Members of the Wayne City Council agreed last week to an extension of outdoor dining permits for local restaurants through March 3, in an effort to help local restaurants weather the current pandemic restrictions.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services closed indoor dining until at least yesterday, an order that was expected to be extended in light of the thousands of new cases of COVID-19 being reported weekly across the state.
Wayne Director of Community Development and Planning Lori Gouin told the members of the city council that she suspected the ban on indoor dining could be extended throughout the winder. “It probably would be best for us to ask you to reinstate the guidelines for outdoor dining and retail sales,” she said at the meeting.
An extension into streets and parking areas could provide 25 to 50 percent more capacity for restaurants, she said. Under the new rules adopted unanimously by members of the city council, Wayne retailers could also use spaces outside their locations.Mayor Pro tem Tom Porter suggested that the city follow state guidelines and allow the expanded outdoor dining to expire when the state lifted the indoor ban.
“We need to be bending over backwards for our businesses now,” he said. “I just wanted to find a way to tie it to a time where we don't have to worry about.”
Gouin said allowing outdoor dining throughout the winter will allow greater capacity for restaurants, even when the ban on indoor dining is lifted by the state.
“There are some restaurants that probably will continue to have outdoor dining just for the simple fact that people don't feel comfortable crowded inside and it gives them extra capacity,” she said.
Plymouth is among the several area communities which have relaxed their rules when it comes to dining during the winter months because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Northville is currently offering a Heat in the Street Program promoted by the Downtown Development Authority and Chamber of Commerce to promote outdoor dining and shopping.
