Hermosa Beach rethinks sidewalk tables
The City Council will reconsider its ban on dining tables on public sidewalks throughout most of town, although upper Pier Avenue will remain off limits for the tables.
The city’s recent “Hermosa Clean Sweep” campaign was designed to clear the public right-of-way of non-permitted tables, chairs, business signs and furniture. The move ended almost all outdoor dining on the newly remade upper Pier Avenue, and suspended it along most of Hermosa Avenue.
Al fresco dining continued unhindered on the seaside Pier Plaza, where restaurants have long held permits and carried liability insurance to maintain large patios on city-owned pavement,.
Outdoor dining also remained at some businesses such as Starbucks coffeehouse on Hermosa Avenue, which holds a permit for outdoor tables that are bolted to the sidewalk.
Councilman Peter Tucker persuaded his colleagues to discuss, at an upcoming meeting, the placement of chairs and tables on the public right-of-way for a six-month trial, adding that businesses would have to carry insurance to cover accidents, and allow sufficient access to the sidewalks under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
He said he does not want to allow business signs or merchandise on the sidewalks.
Councilman Kit Bobko said he wants upper Pier Avenue included in the discussion about tables and chairs. Tucker responded that the committee that planned the Pier Avenue makeover – which included Bobko and himself – promised concerned residents that outdoor dining would not be allowed there.
“I feel we had a directive from the residents, and that’s how [the makeover plan] passed,” Tucker said.
“I think we had a pretty clear indication from residents they did not want dining on upper Pier,” he said.
Residents told the committee that they feared outdoor dining could bring a noisier, rowdier atmosphere from Pier Plaza to the upper avenue.
Currently on upper Pier, tables stand outside Crème de la Crepe, Java Man coffeehouse and Planet Earth Eco Café, sandwiched between the buildings and the city-owned sidewalk. Most eateries on upper Pier are built right out to the sidewalk, and have no outdoor setback that would allow tables.
The recently opened Rockefeller also maintains outdoor tables, on a front patio built within its restaurant footprint, without encroaching upon the sidewalk.