bill Stephens said Aug. 27. The city will begin accepting applications Tuesday, Sept. 8, he said.

“The thought was why don’t we change our zoning rules and our business licensing rules to allow these people to use the outside more,” said Mr. Schoaf, who approached city staff to research how the program would work before bringing the proposal to the council.

The city’s restaurant row on the west side of Old Litchfield Road north of the roundabout on Wigwam Boulevard is a prime example of businesses that could benefit from temporary outdoor expansion, Mr. Schoaf said.

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“It’s real simple to understand when you look at the businesses on Old Litchfield Road,” he said. If the city allowed closure of the roadway’s southbound lanes, eateries like Park Cafe, Lazy Palm Sports Grill, Old Pueblo Cafe and Pub and others could “expand out into the road and use that area to have more outside dining, and allow them to decrease and minimize their inside dining but still end up with the ability to serve more customers.”

He also said the city could work with landlords for places like Ground Control at 4860 N. Litchfield Road, Times Square at 13760 W. Camelback Road, Suite 70 and others to determine how they could expand their outdoor spaces.

How it will work

“This program would allow existing city businesses to apply, for City Council approval, for city street or sidewalk closures expanding their outdoor business areas. Applications would be decided on a case-by-case-basis, Mr. Stephens said. “City Council could determine to close a sidewalk or street for a few days a week to allow patio expansion during prime business days such as the weekend. However, Council could also choose to allow these expansions until the COVID-19 emergency is lifted. Every business that applies will have different conditions according to their business needs or locations.”

To be eligible, the business must be in an existing building and have an active business license, Mr. Stephens said.

The council will consider applications during its regular meetings the third Wednesday of each month. Applications must submitted by the end of the month to be placed on the next month’s agenda, he said.

Assistant City Manager Matthew Williams, who researched the issue at the mayor’s request, said applications will be subject to city Building Department review to ensure the business’ compliance with fire and safety codes.

“Anytime we have alcohol, that’s involved,” he said.

While businesses in corporate shopping centers do not have streets or sidewalks the city could close, Mr. Stephens said city staff would contact the corporate landlords to encourage them to grant those expansion requests if review deems it feasible.

There are several things the council will need to consider when reviewing applications, Mr. Williams said.

“One thing I think would be interesting with that would be how many businesses in a certain area justify closure,” he said. “In the downtown area, does one justify it, does two, does three? That’s something you want to think about.

“Also, you’d want to look at what hours you want to close. Do you want to close down Old Litchfield for a week, a month or Friday through Monday?” he said.

“I think this could be a great program,” Mr. Williams said, noting requests could range from sidewalks to streets. “There’s so many variables here, just according to where the business is located.”

Kelly O’Sullivan can be reached at kosullivan@newszap.com or 760-963-1697. For up-to-date local reporting on all things COVID-19, Independent Newsmedia has created a webpage dedicated to coverage of the novel coronavirus: #AZNEWSMEDIA