CAROLINA BEACH — For restaurants on Carolina Beach’s Boardwalk, outdoor seating is one of the more desirable dining options for customers. But, to several restaurant owners on the boardwalk, the town’s current ordinances are too restrictive when it comes to the amount of space allowed for sidewalk dining.
During Carolina Beach’s Town Council meeting earlier this month, Mayor Joe Benson said he and Town Manager Michael Cramer had met with several business owners to discuss the current restrictions.
“I’ve gotten some complaints from restaurant owners on the boardwalk, a few of whom met with Michael and myself last week. They would like the town to take a look at revisiting the outdoor patio spacing to something closer to 72-inches,” Benson said.
According to Assistant Town Manager Ed Parvin, the item is going to make its way back to council to consider changes.
“Per Town Council’s direction we are taking Sidewalk Cafés back for them to consider increasing the encroachment allowance on the oceanfront boardwalk,” Parvin said in an email. “Currently encroachments are limited to 1-quarter the width of the boardwalk and in no instance, can they restrict accessible boardwalk to be less than 4.5-feet.”
Benson said the amount of space currently allowed makes it difficult for servers to adequately move within tables on the sidewalk.
The item has not been added to any agendas for Town Council at the time of publication, but will likely be discussed at an upcoming town meeting.
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